Am I the only one who is drowning in July? I remember thinking that June was so busy and that I was going to get to enjoy July and relax and read and now here we are on the eve of August and I have accomplished very little. I haven’t read a single page this month, my house is a wreck and we’re barrelling towards a new school year with no signs of stopping. I don’t want to say it out loud, but I’m starting to think that once the girls get back in school and our schedule returns to normal that maybe things will calm down a little. This whole “fly by the seat of your pants” summer thing we have going on isn’t working for us. And let’s be honest… now that our family vacation is a thing of the past, I’m kind of ready for football and cozy sweaters and cooler temperatures. Who’s with me?!
Until then, how about we play a little game of catch up?
001 | Zoe’s Copycat Pasta Salad
I am a huge fan of pasta salad and despite the fact that I don’t eat grains very often, when an opportunity arises for holiday fare, I almost always whip up a new recipe for poolside snacking. For July 4th, I attempted to recreate my favorite local pasta salad and was pleasantly surprised with the results. It was crazy easy to prepare and there wasn’t a single bite left over. You’ll need an 8 serving box of pasta shells, a large can of diced tomatoes, chicken stock, feta cheese, fresh basil, olive oil, salt and pepper. Strain your tomatoes and preserve the juice in a large boiler. Add enough chicken stock to cover your pasta, boil and cook until al dente. I like to dice my tomatoes a little smaller (or run them through the food processor), but is totally up to you! Drain your cooked pasta and toss with tomatoes, feta and chopped basil. Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste. You’re welcome.
002 | Disney Vacation Account
This is a random bit of vacation planning advice, but I wish someone had pointed this out to me years ago! Late last summer, I saw a Facebook ad for Disney’s Vacation Account and after a little research, realized that it was the easiest way to guarantee a fully funded Disney trip and there were exactly zero reasons not to sign up. You can use a budget estimator to help calculate the amount of money you’ll need to save — include airfare, accommodations, food, and experiences to get the most accurate estimate for your trip! We’re planning a trip for the fall of 2018 (hello, Alabama football meets Disney World), so I was able to determine exactly how many months we had to save. You can choose from a variety of savings options, but we decided on the weekly option. Every Thursday a set amount is transferred from our personal checking account to our Disney savings account and I can monitor our progress at any time. The money saved doesn’t earn interest (I’m sure Disney is making bank on this service), but it isn’t as accessible as if I set up a savings account of my own. I like knowing my money is “with Disney” since I would feel really guilty about borrowing from my children’s favorite experiences! Your money can be used for all of your Disney fun and anything over and above what you need can be transferred to a Disney Parks gift card for use in the parks once you arrive. Now you want to know the best part? There isn’t a downside. You always have access to your money and can withdraw it to your checking or savings account at any time. It’s also available to spend at any of Disney’s resorts, so if your plans change you can happily use it for something else. It just so happens we’ve decided to take a trip to California over the winter and we’ll be spending a day at DisneyLand. Instead of budgeting another $500 for that trip, I’ll be able to order our tickets from my vacation account with no problem! If you have ever worried about how to afford Disney (every single time, amiright?), then this pretty much solves everything.
003 | School Supplies
I cannot be the only mother who despises school supply shopping, right? Just looking at the list gives me hives. I run into trouble every single year tracking everything down and in addition to the ridiculous amount of money I’m spending, I waste an entire day in Walmart and come dangerously close to losing my sanity. I’m not sure why I’ve never thought of this before, but this year I ordered every single item from Amazon’s School Supply Store (affiliate link). I combined the girls’ lists to see what we needed multiples of and then ordered everything in bulk that I could. I’m not sure it was any cheaper, but it took less than 15 minutes, I only purchased items that qualified for Prime Shipping and a giant box containing EVERYTHING is scheduled to be delivered today.
004 | Serve Day
I haven’t talked much about the specifics of our new church, but I know I’ve mentioned multiple times how happy we are. This past Sunday was our one year anniversary at Highlands and I finally feel like we’re settling in a bit. The girls are starting to make friends and attended summer camp a few weeks ago. We’ve started working through the membership classes and just last weekend we participated in one of the biggest service weekends of the year. One of the things I love most is how community-minded our church is and how it encourages its members to be the hands and feet of Jesus in real and practical ways. Last weekend, all of our affiliated churches joined together for what we call Serve Day. There were hundreds (maybe thousands) of service projects you could join, that allowed you to serve your community in the ways they needed it most. Josh had been thinking of joining a construction project in Birmingham until we discovered a group would be painting at our local high-school. We made a last minute Walmart run for painting supplies and showed up bright and early to give back to our alma mater. We were worried the kids would bail at some point, but they both worked so hard and helped to accomplish far more than we expected. It was so much fun explaining to them why we were working so hard and why it is important as the body of Christ to serve those around us. We were sore and exhausted when we fell into bed that afternoon, but in the best possible way. On Sunday morning, they told us more than 300 churches participated and there were over 22,000 participants from our church alone. How ridiculously cool is that? You can see some of the other projects and ways in which we served here.
005 | Chore Charts
It has taken us most of the summer to establish a real routine for chores and helping out around the house, but we have finally managed a system that works for us. I’m sure we’ll have to tweak things once the kids are back in school, but I think we’re all doing a little better now that they are aware of our expectations and have a clearer picture of their own responsibilities. I’ll be sharing a fun post this afternoon with free printable chore charts and a chance to win a $100 VISA gift card. Make sure to come back and visit!
Be sure to visit April, Natasha & Christina to link up your own Five on Friday post.
