Project 365

Day 96: Anywhere Milo is, that's where you'll find Watson

Day 97: Not sure who signed me up for this, or when I got old enough to enjoy this, but I'm very happy with my subscription!

Day 98: Enjoying a beer with Laura in St. Louis 

Day 99: Mallory and powdered sugar do not go well together

Day 100: Tiki makes me almost like cats

Day 101: Mac at Milo had a great time at their puppy pool party

My Masterpiece is Complete!

If you looked at my Project 365 pictures for Day 76, you'll already know I finished the puzzle.  But if you didn't, then.... I FINISHED MY PUZZLE!  All 1,000 pieces of it.  And thank goodness, I didn't lose a single one of those pieces (that was my biggest fear).  Below are some pictures documenting the progress.  Once I get back from Iowa I'm going to find a frame big enough for it so I can glue the whole thing together and keep it, but in the meantime, it's just sitting on my desk.

So excited when this came in the mail!

1,000 pieces sure fills up a box

Started with the border
 

Moved on to the sky and mountains

Worked on the trees

Just the terrible section of rocks left to go

Almost there!

The last remaining gap

The last piece!

Project 365

Day 86: Monster with his blankie

Day 87: These goldens are so sweet

Day 88: Our Teaching American History Grant leaders with Rev. Dr. C.T. Vivian, a well-known Civil Rights leader.  One of the most amazing things about this program has been the people we got to meet.  Vivian was involved in many marches and protests during the movement and worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  He was a fascinating speaker, even at 88 years old!

Day 89: Kemper's Milo is officially AKC registered

Day 90: Giant beetle at the gas station.  Don't know if it was real or not, but I sure wasn't going to touch it to find out!

Day 91: There's nothing cuter than a sleeping Mac

Day 92: Gigantic flower at the pool

Day 93: I love this chunky baby

Day 94: Back to my college weight

Day 95: Had a great time at Amlung's cake tasting party!  This probably cancels out yesterday's picture of my reaching my college weight!

Project 365

This week's update of my Project 365 pictures is more interesting than most.  I just got back from my annual Teaching American History Grant trip.  This was the last trip of a three year program.  The program is a federally funded grant for Social Studies teachers in grades 3 - 12.  Each year, we have a theme that we learn about all year and then we take a trip each summer.  This year's theme was Civil Rights, so we took a bus tour of the Southeast, stopping in Montgomery, AL; Selma, AL; Birmingham, AL; and Memphis, TN.  It was an awesome trip, although I am glad to be home after six days on a tour bus.  To see the rest of the pictures from my trip, you can check out my Facebook album here.

Day 80: Cheering on the Montgomery Biscuits

 We had a free night in Montgomery, so after a delicious BBQ dinner at Dreamland in downtown Montgomery, a few of us walked over to Riverwalk Stadium, home of the Montgomery Biscuits. The Biscuits are a AA minor league team.  We celebrated a victory over the Smokies.

Day 81: Best tour guide ever, sitting at Martin Luther King Jr.'s kitchen table

 We got to tour MLK's parsonage in Montgomery. This woman, Ms. Cherry, was one of the best tour guides of the entire trip.

Day 82: 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.  Site of the bombing that killed four young girls

Day 83: Some good Memphis barbecue with the Emamis

 Nicole and I are both friends with George and Denise Emami.  Formerly from Athens, they now live in Memphis.  We were fortunate enough to have a free night there, so we met up with them at Rendezvous, a famous barbecue restaurant down an alley in Birmingham.  The ribs were delicious!

Day 84: The Lorraine Hotel in Memphis; site of the assassination of MLK.  There has been a wreath hanging outside the balcony of Room 306 since the day after the shooting took place.  Very powerful place to visit.

Day 85: Peabody, my travel companion.  He made a great pillow for our 8 hour drive back home today.

Project 365

Day 71: School is out bonfire

Day 72: Congratulations Matt and Jamie!

Day 73: I didn't know Jenny could look any cooler, but here she is ready for summer

Day 74: Sleeping like a baby

Day 75: Jigzy

Day 76: The last piece!

Day 77: By the pool

Day 78: New planner came in the mail today.  Thanks, Gramma!

Day 79: I hate packing

A Week Gone By and Not a Penny Spent

I survived my week of not spending any money!  I was officially done as of midnight last night, but I was also officially sleeping at midnight last night, so apologies for the delay.  As provided in my rules, I did spend some money to send James a couple of care packages, but nothing for myself, so I would say I made it successfully.  Below are some of the challenges I faced this week...

*Tuesday's catastrophic dinner challenge (which ultimately ended up a success)
*Watching my friends eat lunch at Ruby Tuesdays while I drank water and ate the free bread
*Not buying popcorn at the movie
*Not buying the Mat Kearney album on iTunes.  This one was close.  I have money in my iTunes account, so I didn't even think about it, and was about to click "BUY" before I remembered that that technically counts as a gift card, and I banned gift cards.
*Eating hot dogs and leftover pasta salad every day for lunch

Really, though, these were all very minor difficulties.  Ultimately, I think this was a really good challenge for myself. I have a tendency to buy myself treats and lunch out, especially in the summer when I have time to kill.  This exercise was really good, though, and I think it will help me not blow through my spending money this summer.  I believe I may have learned a bit of restraint through the whole thing.  All in all, another success!