Movie Review: Moonrise Kingdom

Have you heard of this movie? The other weekend a friend of ours asked us if we wanted to see Moonrise Kingdom and neither MG or I knew what the heck it was. And then it seemed like we kept seeing the commercials/previews for it everywhere.

After seeing that it had a rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, we thought we'd see it this weekend to beat the heat.

It's a love story between two kids who are trying to be together despite obstacles. It is a little odd at times, but there are some funny parts and the relationship between the two is cute.

It kind of has a Royal Tenenbaums feel to it (like in terms of it's oddities and it's picture quality).

Overall, I would say it's definitely cute. It has a great cast with Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, Bill Murray and Frances McDormand. 

Would I recommend seeing it in the theater? Maybe. It's not an action packed film by any means so if you wait to Netflix it, you won't be missing much watching it at home. But, if you feel like going to the movies, it's also a good one to choose.

Here's the trailer in case you haven't seen it:

Have you seen it? If so, what'd you think? If not, are you interested in seeing it?

Painting: COMPLETE!

....unless we decide to do the bathroom....but if we do that, it won't be for a while. We're painted out!

We finally decided to tackle the bedroom this weekend and get the painting finished. On Friday I taped off the room during the day....almost 2 hours later, we were almost ready to go (I couldn't move all of the furniture to get it taped all the way but did the majority of it).

Saturday we got to work, and only had to make one run to Home Depot during the painting for another gallon of paint so we could finish the job. It took a few hours, but the end result is awesome! It's no longer an insanely bright room in the mornings (preventing me from sleeping in) which is also helped by the addition of some darker curtains from my apartment (thanks, Genna!)

I originally got the idea for the color from something I saw on Pinterest:

Here are the before/after shots:

Cooper decided to help by laying on the bed and watching us

So, what do you think? The color is called "Slate Grey" from Behr, kind of a blueish/gray, and it honestly feels a lot more "romantic" in there, especially with the curtains matching the darker color of the wood in the room (even tho you can't really tell in the pic since my camera didn't really pick that up). It makes it a lot more muted during the mornings when you wanna sleep in, but pulling the curtains back, the room still gets plenty of light if we want it. 

We've talked about doing crown molding on the ceiling to make it look even better (and hide some of our paint oopsies), which would make it look even more like the inspiration photo.

I'm really proud of this one since it totally came from a photo on-line that we pulled off ourselves and made a reality. So fun!

Hope you guys had great weekends and accomplished some things, even if it was just having fun! :)

Friday Confessions

Happy Friday! I'm linking up with Leslie @ A Blonde Ambition for Friday Confessional!

I confess that...

....I haven't worked out at all this week. On the other hand, I've been packing and moving almost every day which includes up and down three flights of stairs and a lengthy walk to the trash chutes and the bulk trash area. Needless to say, I've sweat my fair amount and I don't feel too guilty about it.

....I now feel like I owe my old school NOTHING. I'd set up yesterday at 4:30 as a time to have a phone call with my old principal to discuss the reasons why I'm leaving. When she still hadn't called (or emailed) by 6pm, I wanted to send an email saying "You want to know why? This is one of the reasons!" Ugh. Not regretting my decision, in the slightest!

....once I'm done moving everything out of my old apartment, I have NO idea what I'm going to do with myself for the rest of the summer.

....I really wanted to shut off all of the utilities to my apartment early, despite the fact that the bitch my roommate is still there. It would be some nice payback for all of the crap she's done. I didn't do it. But, thinking about it gives me some satisfaction :)

....it made me smile the other day when MG said that living together has been fun :)

....I took a picture on my phone of a photo proof on the computer from our "family" photo session at the shore (hence why there is "proof" across them). This is one of my favorites of us:

And one of the group:

This one is more clear in the actual picture but I did the best I could with using a cell phone #ghettofab

They are just the proofs cuz we haven't ordered anything yet, but I couldn't resist sharing since I think they came out really great!

And, as always, I'm now off to take care of some of the last odds and ends at my old place. SOOOO close to being done (thank goodness!) and out of there!

Have a great weekend!

It's Ok Thursday...

Are you all recovered from your 4th of July celebrations? I spent the day at the pool and then grilling out with a bunch of people....so much fun!

Enough about that for now, though. I'm linking up with Amber for It's OK Thursday!

Today, it's ok that....
.....I totally lost track of what day it was yesterday. I really thought it was Sunday because of all the fun MG and I had had over the past day and a half. Plus, being off of work for the summer kind of throws that off too. #teacherproblems
.....on Tuesday night MG and I went out with our friends to the restaurant we had our first date at 11 months ago for the first time since that day. This time, we happened to sit at the booth across from the one we had sat in. We both reveled at how good the food was, and how we hadn't really been paying attention to it on that first date because of how focused we were on impressing the other :) It was definitely fun to reminisce about that special day.
....my old principal wants to talk to me about my reasons for not coming back to my old school this upcoming year and I'm kind of nervous about it. All of my friends are telling me to just be 100% honest, but that's hard to get my mind around when I've been holding things in for 2 years. I guess I have nothing to lose at this point...
....I'm glad I'm done selling things on Craigslist from my old apartment. It's a pain in the butt to schedule things with people, and also to deal with the whackjobs who inevitably show up. 
.....I'm a little ticked at the power companies around here. My parents have been without power for 6 days now, during some of our hottest and most humid days. My dad's been doing better since his heart attack but the stress of everything (and the heat) has not been doing him well. I know the power companies are working hard...just wish they could get things done a bit faster!
....I found it a little funny when I took Cooper out last night, and he heard the fireworks. He immediately turned around, ran down the walkway and stood by the door waiting for me to open it. Someone had no interest in doing his "business" after that. 

He's still my cute little pup tho :)

Alright, I'm off to another morning/day of apartment cleaning. Today is "Fill up the car with stuff for donation" day. And, I have a TON!

Have a great day!

WILW and Oh How Pinteresting-4th of July Edition

Happy Wednesday AND Happy 4th of July!!! I hope you all have fun 4th plans--MG and I have plans to cook out with some of our friends which should be a lot of fun!

Since it's Wednesday, let's do some WILW and Oh How Pinteresting with Jamie and Michelle!

I'm loving that we have fun 4th plans with our friends! Nothing beats pool time and a yummy cookout with good friends!

I'm loving P!nky for coming by my place on Monday when another person from craigslist came by, to make sure I didn't become the victim of a Craiglist killing. We didn't anticipate the guy bringing his wife and his 1 and 3 year olds....let's just say, it was interesting. My girl rocks for being so awesome and helpful!

I'm loving that my old roomie and bestie, Genna, is coming up to see me next week! And we realized the other day that the day she is coming is the exact day that we moved in together two years ago. Full circle!

I'm loving that I'm ALMOST done moving out of my old place completely. Thank goodness!

I'm loving that I have a new job to look forward to next school year! and I'm loving all of the support and congratulations messages I got yesterday about my new job! Totally feeling the love from you all :)

And, as always, I'm loving Pinterest!

This week I've been pinning...

Cute outfit for the 4th....maybe with white shorts instead of pants since it's H-O-T here!

Skinny Poolside Dip   Skinny? Pool? Dip?
 Those might be 3 of my favorite words!

Roasted Shrimp, Lemon, and Fresh Thyme  mmm...I want this at our cookout!

Feeling the love!

Red Fruit punch, Gatorade, Diet Sprite/7-up. Fun 4th of July drink!
(esp if you add some adult liquid in there!)

 And lastly....when you're celebrating this holiday, just remember this important piece of advice that might save your life:

hehe, so true!

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July!

BIG NEWS!!!

The day is finally here! I can let you all in on my big news!

Drum roll.............

I HAVE A NEW JOB!!!!

Yes, despite all odds, I was able to get back into the county that I used to work for. There were 6 spots open in the entire county (and it's a LARGE county), and I got one of them. The day that I interviewed. Before they were even officially offering jobs.

Y'all, I rocked my interview. I went in calm, cool and collected (probably due to the many pep talks from my friends and loved ones in the days leading up to it--thanks guys!! :). I answered their questions without much or any difficulty. 

One of the last questions I was asked was "What is your passion about speech pathology? What keeps you going day-to-day?"  And my answer was simple: When a kid has been struggling with something, especially one who's been down on themselves and saying it's "too hard"...when they finally  get it, that's what I love. To see a kid so proud of themselves. Those small moments of joy after the hard work. Love!

After that, the head of the department said "I wish we had taped this interview" and the other supervisors nodded. So, I sheepishly asked "For a good reason, or a bad one?" and they all laughed. 

She said that it was obvious that school-based therapy is in my blood and that this is what I'm meant to do. She said that it's clear that I've taken what I've learned over the years and made it my own.

You guys, I can't tell you how long it's been since I've felt praise from someone in my work environment. And to hear it from the head of the Speech Department who's in charge of hundreds of speech pathologists?! Wow!

After the interview, when they said they were going to recommend me to be hired, my old supervisor (who had been in the interview) said to me, "We've interview over 40 people, with 30 more to go, and 6 positions open. You should be very proud of yourself!"

I'm on top of the moon. While I will be taking a pay cut, instead of getting a pay raise, I will be in a MUCH more supportive environment, with people who appreciate what I do, who I can lean on for support. Money can't buy happiness, and I've been miserable at my old job. I don't know what school I will be at just yet, but I know my supervisor is looking out for me. It's nice to finally feel like I have that again.

I let my old job know yesterday that I will not be returning. I feel bad giving them late notice on this, but I need to do what's right and best for me. No one else will look out for me, but me.

Thank you to all of you for all of your supportive comments along the way! I'm so glad to have had it to help me get through the tough times. Hopefully in the coming year I won't need it as much, or at all! *fingers crossed*

So, there you have it. That's my news! Jenn's got a new J-O-B! :)

Weekend Review

Happy Monday! Did you all survive the crazy weather this weekend (if you were in the way of it)? Friday night hit us with a HUGE crazy storm....it was worse than any hurricane storm we've ever had here, and all we heard from the weather people was "scattered storms." Uh, let me tell you, there was NOTHING scattered about this storm....other than the tree limbs after it was over. Our power was going off and on but we never lost it (thankfully!) and were one of seemingly few people who had power and AC during the 100+ temps.

But, we woke up to this:

See that car completely covered by the tree? That's where I normally park, and since that guy was there,  I parked right behind him instead. Thankfully! I still ended up with some damage to my car that I'm going in tomorrow to get assessed, but not nearly the amount that happened to the guy in front of me.

There were telephone polls that had split in the middle of the pole, trees ripped out by their roots....insanity. We walked by the complex's pool and there was a chair that made it over the pool gate and several pool chairs IN the pool. 

So much for scattered storms, right? I just hope everyone without power gets it back soon if they haven't already.

MG and I had a winery trip planned with a bunch of friends on Saturday. We had a party bus reserved for 13 of us for 5 hours and somehow, despite all of the lack of electricity, road blockages, etc we made it! We hit two wineries in Virginia and they were both great!

The first one we went to was Winery at Bull Run. It's an up and coming, new winery, but our wine guy was great and the wines were really good.

Part of our group at the first winery tasting

MG and I on the grounds of the first winery

We enjoyed some great wine, and hung out on the grounds for a bit at the first winery where we enjoyed some cheese and delish sangria (even the guys had the sangria!) We went to the second winery, Paradise Springs Winery. I liked this place a little bit better because it had an outdoor deck with live music outside. We got a glass with our tasting and MG and I bought a bottle of the 2010 Viognier:  

Yummy!!!

Sunday was spent trying to stay cool and get some errands done. And today I'm back to continuing to pack up my apartment (fingers crossed I can get a lot done today so I can be done with this nonsense!)

I hope you all had great weekends!

Come back tomorrow for my announcement!! :)