Fun, fun, fun...

So what do we do in Athens for fun? Here's the breakdown:

For me...
Grocery shopping on a budget. For the last two weeks, we've purchased a Sunday paper for coupons and store ads. Then, I make a list of our meals and what we need to buy at what stores. Finally, we all pile into the car to hit the stores. Today, we just did Target, Kroger's, and Publix. Man, I love shopping like this. Get in, get out. Only spend 60 dollars a week. So good.

For Riley...
1. Running around naked at home.
2. Running around period. We planned different race courses inside and out tonight, and she had a ball.
3. Singing, dancing, and putting on shows. See the umbrella number below.
4. Wearing her brother's clothes. Yes, they still fit her!

For Adrian...
1. Climbing in the refrigerator.
2. Chasing balloons.
3. Waking up early...

For Shawn...
Figuring out a way to play Settlers of Catan with two players (and occasionally Riley). Okay, so this one counts for me, too, but it's a little on the dorky side. We've played four rounds in two nights, and the third player (a composite of me, Riley, and Shawn) has won twice. Twice! Still, we have a good time!

Enjoy the pictures, videos, and our dorkiness! I'm off to bed. School starts tomorrow for Shawn, Riley, and Adrian. It's going to be an early, crazy morning.

Newness

Well, we did it! We moved to Athens, GA! We could not have done it without the help of Natasha, Walmir, and our neighbor Craig in G-ville and my parents in Athens. A thousand thanks yous!! And now, we are basically moved into our new place, and our home is ready to be rented. Actually, I think Shawn said it looked nicer than it did when we moved in! All good things! As you can tell by the plethora of exclamation marks, all of this makes me incredibly excited. I cannot believe I am going to be going back to school and teaching college students. Everything is falling into place, and I couldn't be more thrilled with the opportunities we have and our amazing family. There is so much to catch up on, so (surprise, surprise) here comes the list. Enjoy the pictures of our new place, too.

1. In the past two weeks, the air conditioner has broken down twice! Twice. I like it hot, even really hot, but it was too much. Fortunately, our home-owner is great, and he is working on a long-term fix.
2. Riley has started swim lessons at the YMCA. She loves it, too. She's been working on her strokes, diving for rings, swimming through hoola hoops, and having a ball. We are so proud of our little fish. Her coach said she's never seen a kid hold their breath for as long as Riley can.
3. Next to us, there is a rooster and a herd of dogs (okay, four). While Shawn and my dad were moving the furniture in, two of the dogs welcomed themselves into the house, too, and started licking a sleeping Riley. They are sweet dogs, but a little overwhelming for our little ones. And the rooster starts crowing at around 5am. That's fun.
4. We've discovered some great playgrounds so far and a community pool right down the road. This weekend, we're going to check out a baby and kid fair and the farmer's market.

Okay, Adrian is waking up from his nap, so time to upload some pictures. More updates to follow!

**A couple quick notes about the pictures...the outside home and pool pictures are from Gainesville. I took the kids for a quick swim that final morning before we piled in the car to drive up to Athens. The inside home and pool pictures are from Athens. The shelves are my recent purchases from Ikea. Love, love, love them. And the Keurig machine was a going-away/graduation gift from Caroline. Best appliance ever!! Thanks, Caroline!

My Bachelorette Life

For the last two weeks, I have been up in Athens by myself starting my apprenticeship while Shawn and the kids have been packing and playing in Gainesville. The weeks have flown by despite the fact that I felt like part of me was missing. Here's a closer look at what my life as a Bachelorette has been like:

1. Waking up to an alarm in the morning, not tears or squirmy children.
2. Studying Spanish (yes, I am teaching myself how to read Spanish) for hours on end.
3. Writing for hours at a time.
4. Reading three books.
5. Daily (and increasingly lengthening) phone convos with Riley. Man, that girl can chat! I loved getting a full report of her day. Most sentences ended with a mom tacked onto the end. At the end of the talk, I would hear her ask Shawn, "Is that all?" and then she would get back on and say, "That's all." Too cute.
6. A marathon to Ikea for organizational equipment for our new house. Shawn was probably glad it was just me. I looked at EVERYTHING!! But it would have been nice to have his help dragging two carts to the car. To get the bookshelves out of the car at home, I literally had to pull right up to the garage and slide them out.
7. Meals: We don't have a microwave yet, so lunch and dinner are either stovetop pastas or skillet food like hotdogs. It is WEIRD only preparing one meal for one person.
8. Dishes: I go through three bowls, a pot, a frying pan, and silverware. I soak them during the day. Then I wash them at night. What ease!
9. When I want to shower, I can!
10. Nights: I have to admit that nights are tough. I'm alone in a big house, a little ways out of town. Seriously, every sound set me on edge! And I couldn't get over it. Literally, every night I freaked myself out whenever the dishwasher rumbled or the air kicked on. Crazy!
11. I am starting to find my way around town. I have a new route to my parking lot, and I know where Target is! I even drove past the Panera the other day. Good stuff.
12. Oh, and I guess I didn't mention what my furnishings have been. Thanks to my parents, I have an uber-comfortable air mattresses, a butterfly chair, a snack table, a folding chair, and a huge beanbag. And that's it!


But here's the weekend plan. I'm driving back to G-ville tonight, we're packing up the truck tomorrow, and then all of us are coming up to Athens on Sunday. I can't wait!! It has been nice to get through nine chapters of Spanish, tens of thousands of words in various stories and story-starts, three books, and a plan for teaching in the fall. But I miss the little voices. I miss the hugs and holding. I miss running errands with Riley and visiting parks. I miss chasing Adrian around the house and watching him back down stairs. I have missed so much. And I can't wait to start our life in Athens as a family.

A picture update is coming!! Stay tuned!!

Netflix upping the price twice in a year? Really??

I know I have weeks of catching up to do. So much has been happening. But before I do that (hopefully sometime later this week), I need to rant. While eating a bowl of Reese's Puffs for dessert and scanning the Drudge Report online, I clicked on a link to a link that revealed an unsettling circumstance. Netflix will be raising the price on the plan we currently have: one movie at-a-time and unlimited online. Right now, we play 9.99 for this plan. Starting in September, that price will jump six dollars a month.

Are you kidding me?

In January, Netflix informed us that our currently plan, three at-a-time and unlimited online, would see a price increase. We talked to a customer service rep. to see if loyalty meant anything, but apparently being customers since 2004 when Shawn and I got married didn't really matter.

And actually, I was happy with the chance. One movie at a time is far more feasible for our busy lives, and we started saving five dollars a month. A win-win.

Skip to today. Now if we want to keep our plan, we need to think about spending almost six dollars more a month. Fine, I realize that is not a lot of money. The thing is, the economy is in a fragile spot right now, our lives personally will be seeing a lot of flux in the coming months (more on that later), and stock in Netflix has been...SOARING. When Shawn wanted to buy the stock in 2006, it was a whopping 16 dollars a share. Needless to say, we didn't go for it. At the beginning of the year, we considered buying Netflix again when it was a meager 100 dollars a share. Still, we didn't.

Guess where it is at today?

I just checked for you: 291. 291. 291. 291.

So clearly the company and shareholders are doing well. But I wonder if they aren't doing too well. I mean, the world is in financial turmoil, our own country's economic recovery is stalling, and Netflix thinks this is the right time to up the price? Why? At least explain the rationale in the courtesy email I received at 2:35 this afternoon. I thought, maybe it won't apply to me since I have been a member since 2004, and prices have already increased this year. But sure enough when I checked my account (after clicking into a section for see membership terms and details), I see a notice about the upcoming price jump.

I have loved Netflix. I have praised it to my family and my friends. I have urged random people on the street and through Facebook that Netflix is better than TV. It's better than sliced bread. Netflix has brought me Prison Break and Michael Scofield, Weeds and Desperate Housewives, Bones and Jersey Shore. When I can't sleep at 4am, I flip through Netflix. When I should be reading or grading, I'm usually watching Netflix. Netflix taught Riley Spanish (well, through Dora...)!

But now this. I am seriously thinking of canceling my membership. I am seriously thinking about spending 7.99 to sign-up for Hulu Plus. Then, we can Red-Box three movies and still only be at our current expenditure for entertainment: ten bucks.

I don't think I have ever used my blog to rant like this until now. Boy, it feels good!

If you are members and the price hike affects you and you didn't know about it, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Grrrr Netflix. I realize if I cancel my membership, the point I am making is a minute one. They surely have billions of customers by now. But I will share my displeasure with family and friends, random jaywalkers and Facebook friends. Maybe I will write a rambling blog post about it. I may call customer service when the wait time dips below ten minutes to complain (though probably not).

For now, I will question the company's timing and its loyalty to its customers. I will be bitter. I will read tonight (and if I wake up at 4am).

Hulu, here we come? Maybe.