decision made

This morning I scraped my windows in barefeet. It was an interesting sensation running back inside and being unable to feel anything below my ankles. I'm not sure I could complete this task in Montana but I was proud of myself for stupidly doing it in Washington.

Yesterday it seems to have been nearly officially decided that I will be moving to the west side of Washington after graduation. Right now it's a lot safer for us to be somewhere with a little more security than up and moving to a state where we know no one (California), don't have jobs, don't have a ton saved up...So it'll be Washington. I know Nathan really wanted to live in San Diego and he had me pretty sold on the idea. But he is the one who said he thought Washington would be better and I am proud of him for making a very hard but responsible decision.

I could have gone either way so I was waiting for him to wear the pants in this decision.

And now...I am thinking extremely seriously about buying a home after graduation instead of throwing away an estimated $1500 on rent each month. I'm hoping because we're exploring this idea now it could be fairly feasible for the near future. We shall see.

In an attempt to save money I am getting my hair cut and highlighted at the beauty school today. I will sign my life away to new students who may or may not leave me with a purple pixie cut.

frozen

Recently I came to the realization that nothing in the freezer belongs to me. Well, except one container of ice cream and one frozen pizza. Other than that it is all my roommate's. This bothers me for two reasons: 1) There is no room for my stuff even if I wanted anything...which is an issue I'm sure could be worked out if said space was actually needed. 2) I have no food on days like today when it's already late and I just want something easy. Or even hard, whatever, just some FOOD. I am craving corn right now...and have none. Stir fry...not going happen. Chicken or some other sort of MEAT? Nothing. How did I let this happen? I'll tell you: graduate school. I don't have time for food. I have time for sandwiches or soups that can be quickly tossed into my backpack for later. I have time for a bowl of ice cream simply because I'm exhausted at the end of the day and it's all I'm craving. Oy.

I would go to the grocery store right now and stock up simply because I don't want to find myself empty-handed the next time I reach into the freezer...But I'm not going to. Class got cancelled tonight and for once I just want to enjoy this thing called "free time" at home.

I want to make a bunch of good stuff and freeze it. Then it can be easily accessed for a 30 minute or less meal. I like those meals. I can't even tell you how badly I want the next 6 months 3 weeks and 6 days to pass so my life can finally fit into the semi-normal category.

My dog smells like dirt but there is something completely endearing to me about this smell. It makes him seem ten times cuter all of a sudden. I don't know why. Lately I've found myself loving him more than I thought possible. We might have to board him for a few days around New Year's and I actually got a little verklempt when I started thinking about leaving my baby there...when did I become this type of pet owner? I didn't love him like this when I went to clean up my car yesterday and could not even begin to get all of his stupid white hair out of there...And his nose smudges all over the window and his slobber on the dashboard. Why do I love him so much?

towed

Damn my car. I stayed late at work and decided to just go straight to class instead of head home in between. I was on the phone with my brother as I walked out the door and closed the locked door behind me before realizing I didn't have my keys with me. Our office is locked three doors deep so there was no way back in and we were closed...So the one person I think was there was definitely uninterested in answering my pounds on the door. Luckily I have a spare key stuck under my car so I got it out and decided I'd just get the rest of my keys in the morning. But as I turned the key, my car refused to start. Ughhhh. It was turning over but not starting completely. The lights and radio would all come on but no car.

I called AAA and they sent someone to jump me but clearly it wasn't a battery problem. So he suggested I call AAA back for a tow truck. Ughhh. I waited two hours for all of these people to come and go. Luckily my roommate came to get me and kept me warm in her working car. I had it towed a few blocks to the Toyota service department which I'll call in the morning to find out how many more dollars I can shell out for this thing. I JUST got it back Sunday after having the brakes fixed for at least $450. This is killing me. My dad said the engine looked like a 90 year old engine too so my grandpa cleaned it for me. What the helllllll. I just want a brand new car that works exactly as planned. It's not even like my car is old. It's a 2001. Our 1993 van never had any problems even close to this when I was driving it. Crap.

Our office does emergency car repair loans for our clients. I may be applying for one myself. Kill me now.

doggy door

This blog is a terrible representation of the blogging I actually do. I know I keep saying I'm going to cut and paste from my regular (and unaccessible by people I know...because sometimes it's easier that way) blog and put them here. And I really am going to make a point to do that now.

My mom came over this weekend and gave me back my car-brakes fixed. I have no idea how much these new brakes are costing since my dad paid and I will pay him back. I want to just get it all paid for fast so I'm not having debt looming over me...But then again having that extra money in my account is always nice too...

I went to PetSmart this weekend to try and find a doggy door for my son. They were $189 and looked a bit difficult to install myself. Nathan is insisting on buying it himself anyway but I thought I could at least look. I think we'll try for some cheaper alternatives at Home Depot but we need something soon! I know it's bad but I leave the sliding door open just enough for him to get out during the day while I'm gone. Not only is this a bit unsafe but it invites all the varmints in the neighboorhood to enter my nice warm home and eat my face when I'm sleeping. I'm not really looking forward to that part.

My roommate Alisha and I are becoming Girl Scout leaders. I'm stupid for adding another thing to my full plate but I can't help but think this one will be a fun one. And I'm hoping it comes with cookies...

I'm trying to preoccupy myself until noon so I can eat my leftovers from Tomato Street (please eat there if you ever visit Spokane: my most favorite Italian food ever) but I don't know how much longer I can wait. I have a thing about eating lunch at noon instead of earlier. I think if I eat earlier I just keep snacking versus just waiting and eating the meal a little later. I don't know if it works at all but let me believe it does.

This weekend I decided if faced with the option I would take choose school ending tomorrow versus a million dollars. I think we're just over 7 months and 3 weeks away from the end but I am SOO ready to be out of school and into the world. Plus it comes with finally living in the same town as my boyfriend and making a living wage instead of being a poor college student...Those things are worth way more than $1,000,000 to me. Please come quickly.

tired

It's 8:00pm and I am so excited for bed. I did the reading for one of my classes so I feel like I've put in enough time on school work and can call it a night. I plan to crawl into my bed with the dog and a magazine and see how long my eyes stay open. I have no idea where the tiredness came from.

I interviewed for my job today and I'll find out tomorrow what they decided. Everyone has already told me I "don't need to worry" so I'm not. But I would still just like it to be confirmed that I'm a regular employee now and not temporary.

My friend Whitney was in town with her husband so we had lunch together. She is part of my group of high school best friends so I was so excited to see her. That group of friends was the best I've ever had so being with her made me miss it all. Her poor husband had to sit and listen to us talk about who's doing what as far as high school classmates go but he was a good sport. Seeing my married friends always makes me want to fast forward life though. Even though I'm working my master's I feel like I'm behind the times and still in school compared to others who are advancing their lives. It's dumb I know but I think I'm just sick of school!

My mom is coming here this weekend to trade cars. When I went home for my great grandpa's funeral I took my car in to have the tires rotated and was told the rear brakes were so bad I needed to have them fixed before I could drive my car. Because I was there for such a short amount of time my dad insisted I leave the car there and take a different one. Thus, I headed home in soccer mom style (mom's van). I have no idea how much all this is going to end up costing me, especially since the realized the front brakes are a mess too. I think the parts are about $450 and then my grandpa put them in. Even so, the last thing I want to do is spend any extra money on this stuff... Ugh. It was charged to my dad's account with the mechanic though and he said there isn't a rush to pay him back, so that helps. I'm thinking half now and half a little later will at least be a little more manageable.

This means no seeing Nathan this weekend and I am missing him like crazy...But I think we can manage. This weekend together was a good one, another reminder of how head over heels I still am. I love that feeling. Nine months this weekend and it's still there, life is good.

Tomorrow when I go to the gym I'm getting signed up for spinning classes and then preparing to sweat my ass off 3 days a week during my lunch time. I will come back to work red-faced and sweaty but I'm going to get a workout and get my money's worth

a home

What if I bought a house right now? This economy is fairly perfect for a homebuyer...There's all kinds of homes on the market to choose from, the prices keep lowering because no one will buy and interest rates are subprime and still dropping. I just wish I knew for certain where we'll be next year. I think San Diego is nearly a for sure but there's no guaranteeing something else can't come up in the next 10 months. And I'm locked in a lease here so it'd be dumb to buy anything here...I'd love to buy in Seattle but if we go to San Diego and never want to leave that's a waste of a home. But really...if I bought a home now and then turned around and sold it years down the road when the market gets better...I could make a good profit. And even without the profit part I could probably save a ton buying a home now than in 3 years when things are back to normal. I don't know, something to think about.

It's also time to think about savings accounts and spending less on "wants" and socking more into an emergency fund for later. I like to think I've got good job security especially since more and more people are falling into the "poor" "homeless" and "low income" categories and that's who I work with...BUT most of the places I work are funded by grants who are only available if the rest of the stars align in the business world. So we rely on other businesses and the government to do well so we can. Makes me a bit nervous. I refuse to go back to school again to try to change my career. In part because I am so over school and will have put in over 18 years and also because I love social work with all my heart and will not give it up because the economy is bad. I have faith it'll get better eventually and in the mean time I know I can creatively make do.

I worry about Nathan's job in the travel industry. Expedia so far is doing okay because people are still traveling, especially corporate travel...But I just fear one day they will begin their job cuts and slowly work their way to him. Really he'll be the last to be cut since he is an integral part of keeping Expedia online, literally, so I think he's fine. But I still worry.

My mom has great job security as a medical assistant but my dad owns a business as a cabinet maker. Things are still fairly steady but usually new cabinets come with new homes, buildings and construction and all that is put on hold right now. My parents are building a new cabin as we speak. They've saved up a lot for it and it should be fine...But even so it's a scary prospect at this time. The cabin is going up incredibly fast since the construction company has very few other jobs. This part is great for us but I can't help but feel awful for the company, especially since it's owned by a family friend and he has had to lay off nearly all of his employees.

Oh life.

money money money money

I have become so aware of money lately now that I'm doing financial counseling 40+ hours a week. When I don't have anything to do at work I read blogs and websites about financial planning and debt management and whatnot. It's incredibly interesting to me. I have always loved budgeting and planning my money out but I don't have the recommended 3-6 months in savings as an emergency fund, I have not started on my retirement and I've got debt including credit cards and loans. But the more aware of it I become, the more excited I am to begin working on all of it. I can't wait to build up my savings account, starting them for things like an emergency fund, a wedding, a home purchase...I'm excited to be able to put money away towards those things. It's hard while I'm still in school but it's all on the horizon and I like planning it all out.

Of course with my budgeting comes a clothing budget. I know myself well enough to know that I will spend money on clothing every month because it's just what I do. It's my addiction. So instead of attempt to stop it, I can at least try to control it. I have no idea what my budget will be this year but I am already dreaming of my back-to-school shopping spree...It's coming soon!

Nathan is coming here this weekend. It's a pretty short trip since he'll get here Friday night and leave Sunday afternoon. Sometimes I want to tell him not to waste the gas because it's so expensive right now but both of us are too busy to take much time off anyway so we might as well take what we can get. I cannot wait to be in the same place all the time. Less than 10 months left...If I could fast forward time right now I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I have Nathan's dog, Scrappy (I guess I should say "our" dog because that's how he's referring to him now) for a while now since he moved into a smaller apartment in downtown Bellevue. He's a snuggler and loves to see me everytime I walk in the door so it's not like this is hard work by any means. Plus he forces me to go for walks so it's good excercise for both of us.