Dumps

Have you ever been so $@#*%!$ frustrated and just plain burnt out that you're in a crappy mood (the dumps) and can't snap out of it?! Well, if I'm not there, I'm damn close.

It started last Monday with working until 6:15. PM. A nearly 12-hour day. And then Tuesday. I left work a little after 7. PM. A 12+ hour day. So much for doing anything once I got home! Then on Wednesday, my nephew and his mommy left for Florida. I haven't gone a week without seeing him yet, and tomorrow marks day #10. Friday was my half day and I was supposed to be work-free at 12:30 after a lunch at Newton's, but I had some things to finish up once I got home and didn't log off the computer until after 4:00. Some half day!

I had this great idea to move the bed from Jami's basement to my spare bedroom while she was in Florida, so I spent most of Friday evening going through boxes and boxes of garbage stuff. I was tossing almost everything I came across until I found some cards. Cards from my mom's baby shower when she was pregnant with me. The first thing I said was "where the hell did these come from?!" And then I opened this:

A card from who else but my great grandma Eunie. My angel. The one person who knows just what I need, when I need it the most. The one person who can make me remember who I am and what I stand for, even if she's in Heaven now.

Here's to starting February off right. To celebrate a month full of love, to take a much-needed weekend trip, to get things crossed off of my 'to-do' list, to sticking to my workouts and to focus on myself.

Oh, and to hopefully not get called for jury duty on Valentine's Day. ;)

One Year Anniversary

Today, January 20, 2012, marks my one year anniversary. Of? This blog. One year ago today, I wrote my first blog entry. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Putting my thoughts out there for the whole world, or a handful of people, to see.

One year ago...

...I was a full-time college student. Working towards my Bachelor's degree with just five short (or long) months until graduation. Pulling all-nighters, aka staying up past 2:00 AM during the week, to finish a paper. I was procrastinating. Surprise, surprise!

...I was living with my cousin Jami and in her belly, my nephew Taysen. I was planning my first baby shower for her, to be held exactly one month later.

...I was working two part-time jobs. I was generally an administrative assistant at John Deere PEC in the Drivetrain Engineering department. I was worried about finding a replacement for my position come May. I was planning the CoreTech Conference, a meeting with over 150 worldwide attendees, which would later turn out to be the most successful Core Technology Conference to date, with the highest attendance rate they've seen in years. I was a receptionist at a local insurance company, studying my butt off to take my personal lines insurance test over Spring Break.

...I was a daughter. A friend. A classmate. A sister. A niece. A co-worker. A cousin. A granddaughter.

Today, I am...

...a college graduate

...a payroll analyst

...a homeowner

...a daughter, a friend, an aunt, a niece, a sister, a co-worker, a cousin, a granddaughter

...independent.

Missing

Once again, I've disappeared from blog life. And I really don't have an excuse for it, except for the fact that I had a week off of work for Christmas shutdown. I tried sitting down a few times to work on something, but I realized I was doing a lot of complaining. Complaining about how I feel like I do so much and get so little in return. Complaining about student loans. Complaining about why my life isn't like so-and-so's. Complaining about why there aren't more hours in the day or days in a week. And who wants to read that?

I don't have a room in my house that I feel is complete enough to post a picture, so I apologize. I've searched Lowe's and Menards, I plan on going to Home Depot and Blain's and I've surfed Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams on the web to find paint colors for the kitchen and living room. Man, is that frustrating! I find one color I think I like, but it doesn't match my cupboards or it's too dark or what have you. I have decided I want grey on my long wall that runs from the kitchen to the living room... and I am NOT changing my mind on that one! I wanted orange in the kitchen, but I'm now considering other colors. I want something fun and bright and unexpected (since my favorite colors happen to be black, white and grey...and blue). I have also decided that I'm going to paint the smaller wall behind my TV. Only I want something that flows from whatever color I choose in the kitchen, but darker. I'll try and take a closer picture of the wall this weekend and post it.

Other than that, I got my dining room table set up over shutdown (thanks to the best Dad ever!) and my washer & dryer are being delivered tomorrow. That pretty much takes care of the "big" purchases. Now I'm focusing on the wall behind my couch, my bedroom, a few ideas from Pinterest, finding tall enough bar stools, figuring out my garage code, going through all the junk in the spare bedroom and basement and the list goes on...

P.S. Look for some more exciting posts soon..with pictures!

Shutdown Projects

Today was my first 'real' day of Christmas Shutdown. For the other 98% of John Deere, Christmas Shutdown began last Friday. I was, er, lucky enough to be one of the few that had to work the Monday after Christmas. After a very early start, which included going to work in my pajamas, I was home by 2:00. I finished taking down my Christmas tree and a few other decorations, had a few visitors stop by to see my home and not more than ten minutes after they left, I did something stupid. I went shopping. The day after Christmas. I don't even shop Black Friday! After getting my oil changed, Target and Hobby Lobby were the only two stores I could stand going to before it started raining and I decided that Starbucks was in fact just what I needed.

At Hobby Lobby, they had these cute wooden/cardboard letters on sale. I picked up a couple and then went to the paint section. After picking out three colors of paint that match my bedroom, I wandered the store and ended up in the yarn aisle. Boom. Light bulb. I had seen yarn wrapped things on Pinterest, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. I bought some "practice yarn" and ended up going back to Hobby Lobby today to get more.

The finished project! I'm pretty excited about it, especially where I'm going to put it..stay tuned!

Another great idea I had this morning was to make a "Thankful Jar." Just before reading The Vintage Pearl's blog about "a blessings jar", I thought it would be neat to have a clear jar full of colorful paper - with an idea, a word (or words), Bible verses, quotes, notes, something I did that day, something/someone I'm thankful for, etc. I'm planning to start this on New Year's Day, but I don't know if I can wait...

Homeowner

I have officially been a homeowner for ten days. This past weekend, I had my first breakdown, reality check, whatever you want to call it, as a homeowner. As I've previously mentioned, I'm horrible at making decisions. I change my mind a thousand and one times. Today I found out that my student loan payments are almost equal to my house payments. OUCH. That means they're higher than I was told. Surprise, surprise. While I figured I'd be paying $350/month just in loans, let's just add on another $100. Why the hell not, right? It's not like I don't have anything else to pay for. Yes, I've had some help from my parents, family and friends with housewarming gifts, groceries, etc., I'm not the spoiled little brat some people think I am.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my home. I LOVE my neighbors.. well, most of them. ;) But a tiny little part of me wishes that I would have thought this through a little more. Saved a little more money, maybe. Made different "big" purchases. I also need to realize that I'm not going to get everything I want. My basement won't be finished until at least next winter, if not later. My dining room table is a card table and chairs that my aunt and uncle had in their first home, 20-some years ago. Because you know what? Life goes on.

Here's a sneak-peek of my home...

I used my camera's 'panoramic' setting to get the kitchen/dining room/living room all in one shot. My kitchen looks a little funny, the garbage lid is open, I have too many pairs of shoes in the entryway, my counters are a disaster and my TV looks tiny but you get the idea. ;)

My computer is taking forever to upload photos so this is all you get for now. Hopefully this will motivate me to write some more this week...and of course add some more pictures! I will say, though, I have been on the computer significantly less than I thought I would be. I'm busy cleaning and picking up or finding a home for something packed away in my spare room. Who would have thought. :)

Happy Monday.  Have a great week!

Reality

Yep. Two days. Wow. This will probably be my last post before I move in on Friday, so look for pictures of the new place soon!

After work this afternoon, I met my dad at Best Buy to look at TV stands. I found one I LOVE (and dad loved too!) We then went over to the refrigerators...sore subject. A couple weeks ago, I went with him to look at fridges and we thought we had one picked out. It was on sale for $499 - top freezer, stainless steel, plain ol' fridge. The plan was to get the fridge, along with a new 40" (or bigger ;) TV. After being exactly like my dad.. aka stubborn.. we left with nothing. I went that weekend with mom to get the fridge, however it was no longer on sale. No big deal, except that I didn't really like it. It showed every single fingerprint. So, I bought a different one - French style doors like I wanted - only it was about double the price of the other fridge I told my dad I was getting. Oops.

Back to the point - I showed my dad the fridge I got, and he showed me another one (same brand, only 3 inches/6 cubic feet bigger, plus a water dispenser) that was on sale for about the price I paid for the smaller one. After going back and forth about a hundred times, determining how much bigger 6 cubic feet is (not much), opening and shutting doors and drawers, thinking "is it really worth an extra $100 for this?" and asking my dad a dozen times "what should I do?" ... I decided I wanted to switch. Keep in mind, I am one very indecisive person.

We went to Customer Service, waited in line, returned the one fridge, and 15 minutes later I hear "I'm not showing we have any here or in any warehouse in the area. It won't even let me backorder it." WHAT?! I look at my dad. I look at the cashier. I look at my dad again. First of all, how do you have a sale on a fridge, but not have any available?! Duh. At the same time, my dad and I said "floor model!" My dad asked the guy if we could buy the floor model. YEP. Not only did I get the last single-garage condo in the development, I got the last Samsung refrigerator at Best Buy. I think it was meant to be. ;)

I have to admit, I haven't been too excited about moving the past couple weeks. The thought of literally being on my own and having more bills (debt) than I can keep track of scares the living shit out of me. Things will be tight for awhile, and I won't have everything I want right away (or ever for that matter ;) but I made sure before I even looked into anything that I could afford it. And to be honest, I never imagined I'd be where I am right now.

Buying a condo at 24 years old. Six months after college graduation. A full-time job at John Deere. In a department I wasn't even remotely interested in, nor did I have the experience in.

God works in mysterious and wonderful ways, which we'll never know why or how. But that's the way it's supposed to be...and all you can be (and all I am) is unbelievably thankful and blessed.

Cyber Monday

My "big" Cyber Monday purchase? This 'pearl nest ring' from The Vintage Pearl. I've ordered a bracelet and necklace (+1 for my aunt!) from there and I absolutely love them. I've liked this ring since they first added it on the website, but I never had enough guts to just buy it. I'm not a huge jewelry person, nor have I ever worn a ring in my life, but I like how simple and pretty it is. Plus, I got a pair of 'pearl drop earrings' as a bonus! I figure it's a good Christmas gift...since I don't have my ears pierced! ;)