The first part of February we got SNOW!! Yes REAL SNOW!!!
And it stuck!!! It was sooo gorgeous! I was like a kid in the candy store!! Rosco loved the snow and I even took the cats out in it!! Of course we were without power for several hours and other people were without it for the whole weekend but the snow was amazing!! Everything looked soo pretty and I took over 300 pictures! (Of course my sister beat me and took a couple thousand!). It has been years since I've seen snow and never enough to really remember it! My house looks good covered in snow!
30 days til PWYP!! The annual survival camping trip we take each year! I am so excited and I absolutely cannot wait to get there!! It will be so much fun reuniting with friends and enjoying a week away from technology (most of it) and away from drama and stupid people!! Cooking on the campfire, sleeping in the tent listening to the sounds of nature, playing in the creek, kayaking on the lake...and just having the opportunity to do nothing and enjoy it!
Catalyst is continually sooo awesome!! I am incredibly thankful for each person who makes up Catalyst and I'm so thankful they are in my life! I am so thankful that we have a pastor who speaks the truth and who makes us laugh every week at crazy analogies that amazingly reference the TRUTH in ways we'd never have thought! It is a blast on our monthly Famulari's trip too! !(Thats a local pizza joint that we basically take over the first Saturday of the month to fellowship after church!). The people there are so awesome, the food is delicious and its always a night of fun, lots of laughs and good times!! I'm glad we've made it a tradition!
School is okay. I still have a 4.0 GPA but I really only think its because the classes are online and open book. The last class was painfully hard and the teacher was NOT very good!! So far this current class is okay. Mostly excel work which is easy for me as I've worked with MS Office for as long as I can remember!! I'm hoping to be able to take some core credits this year but it will all depend on financial aid. I don't really want to take out too much in loans because my debt to income ratio is too high as it is and I may need to try to refinance the house when my divorce is final. So that means that I am waiting to find out about pell grants. Since I'm a part time student there aren't many scholarships available --- mostly scholarships seem to go to full time students!
Work is...well...work. I can't say it pays the bills but I guess it helps a little bit. I've picked up some odd jobs here and there but I'm looking for something more stable. I'm not looking forward to working 2-3 jobs but its what is going to have to happen. I know exactly what I need to bring home to break even. Hopefully something will start to work out very very soon!!
Well the majority of the drama lately has settled around my house..almost literally. For a while now I've noticed a 'not-so-nice" smell when entering my house and standing in the laundry room or the master closet. So I decided to clean out my tupperware cupboard, which is beside the fridge and on the same wall as my closet. I pull everything out and notice that the back of it looks wet. So Mom comes down to help me look and she sees water at the base of the wall behind the fridge. So we look at the water heater and it is sitting in a puddle of water and the walls around it are wet!!! ARGH!! The only thing we can figure is the water heater or its piping is leaking....it doesn't seem to be from the piping but I guess one can't be sure until the heater is taken out huh? Of course that means that the floor has to be replaced too (oh darn). So I have a friend who will replace both for me, I just have to buy the water heater. The electric company will reimburse me $200 for the heater so I will end up only paying about $100 for it. However finding the time to arrange it is a challenge.
So then I wake up Friday morning and my house is only 60 degrees and my "heat" is blowing ICE COLD FREEZING air!! Full blast and my auxilary heat is one!!! I'm like, what the heck?!?! I turn off the unit and post to facebook asking friends for referrals!~ (I got tons!!) Called one company and the guy comes out and is very sweet and very honest....the system I have is too small for the house, as ancient as can be, and is not worth trying to repair. I have to replace the whole system. Just $3200 (approx)! Pocket change right? Yikes!! So right now I'm managing with no heat in my house and probably will not have AC to start the summer out. May have to invest in a couple of big fans this year! I certainly do not have that money lying around and I cannot imagine how its going to work out. I will go through this summer without AC if I have to but I really dont want to. Guess I'd have to find a window unit or two if it came down to that. No heat is bad enough (although easier to deal with) but no AC? Yikes!
My attitude sucks when I'm beyond stressed and I really do not deal with it very well. I am mopey and moody, and basically have a big pity party! I dont mean to I just dont like chaos and hate it when it cant be fixed without money. I'm not asking to be rich I just want to be able to break even at the end of the month and be able to pay a little bit extra off on debt!!
I REALLY want to get my car paid off!! Then start stashing $$ into savings and work on either the house or the student loans (even though they aren't technically "due" until 6 months after I graduate).
My divorce should be final in the coming months. Its been a long and at times painful journey but God is shaping me through it. Someone asked me a few days ago if I would do it all again knowing what I know now. The simple answer to that is yes, I would. I would because it has made me who I am today. Even knowing all the pain that I've gone through I would still do it over. There are many things I would want to change but overall I would say yes again. Many people still think that I should stay angry at my soon to be ex and should hate him and shun him from the face of the earth but I don't. I don't hate him and I certainly don't wish any harm to him. Yes, I want him to be responsible for his actions and yes, I want the courts to do what needs to be done, but no, I am not going to be childish and hold a grudge. Yes, I was very angry for a long time but somewhere in the last few months God has washed that anger away and whats left in its place is pretty much just a sadness of the reality of the whole situation. Two wrongs don't make a right and there is no need to stay ugly if the two parties can agree to disagree and at least be on speaking terms, or just be polite to each other when needed. So as crazy as some people will think I am, I know that I have come to this crossroads on whether or not to be a "big girl" about it because God is still in control. He is still shaping my life and commanding my heart. Anyway..There is a lot more drama entailed but its probably best if its not broadcasted right now!!
I am going next weekend down to a local mall and auditioning for the Wheel of Fortune Charleston show! I think it would be so cool to play on that show!! I have loved it all my life and used to solve the puzzles long before the contestants! I think I get that from my Nana! :)
Chonda Pierce is coming to Summerville and I can't wait to go see her!! I've heard lots about her and somehow she is actually related to my pastor! And then DAVE RAMSEY is coming to Charleston the next week!! I am so pumped about that!! I am a huge DR fan!! www.daveramsey.com
Well since its after 1 am I suppose thats all for tonight, er this morning!! Going to Magnolia's this afternoon with friends for a local rescue fundraiser, but first got to run out to the store to pick up papers, strawberries and a couple rainchecks!
