A wonderful weekend...

I will say that no matter how much I miss C, I don't sit around and whine.

Friday night I spent the even pulling weeds and reading Emma.

Saturday, I went to the gym and ran 4.25 miles. Then I dropped boxes off at a friend's apartment. He's moving back home. His wife, one of my close friends, moved back about a month ago. She didn't like Vegas at all. Kind of a shame. Never really gave it a chance. Then I came home and worked in the yard some more. Lots of yardwork, but it looks good! Went to bed early to get up early. I also cleaned the entire house. It looks so good!

Today, woke my butt up at 5:30 in the morning to head to a 5k. I won a door prize there: tickets to an advance screen of Toy Story 3 and a dvd of a movie. Then after the 5k we went to IHOP and then to Cactus Joe's for a little shopping for our yards. I bought a cute jade plant to replace some flowers that were just too far gone. It's on the front porch now with the other surviving plants. The jade only cost me $5.

Came home and I'm pretty wiped. I watched a movie and chilled out and then finished reading Emma. I watered my plants and talked to the neighbor. He's an interesting person. Reminds me a lot of my dad.

I've been talking about running alot lately. I've been training for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run. Unfortunately, two weeks before my race my left hip has been painfully sore. I'm a little concerned. Normally, I would take it easy, but I just can't right now. Talked to a friend who runs marathons and she told me lots of ibprofen. I'm hoping lots of stretching helps too.

So...all in all. Good weekend.

C arrives tomorrow and hopefully we'll talk. I miss the conversations and random texts. I really want to see him next weekend. The next weekend I'll be in Oceanside. Here's to hope! :)

Interesting day...

Went to the Dentist today. Was supposed to have a filling put in. That turned into crown. Not a fan of what I feel in my mouth. I miss the grooves of my tooth. No more sugar for me. It also cost me $500. They wanted to do all the fillings, but that's $1000. I'm postponing it until I'm more in control of what happening with my finances.

I went bowling tonight with coworkers. It's my Thursday ritual for the next 12 weeks. Yes, I'm in a league. It's fun. It's active, somewhat. haha

Big plans for the weekend?

I'm pulling weeds, running, and then walking a 5k with a bunch of 50 year old women. Should prove to be fun.

I don't really plan on spending money. I have to buy a rake and a broom, but I'm going to head to walmart and use my gift card that I've been sitting on since December.

In my love life: I'm missing C like crazy. He gets back from Texas on Monday so hopefully I get to see him next week. I'd like a nice date in with homemade pizza, wine and a movie. That's sounds absolutely wonderful. :)

Three day weekends...a new horizon

I will say the last 5 months have been soooooo hard! I haven't missed any days of work and at one point I worked 12 days straight. I'm not one to expect a lot of things when it comes to my job. I understand that I'm paid to work. I even got promoted. But for those 12 days I worked, I never made overtime pay and I had to beg for a day off in three weeks when I gave them plenty of notice. I also never got a raise with that promotion and I don't think it's coming any time soon.

What I've realized:

I want to work for myself.

I like working in the industry I'm in. I don't like being taken advantage of.

Granted, I know I should speak up, but who do I tell? My boss who's been there 2 months? The guy above her who's too busy? The CEO who really doesn't know what my job entails?

Shouldn't my work ethic and willingness to stay late in order help out other departments because they're short-staffed or under-trained (who by way, don't want to be trained...they make excuses) be enough show that I deserve some sort of compensation or bonus?

I make enough to get by. If I stick solely to my budget, at the end of the month I have about $300 left over. Most people think that's plenty and it is. I have a nice life. But I want more. I want freedom. I want to determine how much I make. I want to determine how hard I work.

I guess it's time to start creating a plan. Maybe pull out my books, a notepad, and a calculator and see what it's going to take to get to where I want to be.

I just have to get this off my mind:

Rule #1

• Never wear a white knit summer dress with a black thong. It doesn't look good on anyone... at all.

Rule #2

• When wearing a cami, please where a strapless bra or another tank underneath. I'd rather not see the back of your bra peaking out the top of the tank...same with the front. If you're bra isn't embellished what's the point? You can't pull it off. Strapless or tank...you choose.

Embarrassing moment of my day:

• I asked to men if they were in line at Target. They said no. They were women...lots of facial hair. I don't have a problem with that, but it definitely caught me off guard.

I also found out my first big wedding outside the chapel is in October. Score! Yay me! Hopefully, I'll get a few more this summer to help out with bills. I'd love to pay off my furniture and computer.

That's all for now.

Curveballs anyone?

I love change...normally.

Since September my work-life has been a little shaky. So what do I do? I work harder.

Does it pay off?

Kinda.

I get promoted, but no raise. I keep telling myself that it will come, but it doesn't. I even thought i was getting one when the CEO asked how much I made. He never mentioned it again. That was over a month ago.

With this new role, I find myself exhausted all the time. While I was moved out of one department into another, the old department keeps asking for my help. I've had headaches, small anxiety attacks, and loss of appetite. Today I was so frustrated I was on the verge of tears.

To make matters worse, my home computer died last night so all I wanted to do was check my bank account and then figure out a plan for a new computer.

Tonight I bought it. My 27 inch iMac. I didn't buy it outright. I paid 490 tonight and will pay another 400 next week. That leaves about another grand to pay off.

I've decided I'm going to pay off another credit card (maybe two) with a smaller balance. This way I'm not paying so many bills.

While this will take a bite out of my savings, I think it'll help sleep better at night knowing my debt is still manageable.

I need more income. I'm still involved with my etsy store, business is just always slow, especially in the summer when no one wants to think about winter knits.

I'm hoping S pulls through and uses me to help with his wedding photography business. I love working with him and the extra cash (even from one wedding would be a huge windfall.)

Once I get the last of this CC debt paid off, I'll be so happy.

My aim is this year and then I won't take any more on.

I'm half tempted to use my savings to pay it all off; I'd still have money left over, but I don't know if I want to take that chance just yet.

I just want to get this weight off my shoulders.

Tax Season 2010

Ugh! It's tax season again. I'm still waiting on one w-2 and then I can finally start plugging away at the numbers with turbo tax's help. I can't e-file this year and that sucks too. That's the trade-off when you're a first-time home buyer. We have to send in hard copies with our hud-1. Hmm... this is going to be interesting.

Last week, I created my new budget. Money will be tighter, but I'm planning on making it through. I'll be okay. I still have a $300 cushion at the end of the month. :) I'm sure that'll go towards food and other bills (like auto insurance due in March.)

That's really all I have for now. I'm just super busy at work and trying to get through every day by day. I feel like a robot. I'm definitely on auto-pilot. March will be welcomed with wide-open arms.

Thank goodness for Mom coming out in a week to help me out for 2 weeks. It's going to be so nice to see her and have help to get this house organized and the upstairs painted so I'll be able to focus on the downstairs come May or June.

New endeavors...

I'm starting to get into this whole health kick again, which is good with the 10k mud run coming up in June that I hastily entered myself in. Yesterday I bought the Abs Diet for Women at Barnes and Noble. It was in the bargain section and I had a gift card. I'm already halfway through Chapter three and it's very interesting. I was going over the ingredients list and many of things I eat aren't on the list. I know apples and strawberries are good for you, but mainly lists citrus fruits and raspberries as the fruit to eat. Obviously, fruits aren't the only thing listed. I'm going to try and stick to the diet though for the next month and see how I fair. A lot of the stuff I do eat so it shouldn't be too hard, except for between meal snacks. I rarely get a chance to snack and keep myself from getting hungry. Normally, by the time dinner hits I'm famished beyond belief.

Realized last night I can't eat tempura or katsu at Japanese restaurants. I woke up this morning with horrible stomach aches. The kind where you just sit on the floor and eat as many tums as you can to relieve the pain. My body gets so finicky from restaurant food anymore. That's good because i won't spend money on lousy food, but bad because it's hard to socialize with friends if you can't enjoy a nice meal out every once in awhile.

Paid my first mortgage payment today. Well, the envelope is sitting on the dining room table ready to be taken out, but in my mind it's paid. I created a way to make sure I always have money for my mortgage and HOA fees. I deposit $375 every paycheck into my House Checking and that money goes towards my payments. Now, my mortgage is only like $730 a month, but I'm putting away $750, this helps me save even more and that money will go towards repairs on the house eventually. While this isn't enough, it's a start and when I get my 8k tax credit I'll put a portion of that into the account also to help cushion the account more and be prepared for emergencies. I don't ever want to be caught in a bind.

I reviewed my budget for 2010 too. Yeah, I have increased expenses and debt, but it's still manageable. I'm still able to save and I can still pay down debt. Money is a little tighter, but it's not too bad. I have a few hundred dollar cushion. Two years ago it was a $50 cushion. I've come a long way. I'm ready to do my taxes in a couple weeks. :)