Rain Cloud

So you know those days where it feels like there's a raincloud following you around?

THAT, my friends, was yesterday.

All those awesome things I was talking about happening...they all went down the shitter.

First let me start with the house.

We drove up and I knew INSTANTLY it wasn't for us. You know how they say you just get that feeling in your wedding dress that it's "the one" because of the way it makes you feel? I always assumed it was the same with houses.

Well not only did I not get this feeling from this house but it was just NOT right for us. There was WAY too much that needed to be done that the pictures did not properly display. I don't mind cosmetic work...in fact part of me would kind of like a house that needs a little just because I can put a little of myself into the house and put all those interior design classes to good use.

But this was NOT just cosmetic work...EVERYTHING needed work. EVERYTHING. Ceilings, floors, walls, stairs, you name it, it needed fixing or replacing...and well as I like to say...

So that was shitty situation number 1.

Number 2?

That purchase I was talking about. YA...allow me to share.

Mommy has been wanting this Michael Kors wallet for wayyyy too long.

But I sincerely couldn't justify $110 for a wallet. Not cool, Michael, not cool. I'm a mommy now so I'm ballin on a budget.

Well out of nowhere mommy decided to take a look on craigslist and what do you know there's my wallet...just sittin there starin me in the face. And the clouds opened up and angels began to sing and all was right with the world again.

This woman was selling the EXACT wallet I wanted...barely used...for 40 dollars. Go ahead, ask me how excited I was. SO faster than I'm comfortable with admitting I texted this woman telling her I was interested and asked if I could come the next day. She explains that she's busy that day but the following day would be just fine.

So I text her the following morning asking if it was still ok for me to come pick it up at the time we discussed and WHAT DID SHE SAY?!?!

"I already sold it, sry"

YOU ALREADY SOLD IT?! YOU ALREADY FUCKING SOLD IT?!! I TOLD YOU I WANTED IT, WE MADE PLANS...AND YOU FUCKING SOLD IT?!?!

EVIL...PURE UNADULTERATED EVIL...ANDDDD TO TOP IT OFF YOU COULDN'T EVEN SPELL OUT SORRY.

KARMA IS COMING YOUR WAY LADY...YOU CAN COUNT ON IT!

Let me just say she is lucky she didn't give me her address because my ass would have been standing at her front door shouting a bunch of my favorite four letter words in her general direction.

*sigh*

And that's not even all of the crap I went through yesterday. I need a pick me up like pronto.

Finally!

Today is a good day, my friends. Not only did the ambien (my savior) help me sleep a little....BUT

It's also a great day today.

Why is that you ask?

Well, gorgeous weather aside...TODAY WAS MY LAST DAY OF WORK.

Yep!

No, I'm not retiring just yet (although maybe if I win the lottery cause that shits up to 600 MILLION)...But I DID get a new job!!!

YAY!!!

Crappier hours...BUT much better pay and WAY better benefits to take care of bug with...Holla!

And what's better is I also get two weeks off before my new job starts! DOUBLE YAY! Two weeks with bug! And tons of quality time with my Nikon.

I learned a valuable lesson at this position. One that I'm prepared to take with me in all my future endeavors.

And you know what? It's 100% true. And it took me far too long to figure this out.

Don't get me wrong.. There were a select handful of people who totally made getting up to go to this job worthwhile for the length of time that I was there.

But it didn't occur to me until today that all the stress, all the sleepless nights, the hives (yep, all over my face, no joke), the worrying, the wondering... It's not worth it.

I like to be great at what I do. Any task at hand I want to do to the best of my ability.

Photography for example... I've been working so hard to learn and grow and teach myself because I have a passion for it. I'm eager to learn and work hard at improving because I sincerely love it.

I mean... Nobody sets out with the goal of doing a shitty job at anything ... But I was NOT doing the best at my job and that is because I was held back. I wasn't taught, I wasn't trained, I was set aside, and therefore I was unable to grow...

One can only be back-burnered for so long before it becomes an insult.

I walked out of my job today happier than I've been in a very.. very long time. Not just because I had quit a company that did nothing but cause me immeasurable stress and disappointment but also the thought of a new job where opportunity is around every corner.

We all know whether or not we want to admit it or not that most of us work for the primary purpose of money. We can't deny it. Somebody's gotta pay the bills, am i right?

But what exactly is the point of waking up every morning miserable going to a job that makes you good money.

Very few are those who are privileged to be able to do what they love and make great money doing it. It's almost as if you are forced to choose....either you love your job or you make great money. And really... That's not how it should be. If you are one of the lucky few who is able to have both consider yourself extremely lucky.

I'm excited for this new adventure. This job has all the potential in the world and I am able to do with it what I see fit. I'm excited again. I'm excited to learn and to grow and to be motivated each day.

So for now I'm off to bed... Hopefully to sleep. But with my old job in my metaphorical rear view mirror... Something's telling me ill FINALLY be able to get some stress free shut eye.

Finance Friday

Today's the day ladies and gents! I get to start putting money away for the 52 week challenge (If you don't remember what that is look here). And I've officially decided that money will be used for a trip to Disney!!! And what makes this all so great aside from the obvious?! My best friend has decided to join me in this financial excursion. WOO! Occasionally, I'll be posting and updating (not every week, I assure you...because that would be stupid...and obscene) so you can see my progress and maybe decide to do it for yourself. I even made a little mason jar for it and everything. Yep. I'll be sure to post pictures later on so keep looking! Comment and let me know if you're gunna try it too!


There she is ...my 52 week challenge jar. I'm considering getting all crafty and what not but for now I've only chalkboard painted the top. Which I will show you later...once I've bought chalk (smart...i know). I know...I'm obsessing over this mason jar...but you know what? It means a trip tooooo DISNEY. And if it's cute too? Well what the hell :)

I Want It All

I'm sure you're familiar with the saying “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Gee, thanks Confucius...But if I did that I'd be 4 trillion dollars in debt. And the more I truly think about what would make me happy the more confused I become. I love interior design and all things decorating. I have a knack for it... I always have. It's actually what I went to school for however, being in the field now makes me honestly consider if it would be enough.

I also love and sincerely miss working with children. I thought that would go away after having bug...but it hasn't. I worked as a babysitter starting at the very very early age of 12 and continued to do so in my spare time up until a year ago. I worked as a camp counselor for four years and also as a teaching assistant in an early learning center. EVERY SINGLE one of these jobs I have loved. There is nothing more fulfilling to me then working with children and watching them learn and grow into these little people. And yes, granted I had my few kids I wanted to throw out the window on occasion, but at the end of the day, those kids still had my heart. I'm pretty certain my love of working with children stems from being an only child. As a kid I begged and begged for my parents to give me a brother or sister and it just wasn't meant to be. All my friends would tell me how lucky I am and how great it is to not have anyone picking on you or having to share anything but people who have siblings really don't understand how lonely it is. The grass is always greener on the other side right? Well, these kids became that for me.

I'll never forget my final week working at the school a parent came up to me and gave me a hug and said "Can I tell you something?...I love that not once have I ever heard you call them "my students" you ALWAYS refer to them as "my kids"" And that's what they were to me. As much as I was there to help them learn, they were also MY kids. One little girl, let's call her E...her, her mother, and father were like the world's most PERFECT family. Like, super sweet and loving, and always smiling, just perfect. Well, E was SUPER quiet, especially when I had first met her, but what a sweetheart she was. She was sort of picked on by the other girls for being so quiet so I would take them all aside and try and work my magic. Soon enough E started opening up and she would come to me with issues with other children or if she just needed a lap to sit on.

One day I needed to leave early for an appointment of sorts and just made a quick announcement during lunch to the class that I would be leaving for the rest of the day and E instantly bowed her head and started to cry. I felt AWFUL. My heart shattered. I assumed she would just get over it and forget I was even gone, as I'm sure the rest of the class did. So I gave her a hug told her I'd be back the next day, and left. But the next day, her mom came up to me and said that E had mentioned I left yesterday and was sad THE REST OF THE NIGHT. Little did I know how much of an impact I had on this little girl, her mom looked at me smiled and said "She talks about you all the time, she really loves you" squeezed my arm and left. I was blown away. Shortly after this I had decided that I was going to leave the school and knew I needed to break it to the class. The LAST thing I had wanted was to leave these kids. It took me a week...A WEEK to muster up the courage to tell them. And when I did E was a wreck. She cried even during naptime...so I sat beside her cot and held her hand until she fell asleep. My final day at work when her mom came to pick her up HER MOM was crying. This sweet woman, I couldn't even believe it. She told me I was the first person that E had really let in...she's always extremely quiet but she wasn't when she was with me. I had no idea I meant that much to them. And she gave me the most heartfelt card. I miss them, so so much.

I also would love to pursue photography. But it's one of the few jobs that requires an investment. And photography equipment and software is NOT FUCKING CHEAP. Lenses for a camera can cost 2..even 3 times as much as the actual camera EACH. And Photoshop is like 400+. Oy. I just don't have that kinda money.

I also love to be a stay at home mom and spend all hours of the day with bug, playing and cuddling.

I just want it all. And the only solution to that is winning the lottery apparently. That way I could pursue all outlets and never worry about how much I was making or how much things were costing.

Maybe one day I'll figure it out but for now I'll be stuck in this job-limbo. Awesome.

Color Me Frugal

I'm a pinterest whore. And it's ok...I'm totally fine with admitting it. Any place I can find recipes (both healthy and those that would make even the smallest of people morbidly obese), outfits, design ideas, hair dos and shit...count my ass in.

Recently I came across a pin that I found EXTREMELY interesting. But to preface:

I'm always looking for ways to make money or save money. Because, it's said that money can't buy happiness, but let's be honest, it does. And not only does it buy happiness it buys practicality...like...a house, diapers, gas, etc. So any ways I can find to save the little money that I do make I will do it...or at least try.

One of the primary ways I like to do this is by carrying cash. Ya ya...I know...it makes me a prime target for thieves. Whatever. But this method has worked for me my whole life. Being able to PHYSICALLY see the money leaving...that for me was the discerning factor and what's better, I have my own "keep the change" policy. I honestly don't understand what people have against change. I save all the change I get from using cash and collect it. Once I have a relatively decent amount...I roll it. Coin rolls are FREE people. There's not a single word in the english language I enjoy more than "free". You can get them at any bank, regardless of whether or not you belong to said bank. DO NOT...I repeat DO NOT, go to coinstar. Coinstar is for lazy SOBs. Last I checked those con artists were taking 9 cents off the dollar. 9 fucking cents. You may not realize how much that is but let me put it into perspective for you. 9 cents from a dollar...hey not so bad....but most people don't have a fucking dollars worth of change they're looking to change in...so let's say you had 10 dollars that's 90 cents, which is almost a damn dollar. Still not sound so bad? ok..say you have 50 dollars in change that's $4.50 you are never going to see. 100 dollars? 9 fucking dollar out the window.

Ya ya... I get they need to make money somehow but rolling change is FREE, there is ZERO cost to you. And if you ask me, it not only leaves you with an extremely rewarding and gratifying feeling but it's also very soothing...like how i'd imagine knitting is. I know I can see you rolling your eyes at me (Cut the shit) but you know what? In a span of 5 months one summer I had managed to save up 140 dollars in change, which I ended up using to help pay for a vacation. AND if you manage to not wait until you have a mountain of coins, and roll as you go, it allows you to see how much you're collecting and prevent you from rolling 329698236912739 coins all at once. In fact, I have over $100 in change rolled, in one of my drawers as we speak.

But I digress, this pin that I came across that was so fantastically interesting was one called the "52 week challenge". Simply put, the challenge is to put away a certain amount of money, each week, for 52 weeks. Week 1...1 dollar, week 2...2 dollar, week 3...3 dollars, and so on and so forth until you get to 52 weeks. And just to give you an idea:



This shit is genius. And you end up with $1,378 bucks at the end. That's a vacation! Or maybe a new TV! Or a whole months rent! However you look at it, that's a good amount of money. It's idiot proof, theres no crunching numbers, nothing! Simple stupid. So I have decided that once I return to work a week from today (from my maternity leave) I will be attempting this challenge. Join me, will you? And let me know your progress, comment and subscribe!