Purchases I Need, Yet...

There are two things that I have had on my "to buy" list for quite awhile now:

1. Running Shoes
2. Brake pads for my bike

As you might have guessed, these are pretty important purchases. There is only one reason that I haven't bought these things: I am frugal.

Alright, the shoes is more of a "I haven't had a chance to drive two hours to my regular shoe place and drive two hours back" situation. So it's frugal and lazy. Oh, what a great combination.

The logic of this whole situation is flawed. This is the type of logic of a person who doesn't want insurance "because they'll be careful". Fool, there are unplanned situations that happen in the future! When you get sick without the insurance, it's going to cost a hell of a lot more. Or you can't control what other drivers do.

My shoes are currently right under 600 miles. They say you should get new shoes every 300-500 miles. Ayup.
I'll get new shoes soon, I promise.

Other than that, I've been having a pretty swell day. Positive all around. So there's that.

What have you avoided purchasing that you really need?

The Pet Problem

I already miss the weekend.
Something I've noticed about myself is that I get a lot more distracted when I have looming deadlines. I would say that I'm alone in this, but I'm not. It's a fun little thing called procrastination. And it's stupid. You worry about the upcoming thing that's due, and yet you spend even more time away from said thing. It's like when people talk about losing weight. It'll be so hard! So I'd better gain more weight. Or my favorite situation, "Ugh, I'm so bad at this sport/activity/other! I should put it off, because I don't want to subject myself to that again." The logic of that argument is ridiculous, but we all do it.

So that's my current situation. Ugh, I'm slapping myself mentally because I know how stupid it is.

On an unrelated note, let's talk about pets.

When I was younger, my sister and I had two cats. George and Daisy. I had no idea they were named after Curious George and Daisy Duck until years after they were gone, but they supposedly were. George was one of the best cats ever. All of my friends adored him, and he loved everyone else. Daisy was a bitch cat who wouldn't let any of us touch her. Only the neighbors. Even after I'd been so nice.
The whole point is that I happen to like pets, despite having a devil cat (Daisy). However, I'm not sure if I'll ever have a pet again.

I know, I know. Pets are wonderful! There have been studies showing that owning a pet can increase happiness and your lifespan. So why no pet?

Well, obviously now is a terrible time. Then again, I say that and I know plenty of college kids who own pets. One the other hand, that's part of the reason why I know it would be a bad idea to have a pet now.
One of my sister's friends just got a puppy with her fiance. They got it now because they'd like to raise the puppy before they raise a child. That's the big thing: Puppies are a lot of hard work. So are kittens.  A lot of people don't realize that. Heck, when I had a pet, my mom did all of the work (I know, bad kids). You have to feed them, make sure they go to the bathroom in the right places, take them out to exercise, make sure they stay healthy, get a sitter when you're going out... Sound familiar? Like a kid with fur, and we all know kids are a ton of work.

My other big reason for the lack of pet in my life (besides no pets in the building) is money. Things that consume require food. Which requires money. Plus vaccinations. Plus unexpected health issues. Or, expected issues like asthma if you've got a pug, or back problems in wiener dogs. It's a lot of money. And as someone who's saving for other things, those are not things I'd like to spend my money on. Someone I know who says they're broke has a cat, and I'm guessing that doesn't help the money situation.

Pets are fun! They require a ton of work though. I'm not sure if I'll ever get one again, just because you have so many restrictions with them. That's just me. I'm partial to cats, just because they do what they want, but having a medium-sized dog would be a great running buddy/motivator. Never a little dog for running, it's too much for their little legs to handle!
For now, my ipod will keep me company during runs.

Do you own a pet? What are some challenges you face with owning a pet?
Are you more of a cat person or a dog person?

Let's Calm Down

I have a confession.

I seem to have a 40 year old brain trapped in a 20 year old body. No I'm not talking about intelligence, I'm talking about neurosis. I'm extremely neurotic, and constantly stressing out about things that frankly, shouldn't worry me as much as they do. I don't know why I'm so neurotic, because no one else in my family is. I do though.

The last few days all of my stressors have been affecting the others, building up inside. School, finances, social life, healthy habits... Unfortunately, everything has been feeling like I'm bombing it, causing a collapse. It always feels like as soon as I make one goal, five things pop up against that goal. Like the money thing.

I pretty much just broke down in front of my mom earlier this evening, and she basically replied with this:
"For crying out loud, you're twenty years old. Live in the moment!"

That got me thinking: I seriously don't act like a twenty year old. I constantly am looking to get eight hours of sleep. I monitor my diet, trying to get my fruits and veggies in. I hoard money like it's going out of style. It's a bit ridiculous.
Now, there's nothing wrong with being responsible. I'm just over-thinking everything. Per usual.

Time to calm the freak down.
Speaking of things popping up to block my goals, my cousin and aunt have decided that I should have a Pinterest today. That's... not good for someone trying to spend LESS time on the computer. Goodness.

Are you a worrywart? Or do you go with the flow?

Cold is The Word and Slipping Up on Goals

If there was a word for the day, today's word would be cold. I was seriously freezing all day long! Alright, it wasn't that cold today. I simply get cold very easily.

Oregon is a tricky devil when it comes to sunny days. You'll look out the window and think, "Golly! What a gorgeous sunny day! It must be so nice and warm out there." This is never the case. There have been many times where I'll look outside, get excited about the sun then check the temperature to see that it's 34 degrees out there. Not the warm I was looking for. Then there are the other times where it's 52 degrees and pouring, but who wants to go out then?

Whenever I think about places to live, I always imagine living somewhere that's warm all of the time. I wouldn't want to live on the beach though. Sand gets into everything, so I'd never want to get anything done! My mentality seems to be if it gets sandy=it gets messy. Messy is not a good environment to work in, at least in my case. Anyway, the point is I'd like to live in a warm climate that's not a beach.
What about the seasons, you ask? That is one thing that I do love about living in the state I live in. I adore seeing the beautiful golden leaves in the fall. I love the blossoms in the spring. Snow can always be fun, when it comes around. Perhaps I'd hate the warm area, but I'd at least like to try it out.

For now, I'll make like a gecko and attach myself to the walls where a heater is.

Now. My goals. I'm sad to say that I've already broken my eating out goal. The fact is that I gave myself a budget for the one meal: $15. I figured that would get me a little meal and maybe some beverage. Today, I ate out twice and exceeded that amount. Dangit.
The first instance was during DuckTv filming. We were pausing during filming, and everyone needed food. What can you say to this? No, I'll just sit in my car alone while everyone else goes into a food place? I don't know! Seriously, I don't. I could I suppose wait it out, but I'm thinking that waiting eight hours to eat isn't a good idea. I don't function well without food.
The second was because I wanted to be social. I could eat food in my house sadly alone, or I could enjoy time with others out. I chose the latter. I'm already lacking social interaction as it is, I don't want to skip out on any I have offered.

Which brings me to this issue: What things can you do to be social that don't involve money? I've been scanning my mind, and I can't think of anything. At least in the "starting out" phase of friendship. The only thing I've thought of was watching movies at an apartment, but I don't have a functioning TV. So I'm stuck.
The thing that stinks about it the most is that I was planning to save my eating out for V-Day with some APO folks. I still want to go, but... Argh, money is stressful.

My other goals have been okay though. I've been taking calcium. I'm spending less time on the computer, even if I'm not always perfect.

That's all from me. I seem to have so many questions.

Would you rather live with seasons or live somewhere with only one type of weather?

What social activities can you do that don't involve money?

From Starting Goals to Next Month Goals

To me, the last week of January has seemed to take forever to get here. Ever since the 20th, the days have been dragging on to me. Now we're finally to the last day, and I'm pretty excited! New month, new start. Sure, everyday should be a new start, but it just seems more official at the beginning of a month. Truth be told, I've started to work on some of my goals already.
What about my other goals you ask? Well of course I've been thinking about them! I've noticed that I've been making a lot of them... so I'll talk about that. First of all, let's start with my overall college goals or what I like to call them: The List.

1. Get a Degree.Just seven and a half more terms to go! Ha. I think I'm on the right track though. I've pretty much figured out what my schedule is going to be for the rest of my college days, which means my Senior year is going to be crammed full of journalism. We'll see how that goes.

2. Not Gain the Dreaded Freshman Fifteen.
The more I've read about college weight gain, the more I've seen about Sophomore year being the year of the gains. Okay, maybe I'm making that up. The point is, weight gain is a big thing that can happen any year. Luckily for me, that hasn't happened. During vacation it creeped up a bit, and shot back down. Eh, that's kind of what happens when you get back to eating smart.

3. Study Abroad.
We all know how that's working out. I just want the person in charge to send me the financial info...

4. Stay Out of Debt.
The amount I've spent this school year... Yikes. Unfortunately, a lot of the things I've spent money on are necessary. Fortunately, there are a lot of things that aren't necessary and I can work on cutting them out. (Funny thing is, I calculated my spending without groceries/books and got a figure very similar to last year's spending.)

5. Get Good Grades
The funny thing is, I was looking at the last time I talked about this and was nervous how my grades would be affected in the upcoming year. My grades slipped a touch from As to A-s last term, but I think my grades have stayed alright. Still need to strive towards the good one though!

6. Make Friends.
I've been getting to know people. I've been getting involved. Friends? I don't know if I can officially say that yet. It's a process.We'll see how it works out.

7. Blog Every Day.
I said that this would change, and it did. I don't blog every day, but I do most days. However, if a blog isn't in the cards for the day, so be it. I'm not going to stress out about it. I think the goal now is to try blogging better. A year into it, and I'm still rough.

I think my goals are doing okay for now. Now, my December/January Goals: Spend less time on the computer and Don't spend money on gum/soda. For the first goal... Hm. Not so good. I have got to seriously back away, but it's even harder this term when so many of my assignments are online! The second one I managed to do pretty well with. No spending during Dec. because it wasn't necessary, but two little slips during January. One soda, one water bottle because I couldn't find mine. What a dumb excuse.

As for my New Year's goals, I'm doing alright. Room for improvement, but we'll work on that.
Here are my February goals:

You probably can't read them, but they are 1.Only eat out once 2.Use up my punch card for the REC center 3.Only 2 hours on the computer a day that isn't homework 4. See January goal.
The fifth one isn't on there, but it's to take Calcium and Vitamin D daily. I'm really low on both of them, so it would be good to get used to taking them.

I'd talk about them more, but I've already rambled for quite awhile. I'll just leave it at that for now.

What are your goals for February?

The Exciting News Covered in Worry

You know how I've been constantly talking about studying abroad? Well, I guess that and running. Anyway...

I got into the program that I applied for. Hooray? Yes, of course, but there are things in the process that have made me nervous.

Truthfully, I was accepted on Monday into the program. I didn't tell anyone until Wednesday when I told my sister. I waited until Friday to tell my mom. Why have I been so hesitant to say so?
Of course for me, it's been because of finances.
I constantly worry about money, even if I shouldn't worry as much. And studying abroad takes a big chunk of money. Recently, I've had other reasons to think more about how I spend money. Those recent worries have made me reconsider if I should even go. I always worry, "Will I have enough?" Sure, I would most likely be able to get help from my parents. However, I'd like to get as little help as possible from my parents, simply because I hate to ask them for money. I feel guilty. They've already supported me so much, it would be unfair to ask them for help on a trip that I alone would go on.

Now, I've looked at it a bit more. More than my obsessive analysis of it before. It seems that I'll be able to pay for it myself, but there are a few details to work out including trying to get money other ways.

Therefore for February on, I'm going to work on spending as little as possible. On average, I've gone out for dinner 4-5 times a month for food. Now I'm going to allow myself to eat out once. Even fewer movies than usual, and I didn't even watch that many before. Keep searching for jobs, find other ways to earn cash. Every little bit counts.

The moment where I had a bit of a revelation came while I was talking to my sister the other day. I don't remember exactly what she said, but she said something along the lines of, "You should be thankful for the experience. You worked really hard to get the application together, and you should be excited about it."
She's right. I should be excited that I was accepted. I shouldn't let the worry of finances shadow the excitement of traveling abroad (though I still need to worry about it). Sometimes, I just need to calm the freak down.

That's that. If all goes according to plan, I'm studying abroad next fall in London. Yup. Besides, I'm getting more financial information emailed to me next week. I can start re-worrying about it then.

Have you ever learned exciting news that was blanketed by another fear?

The Obsession with Writing Things Down

Welp, it's the weekend. Yuppers. I always get so excited, and then don't know what to do with myself. ...Then, by the time it's over I'm wondering where the time went.

I have a confession. I obsessively write things down. I think the whole thing started out with writing down my spending habits. I decided when starting college I would write down every item I would spend money on. Alright, maybe it started out with getting my debit card earlier that summer because I wanted to make sure I always knew how much I had in my account. I've heard the horror stories. Okay, I'm getting a bit distracted but know that it all started out with finances.

This thing has fallen into a river, and I still use it.

At this point, I was starting to become much more neurotic. I was (or at least student loans were) paying for this education, so I had to make sure I knew when things were due and when to get them done. Thankfully, that was taken care of with the new free planner that my school gave me. (Nice thing about smaller schools? They give you free planners. Yeah, not so much here.) If you're counting, there's currently two places where I'm writing things down.

My next planning resource came to me from Christmas. I had received a little notebook from my cousin for a Secret Santa gift. I mentioned it a bit here. I thought like most of the notebooks I have, I would start filling it out and forget about it in ten pages. I now have about ten pages left in it. I've written a lot of things in that little notebook, including:

• Information about transferring, studying abroad, and requirements for them.
• Class schedules, percentages, big assignments
• To do lists of all kinds, including some grocery lists
• Spending habits, overall money situations
• Meal planning
• Outfits I wore
• Running schedules
• Potential dream jobs, dream travel destinations, dream whatevers.

Yeah, I've used it a lot.

Recently, I've grabbed another little composition book (similar to my spending one) for scheduling the hours of the day. As in,writing down times when I have things going on so I can figure out things around it. Not like I don't have a planner, but it gives me more of a visual of the hours.

Finally, there's the OCD pages. This habit started in fall of 2010, and it involves notebook paper. Y'see, sometimes I like to add random things up. Multiple times. Like the estimated cost of studying abroad. Or scheduling classes for my college career. Be warned, you are about to see some A Beautiful Mind type craziness out of me:

Yeah. I've written on dozens of papers like this. Looking at it yourself, you probably wouldn't know what all of the calculations were. Hell, I hardly do. That's why I've written some of them over and over, because I forget which is which.
I'll admit, this is probably a bit insane. Whatever, it's how I do.

If you were counting, that's five separate things that I write in/on. I'm starting to see a little more crazy in me. Concerning.

"Wouldn't you be more organized if you wrote everything down in one area?" You'd think, but I don't believe so. Each thing has its own meaning, its own reason. The rest of my random thoughts go in the big notebook, and I carry all of these around with me 90% of the time. It may be a bit crazy, but I like it.

That's all from me tonight. Hopefully I haven't scared anyone off.

Are you an obsessive list maker? Do you write a lot of things down?

Saturday Night and Such

Whenever I have trouble starting out a blog, I start surfing the web. It happens. I suppose it's because my thoughts are a tad scattered tonight.

Good news on the book selling front: I already sold a book! Granted, it was probably for a lot cheaper than it should have been, but I think I made a decent buck. Well, once I get paid.

On another note, new SNL tonight! Huzzah! I keep forgetting what day it is, and it's barely been two days. It may seem like I've been watching a lot of television, but I'm really not. One thing I had to watch? My Theatre professor from last year being on a television show. WHAT. That's the craziest thing ever! So nicely done Ted. Sorry you had to be eaten by rats. (Grimm is a pretty morbid show.)

My aunt was thinking about me when she saw these adorable little loaf pans!

I can't wait to use them! Also, can you tell my family members like to shop? They just buy things... even if it's not for a holiday gift or anything. Just because it's there. I it's a very nice trait, but I'm glad I don't have a weakness for buying things "just because they're there". I'm surprised the members of my family haven't gone broke.
I simply never buy things on a whim, really. That includes for myself. The last thing I bought "on a whim" for myself was in October, when I bought a Portland Marathon Mug, a headband, and a sticker for my car. Unless you count half marathon registration in November? I dunno.

I really thought I would have a lot more to say today, but honestly I do not. It's just one of those days I suppose.

What was the last thing you bought "on a whim?"

Thinking About Traveling

Ah... as soon as I slow down, it's the end of the weekend! What is this?

I may have briefly said that I've made a big decision, and that's true. I have, but I have to make sure that it all works out. You see, I've found a study abroad program and I'm applying for it. As in, already started the application, trying to get references, typing up essays way of applying for it. I have less than two weeks to get all of that information together. What on earth was I thinking?

Well, all of last week was freaking out about if my schedule would allow me to even study abroad like I planned. Once I calmed the eff down, I was able to figure out that yeah, this could work.

The other thing I realized is that I need to actually do something, not just talk about it. I mean, I've been talking about it forever, and I've been looking at programs since I started college. I've gone to every type of event that talks about study abroad, and I've researched the programs. I've learned pretty much all that I can about it, so it's time to actually take the next step. The sooner I get an application done, the sooner I can apply for scholarships. And yes, I'm going to need scholarships. Hoo boy.

Now all I need is to finish the application, and wait. The other part that comes with this is looking for a job. Adding up all of the money that I have plus financial aid, I still need to earn about $6,000. That's a lot. That's why I need to earn some money.

Other than that, I've been rushing from place to place since Thursday, so it was nice to actually calm down and stay at my house for a bit. I'm not the type that likes to be go go go all of the time, it wears me out! Besides, I'm going to have another go go go day tomorrow. Thank goodness it's almost Thanksgiving break!

What was the last big decision you made? Did you think about it for a long time, or did you instantly jump on board?

A Recap of The List

Now that school is actually here, it just doesn't feel right. Alas, school starts tomorrow and a whole bunch of new is throwing itself at me. Once again, I'm just worried about waking up on time. The fear about classes has died down a little, but some of the big classes are making me freaked. Like Economics. Just a tad.

Since it is the first day of school tomorrow, I think it's time once again to bring out the list! The list that this blog originally started on, but now is pretty much a place for me to ramble on. See, there I go again. Back to the list, starting with:

1. Get a Degree.
Obviously I'm not there, but I feel like I'm moving closer and closer. I've been trying to apply for Pre-J status online, but it's not letting me. So there's that. However, I have classes that will work towards my hopeful major.

2. Not Gain the Dreaded Freshman Fifteen.
Yeah, I'm not a freshman anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't gain the freshman fifteen. Heck, I thought I might gain it this summer. My training has been kind of messing with my metabolism I think, but hopefully it will get back to normal.

3. Study Abroad.
Because I'm at a new school, my GPA won't get me studying abroad this year. Which is fine, since I was hoping to next year. I have to wonder how that will affect the classes I need to take. I asked the Journalism department advisor how likely it would be to graduate in 4 years, and she said very likely. How does studying abroad affect that though? I'm not quite sure.

4. Stay Out of Debt.
The average amount I've spent every month since October has been $179.20, and that's not including books. Oof! I have to pay for rent and groceries now, so it's time to start spending smarter. Then again, I don't know if that is as much as I think. Maybe I'm just frugal. (Or maybe I'm a crazy spender and just don't know it.)

5. Get Good Grades
I'm still a bit nervous about this, just because the teachers at WOU were so good. Another reason is because I've been hearing horror stories. I'll work as hard as I can, and just try to get the best grades I can possibly get.

6. Make Friends.
I've been talking about this one a lot. It's scary being a new kid in a town where people have already gotten to know their friends! However, I will not be a wallflower. I'll put myself out there, and I'm hoping to get involved! Yep indeedy! I sound like a camp counselor now...

7. Blog Every Day.
I've been pretty good at this one... for the most part. I officially missed one day, but other than that I've done a post for each day. I'm thinking about changing this one though, who knows? I mean, if I don't have anything to say, why post? My main goal will be to try to post about interesting things, and not complain. No one wants that!

I'm also going to throw a few mini goals in here for now, which might change up.

• Get Toned! I mentioned this before, and I'll admit I haven't been doing very well with it. (I have been doing pretty good with the less sweets though.) I'm hoping that after the race I'll kick my butt into gear and get some stuff toned up. They also offer non credit classes here at the rec center, so those might be fun to check out
• Get Involved! I tried to do this at Western, but I guess I could have tried harder. I know for a fact they have a running club here (running capital of the country), and I've heard you don't have to be the best to be a part of it. Sounds good!

That's it for now. Now let's get ready for tomorrow! (Self pep talk. Just what I do sometimes.)

Do you have any "new school year" goals? How are your current goals going?

Goals and Weekends

Geez, it feels like I've been go go going! I just got out of school, what is this?

Now, being out of school, I'd like to take a look at the goals that I set at the beginning of the year. I know that the goals are for my entire college career, but since I've gone through a year, I thought it would be good to do another check up.

1.Get a Degree
Hmm. Well, I suppose that at the beginning of the year, I had no clue what type of major I was even interested in. Now with the transfer, I think that I'm closer to finding out what my degree will actually be. I hope. A year done, a year closer to earning that degree.

2.Not Gain the Dreaded Freshman Fifteen
This I think I've done pretty good with, especially since it is the end of my freshman year. Still, we'll have to see how it'll go with this summer. Yeah, today not so great with food today. I haven't gotten heavier than the beginning of the year, but I did get heavier from losing a few pounds during the middle of the year. Eh, I'm a good weight.

3. Not much to say for this one, so let's skip it.

4.Stay out of debt
Hmm. I feel like this will be a thing that I'll feel the affects of later in time. I was told that I didn't spend that much this year, but I still have to worry about paying for my apartment next year and earning money this summer.

5. Keep my grades up
This? This I did well on... not sure about this last term, but a GPA above 3.5? I think that's good. One thing that seems weird about this is that my GPA for WOU won't really matter when it comes to my major, or studying abroad. It's like I have to start all over again. Not exactly, but you know it just feels like that.

6. Make Friends

I think I was successful on this. However, it's another one I feel like I'm starting all over again. New place, new friends. I'm happy that I was able to meet some cool people though.

7. Blog Entry

Lookin' good!

Yesterday a super great thing happened. I passed the half marathon mile mark! 14 miles, aw yeah. And it felt like the running gods were all on my side! I felt good, it wasn't sickeningly hot... Ah. I did stop at mile three because I really needed to go to the bathroom... yeah, don't want to talk about it. Still, I ran that distance! That's all that matters!

Another thing that the running gods blessed me with yesterday was the happy surprise of the Saturday Farmer's Market! Plus, my phone camera decided to start working, so I snapped a few shots. If my Internet will want to work right. Maybe later.

As for today, we had a cake making competition at my aunt's house... this was my sister and I's cake:

I've got to finish up! Hope everyone has a lovely night!

What did you do this weekend?

The Search For Housing and Possibly Finding Transportation

How can someone come out of the shower smelling worse? Because that's a weird smell coming from my room mate, and she just got out of the shower. Maybe she uncovered something, and that's causing the smell?

How's that for an introduction? Anywho, today was quite a busy day! I looked around at places to live, all that jazz. Truthfully, I only met with two of the people whose ads I messaged. Still need the other person to get back to me.

The first one ended up being a no go just because it was so far away, and they wanted someone now. The people living there were kind of odd too.

We looked around at other buildings as well, just to see what prices I could get if I planned on living by myself.

The other place I looked at was pretty good. It was right on campus, and the other tenant was really nice. She's from China, and so is the other guy who lives there. The biggest downside is that it's an old apartment building, so it's not very pretty. I suppose I could spruce it up though.
I've looked around at other options, and I'll still keep looking.
Still, I think I might have found my place to live. We'll see.

What's in other news? Well, for awhile now, my parents have been talking about getting me a car of some kind. It all has to do with my mom needing the car that I'm driving currently, and all that jazz. I tell them I don't need one but honestly, I don't know if I would be able to do things without a car. I don't like asking for things like that still. Anyway! Today we passed by a used car on the way back home. Possibility for a car? Perhaps! It has a decent amount of mileage, but I think it would be good. A car is one of the last things on my mind though.

Paper that's due tomorrow? I do not want to write you. Bah. But I must.

What's your strangest housing search experience been?

Dealing With Money, Financial Aid, and School Situations

What an influence money has on our lives. Goodness.

The last few days I've been worrying about money. I know I think about it too much, but it's been on my mind even more lately. There are a few reasons for this.
First of all, running is starting to suck up my money. When I've looked at my past big purchases, they've been two things: School supplies and running things. Even with a discount from the running store, I still had a good chunk of money yanked away when I got my shoes. I've been wishing I could sign up for more little races during the summer, but then I think, "Oh wait. That costs money." Looking at Northwest running magazines filled with races has been like looking through a clothes magazine for me. (Seriously, it's the environment of runs! They're so fun and upbeat!)

My other piece of concern comes from my decision to take summer classes. It'll be good to take classes during the summer to get them done, but money is not fun to deal with. It turns out that I can't get financial aid, so I'm going to have to pay out of pocket. I know that my mom might want to help me, but I feel like I need to pay for it myself. The only other thing that causes concern with this is a smaller amount of hours of working to earn money back for the next year... hooray being a (sorta) adult!

Another thing that stands on the subject of school finances is how I'm figuring out my financial aid for next year. I don't think it's to the right school right now, and I've fixed what I can of it... but I think my parents need to do some things on the form. Gosh, I hate how dependent it makes me sound. Ha, it's funny because I am their dependent! Am I right? Yeah, maybe not.

Other big thing on my mind? Trying to figure out where I'm going to live next year. I'm not looking towards living in the dorms just because it's really pricey, and I don't want to. I'm hoping I can find someone to live with, but I also have ideas for worst case scenarios. I simply hope it just doesn't get to that.

In other news, I continue to have the appetite of a starved piranha. When I was training for my other run, I don't think I was this hungry all of the time! I haven't even run as far yet! Pish. I'm gonna gain twenty pounds.

Apparently I can't resist cookies either. Hence the comment above.

I'm quite tired... Time for rest.

What do you do to keep your finances in check? What do you do when you need to make big purchases?

Trying to Figure Out Live and Living in the Moment

It's Friday... Now what?

Lately I've just been thinking about stuff that need to get done. Not necessarily for the week, but in the future. I need to:

• Figure out my rooming situation for next year
• Figure out how I'm going to move everything out of my dorm in three hours on the last day of school
• Calculate all of my spending for the year
• Try to see if there are other job options for the summer
• Talk to professors about missing a day of class for orientation of another school

I know that there are other things that I need to do, but I'm having trouble thinking of what I need to do next. It's kind of weird that I don't know what's up for the future, and I feel like I should care more. I'm living in the moment I suppose? For the day I suppose.

I hope everyone has a lovely evening!

Making Big Decisions

Yesterday, I did something a little crazy.

I spent $145 dollars without remorse. Without thinking about it. I won't even get anything from it. I have to pay for what I paid for. How ridiculous is that?

...Actually, that's not really true I guess.

Yesterday I paid for a tee shirt.
Yesterday I paid for a few months of training, either by myself or whoever wants to.
Yesterday I paid for the inevitable pain and soreness to come.
Yesterday I paid to have a day on my calendar filled, with a few hours every week.
Yesterday, I registered for The Portland Marathon.

And the part about not thinking about it? I guess I could say I didn't think about it when filling out the form, but I certainly did take a large chunk of time to think about it before. This has been on my mind for weeks, maybe even months. Really, I probably started thinking about it after my half marathon in January, but it was fleeting thoughts then. After the Cascade, people would say, "Are you going for a marathon now?"

I thought, "No way. A half marathon is one thing, but a full marathon? Now you're crazy."

Granted, the thought is still crazy hence the extensive amount of time thinking about it. I went through the thoughts, "Will I have enough time to train?" or "Can I actually motivate myself to do it?" I gave myself a million reasons why, but the didn't matter. Then I decided to ask why not?

And there wasn't really a good reason. My mileage has been going up automatically. I've looked for training schedules, and I'd already be ahead of schedule.

I'd like to be able to say I ran a marathon before my twenties. Just because that would be really cool. And now, I kind of have to.

I don't mind.

I'm sure it'll register with me in a few days, but for now all I can think is "Huh."

What big decision have you made recently?

Car Troubles, Contradictions and Summer Classes

Well, today certainly had an interesting start to it!

I woke up at 7:25 AM, went to the bathroom, and when I returned to my room I saw that I had missed a call on my phone from my mother. Before I could even look at the text message that was also sent, the phone rang again. It turns out that my mom's car broke down in C-town and she needed me to drive down to pick her up so she could use the van. I was able to get it to her, but what a crazy way to start out the morning.

It stinks because she just got the car checked up, and the van was just fixed. "I guess we'll have to get a car sooner than later... even thought we don't have the money," she muttered. See? It's phrases like this that make me freak out about money. She'll try to comfort me in other situations when I start saying I should be concerned about money, and she tells me not to worry. Then she goes and says something like this. My mother is the queen of contradictions.

As for the rest of the day, I signed up for Financial Aid for summer classes. Yes, I'm taking Spanish to get it over with. This will clear up a huge chunk of time needed for the rest of my school years, because I'll need all of the room I can get the next few years.

15 hours of Spanish every week? Oh joy. The biggest downside to this is that it'll be hard figuring out a work situation, but I'm lucky enough to be able to work for my mom if needed. Which seems to be the case.

Welp, time for me to head off to bed. Night!

Have you ever taken summer classes? What were the classes?

Looming Final Projects, Walking and Simple Savings

It may be the weekend, but all I can really think about it the impending final projects that could make or break my grade... Hooray!

While on the subject of final projects, I've been beginning to notice something interesting that happens to me. When I'm sitting at my desk in the room alone, I tend to get distracted easily. Then, as soon as my room mate comes in and starts hanging out, I become motivated to work. It's crazy how much more motivation I have when someone is watching me.

Having no official workout planned for the day, I felt like doing some sort of movement was necessary. So, off on a walk I went! I walked to the store in the nearby town to cash cans, and then came to the realization that it takes forever to walk places. Goodness.

The main objective of my walk was to cash some cans. Even though I didn't make much, it was still good exercise, no wasting of gas, and I was able to put more change into this guy:

I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but awhile ago I went to a hall activity entitled something along the lines of "Making Green with Ham." The whole idea was to make a piggy bank, and maybe say something about how you save money. From that, I sort of expected to decorate a piggy bank but instead made this little thing. Now, whenever I have change it goes directly into the Travel Fund.

In you go!

You might not be able to tell, but on the Travel Fund are doodles that represent places I'd like to visit. I also put a little bit of cash in there each month, hoping to save up for something exciting. Every little coin counts!



Maybe someday?

 Hope everyone has a lovely evening!

What do you save money towards?

Blissfully Ignorant and Visiting Places of the Past

My biggest problem with blogging is trying to start the post of the day. Once I actually start writing, it's hard to get me to stop!

Today included an impromptu trip back to the good ol' hometown. I needed to get a copy of my high school transcripts and decided that I would put my change into my savings account.

Do you ever have those moments where you're blissfully ignorant of a situation, then as you leave slowly come to a realization? That was me in the bank today. As I tucked away my box of change and five dollars in ones into my savings, the women hands me a flyer. "This is a great tool to use online for saving money on car payments, cell phones, etc..." I cheerfully listened to her, but as she talked I noticed her tone and expression were that of the sympathetic kind. She looked at me like I was someone down on their luck... I bet she thought I was a stripper or something with my bizarre deposit. In case you're wondering, the ones were part of my monthly savings I'm trying to do.

Maybe that wasn't the case, but it sure seemed like it.

Getting my transcript meant walking back into the education institute known as my high school. I was only in there for about two minutes, but it was the strangest feeling. I didn't recognize ANYONE. It's only been a year, yet... Weird.

I suppose that's all I have to talk about for the day. Have a lovely evening!

When was the last time you walked into your high school? What was it like?

New Teachers, Considering Majors and a Lot of Work

Spanish has started to show me that this is going to be a busy term. Woowee.

Despite being a busy term due to Spanish homework every night, I think I'm gonna have some pretty cool classes this term. One of the ones was the costume class I mentioned yesterday, but my two new classes today seem quite interesting. I'm actually pretty excited for writing. It may be kind of hard, but the teacher seems pretty cool. One random thing I noticed is that his hair is screwed up big time. He did mention his barber didn't really understand the meaning of "take a little off the sides", but he needs to trim the baby mullet. Just sayin'.

Ouch. My bank account is crying right now, because there's not much left in there. I had to buy two more books today that weren't as much as my Spanish texts, but still managed to do some damage. I know that I earned money this summer for school but... geez, it hurts to see it disappear like that. Next year, I am seriously going to take advantage of the Internet for books.



Damn you Dos Mundos and your expensiveness!

 Because it's winter term, I've once again started seriously thinking about majors again. Right now, I'm not sure if I even want to stay here. There are so many pros and cons to this school, and both the pros and cons are big. And if I transfer, how will that affect my credits? My ability to travel abroad? That's why I'm starting to think about this again now. Now, I have a notebook (that I got for Christmas) dedicated to figuring out what I want to do and traveling abroad.



That's a pros and cons list of some majors. Yep.

 Yeah, I'm that intense. I thought that perhaps if I jot my ideas down, they may come clearer. I think next term I'm going to take simply classes that sound interesting to me. Yep. If they are required, that's cool but I just want to know what things I'll really like.

Other than homework, went on my first run back at campus again! I think it's official that treadmills are my enemy. I don't care how cold it is, running outside is the way to go.
Funny that even when I'm a bit messy in the room, my room mate still seems to top me in the messiness department. Makes me feel clean.

How do you organize your thoughts?

Back to Class and Textbooks

Yup. The term has started once again... I've probably said that a hundred times by now.

I'm not sure yet if this term has started out rocky or alright, but I think it's been a little bit of both.

I'm back to my 8:00 am History class again and I was surprised to see that not a lot of people are continuing from my old class. It's also in a new building which is a bit discouraging because if it was in the same building, my next class would be there too and not across campus. Yes, the campus is small but who likes to walk in the cold at 8:00? Not me. I was extremely tired in class this morning... not the best of signs. Hopefully I'll get more sleep and not have that problem.

Spanish was kind of awkward. The teacher is a bit... odd. She'll tell a joke, but she'll say it like she's telling you your mother passed away. There's also going to be quite a bit of homework. Boo. Spanish homework is the most annoying homework to me simply because it's so tedious, ya know?

Tech. Theatre: Costume will be pretty interesting! I had no idea we were going to be sewing! I can sort of sew, but I'm amateur at best. It'll probably be really fun! The teacher tends to trail off though. She's a classic artsy person.

I was hoping to get more done today, but that did not happen. I bought my Spanish books today and died a little inside. My two Spanish books cost more than all of my books combined from last term. I'm running low on the debit account... No more spending for awhile it seems. I was able to finish my Spanish homework, but I dozed off a bit in the afternoon. Woops.

New classes tomorrow! Time to get ready for bed, since tomorrow's another early morning!

How was your first day back to the grind?