Saturday, July 18, 2009

I love this Picture


I just had to share this picture of Nora enjoying playing in the back yard!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Such a busy summer!




Wow! I am such a bad blogger! I have really dropped the ball here!






Lets see here. When last I posted, Nora and I had just been in a car wreck. Boy was THAT a mess to get everything straightened out. We ended up finally getting some injury money, our car fixed, but had to pay for a couple of days worth of rental car rent. But in the end the wreck helped us be able to move out of our OLD house in the very scary neighborhood into a sweet house in Laurel. We are in a better neighborhood and their are safe parks close by! The house has some weird things about it- like the floor slopes pretty bad in places, but over all it is a good house with a huge lawn and an apple tree! Previous owners even left a swingset behind.






The end of the semester went well. I passed all my courses with great grades except for one- my math course. The class average on the last two tests was below a D so I am not too upset- except that I will have to pay to take the course again. GRR. I was going to take a summer course but it was going to cost me over $1200 for just one course AND I would have had to pay that off before fall semester. So instead I am a year behind my graduation again. Oh well. By taking an easy year this year, I will lighten the load on myself during my hardest classes.






Then, Nora and I went up to Idaho to help some friends. Rockin' Heart Ranch took HS Infinite and two of his fillies to the Egyptian Event this year in Kentucky. They did really great, but that meant they needed someone to stay behind and watch the ranch. So Nora and I had a blast out there. Nora really bonded with this sweet goat and I seriously thought about calling our landlords and asking if we could keep her.







Nora and the goat would play together so well. I actually looked outside and they were sleeping together. Honest! But both woke up as I snuck up to get a picture, so Nora was holding her down a little so I could get a picture of kindof what they had looked like! LOL




Then when I got home, I had to hurry and get ready for my stall at farm fair. A few of the things- like my packaging- didn't happen the way I wanted them to. But we had a fun time anyway.



We had lots of fun at Farm Fair- Nora was excited to see Stella again-

And then on the way home we got to bring my sweet sweet horse home with us, which is of course where I have been spending as much time as I can!!


Monday, February 16, 2009

Officially Done!

I am officially done with one of my debts! Hurray! Now I have set up reoccurring payments with two more debtors. For a total of $425 being paid each month out of my account. I am really hoping to get these taken care of ASAP! It will be fabulous to see positive changes on my credit score.

Looking at my credit report during Christmas break was heart breaking. It's hard to keep in mind that $13,000 of that debt gave me the best joy in my life- Nora! But I also look at a lot of it and see massive mismanagement. I am worried that a poor credit score will hurt my employment chances if I don't fix this now. Who wants to hire an accountant that can't handle her own personal finances.

If I can manage a few extra payments here and there, get an extra job over the summer and keep a strong hand on the family finances, then I think this will turn around really quickly. YAY! More debt paid!

I am SO looking forward to the day when there will be NO BAD DEBT on our record! I swear I am going to throw the biggest party!

At least I know that my debt collectors have a secure job. At least on guy does! He secured a payment agreement from me today so that should make his bosses happy!

Friday, January 30, 2009

Lost a bit more weight!

In the last nine days, without any modifications other than watching what and how much I am eating, I have lost a pound!

Today I restarted my yoga routine (okay so I was supposed to do that earlier, but it just didn't end up happening). I did one routine already today and I am hoping to get another in before Doug gets home. I am so happy! I still have almost almost 50 pounds to lose, but I am losing it and getting healthier! I can't wait until I can see my cheekbones again! They have been MIA for a LONG time.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Watching the Biggest Loser-

Really makes me want to get into shape!

I am going to start by going to the Rec center tomorrow! Edit- I didn't realize that Doug's Work Schedule had changed so I am revising my plan to doing 2 yoga workouts and one cleaning workout *aka I need to shampoo the carpet before I can do yoga!! I am going to work out on the treadmill and the weight machines that I can. Then when I get home I am going to do at least one session of yoga!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Made Another Debt Payment!

Well, our second debt payment went off without a hitch! Another $230 paid to one company. In another 2 weeks they will get the same again and they will be gone- out of my life forever! Hurray! After that, as much as I would love to be giving an equal amount to everyone, I have two companies that are being particularly ugly about being paid. So each will be getting roughly $200 a month which will be great because it will be getting things paid.

One of the debts is to the University of Idaho. They are being particularly ugly and holding my transcript hostage. So they will get their money until the end of April at $200 a month and then at the Beginning of May when I take my summer job- I will use my first few paychecks to write them off the register completely. That will be nice. I want to have them send in my transcript before Fall so I can get more financial aid and have a better idea of what it will take to graduate.

It is looking like my graduation date will be December of 2011 and will incur an additional $40,000 in debt unless I can get some more free money. This summer I am going to be writing applications for all sorts of scholarships so hopefully that will help out.

But really, in the long run it won't be a full $40,000 of additional debt. Some of the money is going to be used to "pay" bad debt. I know that sounds weird, but in the long run I will take something that could be costing me as much as 20% interest and switching it to something that does not charge interest and when it does kick into interest it will be to the tune of around 6%. It will save a lot of money.

And if we continue to pay on our debt, there will be a lot paid off before I graduate. Once I do graduate, Doug and I have agreed to use my salary to pay off debt fast!

Really we are just holding on and doing the best we can until the end of 2011. 2011 is going to be a fantastic year! That will also give me a full year of paying on debt before Doug's stock in Winco matures. I am really looking forward to that. We have lots of plans. We will possibly be buying a house and land with that money (securing our home base so to speak). We should be able to pay the house completely off and maybe just make payments on the land (I want AT LEAST 5 Acres). Or perhaps Doug will be starting his own business. It really depends on how the economy is looking, and how happy Doug is where he is working.

I think he should continue to work at Wells Fargo and work up the ladder there. I think it is a great job with lots of potential.

Anyway- as much as I hate feeling broke all the time- I am so happy to have debt being paid off! Yay!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Calculations

I called my academic adviser today to get a pulse on my academic life. It looks like I am on target for a December 2011 graduation! I am really excited about this. I do need to take one class over the summer so that I can take the accounting classes I need in the fall. Otherwise it will set me back a whole year! Yikes. No Thanks! I am so glad I called her!

Also by my calculations- if I can up my weight loss and start losing 2 lbs a week, then I will be at my target weight in time for the BBB Fourth of July Weekend in Idaho! How cool would that be? So I am super motivated to
1) Stay strong in my determination through the semester and
2) LOSE THIS WEIGHT!

I want to be healthy, fit, strong, vital! I want to be a success in my own life! I am going to graduate and get a great fabulous job that will help enable me to do the things in life that I have dreamed about!

So I guess that means I better stop procrastinating and get to work on reading my business law chapter, eh?

My Beautiful Nora Girl

Nora's Musings