Website Wednesday

Nothing makes me more uncomfortable than a spreadsheet full of numbers and dollar signs.

While some out there (ahem, husband and other like-minded folk) appreciate having their finances fit neatly into excel, exposed for the whole world to see, I do not. Numbers have never been my friend. I struggled in school with math and still struggle. Numbers do not make sense to me... which makes budgeting extremely difficult.

Before the husband and I got married we did some pre-marital counseling. The hardest session was the one that focused on finances and budgeting. I am pretty sure I wiped the pastor out of kleenex from all my crying! It was the longest hour and a half of my life, but we made it through. We decided before the meeting that we needed to create a budget and stick to it, and after the session we made the budget in excel. It was rough and not without a ton of anxiety on my behalf, but we completed the task. The husband learned soon thereafter that talking to me about finances is most successful late at night when I am sleepy and cant work myself up. :)

There is, however, one simple internet site that has made things easier for me in regards to finances. This website helps me understand money and budgeting with applications such as pie graphs (I mean, everyone understands pie graphs). The website is also pleasing to look at -unlike excel, which gives me the shivers to even think of because of its coldness and matter of fact layout.

Mint.com is a godsend. Seriously people. Check it out and see if it can do for you what it did for me (and my husband)!

The husband finds his security in facts, science, and numbers. I find mine in easy-to-use internet sites and chocolate.

What the health?!?

Last week I found out that I have high cholesterol and even higher triglycerides. What does this mean to this particular 25 year old?

Well, for starters I have to eat healthy: no more ice cream, enriched pasta, cereal, or beef for this girl. Now it is fat free frozen yogurt, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, and turkey or chicken. It's not that I dislike the latter foods, but it is quite a change, especially since i've never been on a diet.

I am not considering this a diet. It is a lifestyle change. I started this so-called lifestyle change Friday. I handled it pretty well over that weekend, and the husband was very helpful and supportive. However, yesterday I got cranky. I feel bad for the husband! This is going to be touch-and-go for a while, so please be patient with me while I go through sugar detox.

There are perks to this of course: The husband decided that he can't handle me being cranky about having no air conditioning and not having sweets, so we are finally getting a window unit for our living room! No more sweating while sitting down! Woo-hoo! Another perk is that I haven't had a stomach ache in 4 days! And of course, I wouldn't complain too much if I lost a few pounds through all of this.

Exercising is a while other story for a whole other day. For now the husband and I are going to be going for walks after dinner.

Website Wednesday: Thursday Edition

I just stumbled upon the worlds coolest furniture designs: Straight line Designs Inc. No no one I know would be able to afford anything they make (they don't even have prices listed!!), but they are awesome to look at and admire.

I love these drawers! And think how fun it would be to have these in a little girls playroom!

Ah, to dream.

Just Some Thoughts

1. I was Facebook stalking some people from high school and stumbled upon the page of a classmate I really disliked. He was your typical 'popular' a-hole, except he wasn't cute. at all. He still isn't. Anyway, whilst looking through some pictures I realized that he had a child. This creeps me out on many levels... mostly because I still picture him as the jerk I grew up with (we went to school together from kindergarten-high school). He could be different now, but I doubt it. He is probably just a jerk with a kid now. Sorry that I am so jaded... high school was not a pleasant experience for me. College redeemed my view of education.

2. I have not had a house plant die on me yet (besides my herb garden; it got fried one weekend while I was gone). Herman, Peter Parker, Spartacus, and the un-named Aloe plant are all doing well!

3. I tried to make coffee at work today. My co-workers told me that I made great espresso - the coffee was really strong. For the record, I have never made coffee before.

4. I wanted to get mirrors shaped like birds to put in out living room behind the couch. I thought it would be a great idea since the husband has become a birder. Well, I was wrong. He wrote me an email back saying that he hated them (actually it was 'Are you serious?') and that "the descriptions says they are sparrows, but they are clearly swallows." :)

5. Happy 50th post to me!

Bucket List, Life Goals, and Website Wednesday!

Ive had a bucket list since I was in high school. Some things on the list have changed (I no longer have the desire to get a tattoo), some have come true (get married, go to Ireland, graduate college), and some remain the same (learn to play 'brick' by ben folds five on the piano, be happy with my job - which has also come true).

Lately I've been thinking about some things on my to-do list...

• Getting a Masters Degree: My sister graduated with her masters this year and it really got me thinking about finishing my formal education. I've been wanting to get a Masters of Social Work for a couple years now. I am still not sure what concentration to focus on, but my current job allows me to see social workers providing a wide variety of services to the public, so hopefully I will settle on one soon.

• Having Children: I have had baby fever lately. I blame it on my extremely cute nephew and the fact that 90 million girls I know are having babies. Seriously, 2 girls from my freshman college floor, one friend from college, my hairdresser, a good friend from high school, and my cousin are all pregnant/had their baby in the past 2 weeks. And this is not even talking about the babies some of my friends already have! I just keep reminding myself that I am not ready for such a drastic (albiet wonderful!) life change. The husband and I would like some time to ourselves before devoting our lives to our eventual little one. But that doesnt stop me from buying baby things at garage sales and sometimes TJ MAXX for my friends with babies!

So those are the topics that have been consuming me lately. Well, that and hot fudge sundaes.

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Also, todays Website Wednesday link: Jims Pancakes. This man makes the most kick ass pancakes ever. Words cannot describe how impressed I am by his creativity and ability to make art out of a breakfast food. He has made a 3D ferris wheel, bacon and eggs, giraffes, ducks, etc. I don't know how he does it, but I'm glad he does.

The Worst of Times

2 Words Folks: Middle School.

Lately, thanks to Meghan McBlogger of 2 Birds 1 Blog fame, I have been thinking back to the most awkward times of my life. And i'm an awkward person all around, so that in itself says something.

I have yet to meet an individual that enjoyed this time of their life. My bff Kassi and I were talking about it last weekend. There are wounds from middle school that took a long time to heal. For me most of those wounds usually had something to do with catty gossip. A big traumatic event in my middle school life was this: 2 people (yes, I still remember their names) decided to make a list of all the girls in the school and give them awful nicknames that centered around their faults. The list got found by some who were one the list, including me. Now I dont remember my nickname, but it had something to do with the cellulite on my legs. I wasnt a skinny girl, but I wasnt huge either. I was, of course, self conscious about my body like every other 13 year old girl. This really helped.

In order to deal with this embarrassment I did what (I assume) all girls did at that age; trash talk the enemies by calling them names in letters to friends. I believe the letter included words describing the enemies as whores, sluts, and I probably dropped the 'B' word too. Im sure I also included something about one of the girls teeth because they were by no means straight. While this was not a good way to deal with my feelings, it seemed appropriate at the time.

My mom would sometimes find my notes in the pockets of my jeans during middle school and would read them. I would get madand she would quickly reply with either 'if you dont want someone to know whats in here maybe you shouldnt write it' or 'then empty your pockets!.' Well, with this particular situation my mother didnt see the note, but a teacher did. He yelled at me in front of the whole class and I cried. He also was the basketball coach and it was tryout season. Needless to say I did not make the team that year (it had nothing to do with my fouling and inability to make a shot... it was all the note).

So I was humiliated twice in a day and ended up in tears in the girls bathroom. Actually, that seems to sum up my entire middle school experience.

While I felt like I was being treated unfairly, I was doing the same thing to girls that were part of the lower social status in school... and I feel terrible about it now. Finally I have the foresight to see that the people I was making fun of were the underdogs in life who didnt have it as good as my family. I now work in the social service sector to help the same individuals I talked about behind their backs in order to feel better about myself and fit in with the popular crowd. Eventually I got tired of trying to impress the popular crowd and began to hang out with kids that I related to better... besides their affinity for drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol. But that is a story for another day.

Another step towards adulthood...

Yesterday the husband and I bought a new washer and dryer. Our dryer had broken and it wasn't worth fixing, so we decided to take advantage of Memorial Day sales and get a whole new set.

The whole process was gut-wrenching for me for a few reasons, but mainly because I take things very personally, I do not make decisions, and I feel that I have a moral obligation to not buy from big box retailers if there is another option.

Lets just focus on this moral obligation for a bit, shall we?

I believe it stems from the fact that I worked at small local businesses while growing up. I am thinking particularly of the lumber store my Aunt and Uncle owned. Well, after they and the other full time staff members put their heart and soul into building this wonderful company they were eventually forced to shut down because they couldn't compete with other big box lumber yards prices. Customers would come and get small purchases like screws and a couple pieces of wood from the local company (not to mention a wealth of knowledge from staff members), but ultimately they would buy their big purchases from the larger stores that could offer more competitive prices (and had un-knowledgeable staff).

So here we were in that very situation. We went to the local store and got a good estimate. We then went to the big box appliance store to compare prices. While there I am stressing out to the max because we had to make a decision and because the big box retailer offered us a slightly better deal for 20 bucks less... and the longer the husband and I talked the more the salesman kept taking off the bill. Finally I said to the husband:

you know how I take things really personally and sometimes think irrational thoughts? Well, I just feel like we are stealing money away from the salesman at the local store if we buy something here...

The husband laughed and said he knew thats what I was thinking. Ultimately we decided to go with the local store. We went back to the small store and the husband haggled the price down to the same amount the big box retailer had given us!

I am happy with the decision we made, and so is the husband. I guess it was a good Memorial Day.

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Side Note: After shopping we were going out to eat to the local Mexican Restaurant but they had a note on their door in English and Spanish that read:

"We will be closing at 5:30 on Labor Day"