(not our photo sent with cards, but a cute one nonetheless)

2010 is winding down...just a few days left. our family christmas was wonderful, complete with time with family, gifts, a roaring fire, and..snow! as the year comes to a close, it remains to be one of reflection and optimism. i'm sure the next few days will be filled with joy and a lot of thinking/planning about what 2011 will hold. i am still holding out for a planning gig--i still haven't received a thin white envelope from the one i REALLY want..hopefully they're just teasing me! :/ and, i've just sent off 2 more packets (transylvania county/brevard & albemarle) and will be sending two more (edenton & pa) before the year is over (& maybe an online app to il)...so we'll see what the new year will bring!

i hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and is enjoying the snow! :) i did finally get ALL of my pictures ('cept the new ones) put on a cd, so the new year will be filled with posts with pics! (a new year resolution for sure!) hope you enjoy the end of 2010 and ring in 2011 with the ones you care about most!

nc state plays tonight & ecu plays tomorrow afternoon (military bowl, dc @ 2:30pm). GO PIRATES!!!

merry CHRISTmas!
(courtesy of craftily ever after)

today is monday. i woke up early...to the muffled sounds of my parents getting ready for work..yet managed to stay under the covers until ~ 8am. there's just something about being under the warm covers, with the sun filtering in windows with a touch of frost.

today, i unpacked, sorted, and repacked my kitchen..into 8 boxes. i didn't pack most of those boxes during the move in mar/april so, for the most part, i didn't know what each box contained. now, dishes/glasses/etc. are more carefully packed (with bubble wrap), numbered and ready for the next move.

tuesday, after i meet with a lady at my dad's office, i will tackle what is currently holding residence in the breakfast nook (what was taking up residence in the living room for the past 6 months). after that, i will carry the boxes up to the bonus room, to live in the window nooks until the next move. that will clear the first floor of my "crap" after...7 months. ;)

wednesday-thursday, i will be in charlotte & then fayetteville for interviews. the fayetteville one is a follow-up (2nd round) to last week's phone interview. please say a prayer (+)!!

friday, my dad's supposedly going to be on vacay...so i'm gonna use this day to decorate the house for christmas, minus putting the ornaments on the tree. that's a family tradition. :)

that's the way i have my week planned...hopefully, it'll work out just like this! :)

december

~ job (i had a phone interview today and have another one next thursday)

~ massages (plenty to have before the end of the month!)

~ decorate (this weekend! i made space for the tree yesterday)

~ sort/purge/repack (living room & bonus room will be ready by christmas!)

~ gifts (i am ALMOST done!)

~ bowlin' in dc (pirates take on an acc opponent in the military bowl, 12/29 in washington dc)

debt free by 30!

sunday night, while tackling my stack of bills, i came to the realization that i could be debt free by my 30th birthday! (including, or not, the money i owe my folks..but that's a different kind of debt..the interest free, no terms & conditions kind.)

how?! well, i have been carrying balances on 2 credit cards (one +3,000$ and one under 600$). the smaller one, i paid 1/2 the balance last month. this month, i bit the bullet and paid the remaining balance (~ 300$). what a relief! :)
so, now i'm left with one credit card balance. i realized that after doing the math, i could have it paid off within a year! (can you see my HUGE grin?!)
then, there's the car. i was fortunate to get 0.9% interest on a 3 yr loan so it is entirely realistic to try and cut it down to 2 yrs. i'll have to double up in the 2nd yr, but provided i get a job here soon, it's totally possible!
long story short, i can be...

DEBT FREE AT 30!!!!

wishing everyone a wonderful thanksgiving!

mid-month update

so much as happened/changed in the past few weeks, i thought i'd provide a mid-month update. obviously, i bought a car this past weekend! the coupe wasn't even on my radar, but i fell in love with the color & basically the rest is history! :) i love it and it's so fun to drive! i settled with my insurance company. my dad is a mad negotiator and got them to come up almost 1k without having to go to arbitration, affording me the opportunity to put a 10k down payment on my car (side note: with the blowout price of just over 15,200, 0.9% APR for 36 mos and a 10k down payment, my monthly payments are still less than they were with the mazda and i have a shorter term period..awesome! *also, since i am unemployed, i couldn't get financing, so my dad had to co-sign my loan with me*). i went to court this afternoon for my ticket from my accident. the d.a. dismissed it..it took longer to for my dad to find a place to park than it did to check in, sit for a few minutes and then talk to the d.a. but hey, it works for me. now, i just have to wait to see how much my premiums go up in january.

mentally, i can cross #2-4 off my november list..i am still working on the job situation..i had 2 interviews last week and i have another one scheduled for monday 11/22 at noon. hopefully, something shakes out here soon because it's getting more than mildly depressing....bella's having her spa day on wednesday and hopefully i'll be getting a massage by week's end!

p.s. the news i'm sharing with the world...last night, i went on a long awaited date (the guy and i have been talking for..months!) and it was great. call me aggressive or forward, but at the end of the night..i took the leap and kissed him. and it was PERFECT. i suppose there's nothing like standing in the middle of a parking lot enjoying a great kiss. i think my body went numb...i have never believed the "fireworks" analogy when it comes to kissing, but if i didn't see 'em, they were going off somewhere. he called me while i was driving home and he thought it was great too.....so we'll see what lies ahead. i probably shouldn't talk about it, but it was the best kiss of the year (if not, of my life) & i wanna tell everyone! :)