Hope

she's only the cutest, happiest baby that i've ever met.
i'm so glad she's my niece!!

the big 3-0

i turned 30 over a month ago. i was really, really dreading it. i'd had some personal life-goals that i'd wanted to hit before 30. i did not meet a couple of the big ones - for instance, i always felt that i'd be married, as well as have started having children by this time. at this point, i have no idea if it even will happen (i really hope so, though).

Then, about 3 weeks before i turned 30, i injured my leg playing softball. i got stuck on crutches for about 2 weeks, and am (now) almost back to normal. thankfully, i was off crutches by my birthday. additionally - 1 week before my birthday (just as i was getting off crutches), i wound up with a terrible abscessed tooth. i had had 5 dental-type appointments within 1 week (culminating in a root canal that occurred the day before my birthday). it was horrible (the week - not the root canal). my face got all swollen with the infection, as it spread to my jaw muscles before i got to the dentist. it took about 5 days for me to recuperate. Sufficient to say: by the time i turned 30, i had just turned the corner on my maladies and was finally feeling normal again, and was glad to have been distracted. :)

there are definitely times that i look back and see so much provision for my life. i have experienced SO much and been able to do SO many things in the past 7-8 years that i would never have experienced had i not been on this particular journey. i have some of the best friendships of my life right now and i am able to just sit back and revel in them, not worrying about trying to fit them in or maintain them through little communication.

by living independently in a house that i bought, for awhile with a roommate that paid me rent, i have been able to pay off all of my debt (read: college loans) and am working towards paying down my house.

God definitely has a plan for my life and i am just doing my best to live that out. he has blessed me abundantly and i wouldn't change that for the world... despite reaching 30 before i should have!

life in general

i recently had the (what turned out to be) privilege of dog-sitting Shelby, an beautiful 8 year old pup. I think she's a mix of lab and rottweiler, although i don't know for sure. she was one of the sweetest dogs i've ever met - should her owners decide they can no longer keep her (of which there's a decent possibility) i may adopt her. i've been hesitant to get a dog in the past, but if there were ever a dog i'd adopt at this point in my life, it'd be Shelby. and as much as i really enjoy living by myself (well... me and my cat, anyhow), she is a great companion and i wouldn't mind having her around at all.

on a completely different note, there's been a recent... development... in my family within the past month. and by development, i mean life-forever-altering, harsh-reality-inducing, development. there are serious negatives, but with that come a few postives - there's a huge element of mixed blessings in it. however, it brought back to life some buried (albeit, not too deeply) feelings in me of envy, sadness, lonliness, and perhaps even a hint of bitterness. i hate that even in someone else's struggle, i focus on what i don't have. this realization makes me sad; i am able to let go of the envy and bitterness, but the sadness and longing still linger a little. i will press on, as always, but i'm still left wondering.

pain is good

i heard something today that i thought was really good financial advice.

when it comes to money:
if if it hurts in the short term, it almost always works in the long term.
if it's easy in the short term, it almost always hurts you in the long term.

my main financial goal right now is to pay down my mortgage. i have gone through dave ramsey's steps of financial freedom, and these principles have been very good to me. this has taken a lot of hard work! but it has paid off - i am 29 years old; i don't have any debt except for my house, which i am paying down early; i am putting 15% of my income into retirement savings.

i remember a time, just after i graduated college - my dad told me he wanted to sit down & do up a budget with me. i was wholeheartedly against it. and lo, i didn't do a budget for several years! to me, a budget meant that i couldn't spend any money on anything that i wanted. several years later, i finally went to fpu & learned what a budget really was - deciding where all your money goes, instead of trying to remember what you all spent it on.

i like going through my budget and seeing how much extra money per month i can "find" if i do everything at the bare minimums; then taking all that "extra" and putting it into a calculator to see how quickly i can pay down my house. yes, i realize this makes me a nerd. :) my most recent calculations showed me paying off my house in 5 years. however... in order to do this, i'd have to continue having a roommate for the extra cash (which is NOT going to happen), i wouldn't ever do anything entertainment-wise outside the four walls of my house, and would have to eat mac & cheese and hot dogs the entire time. oh.. and nothing in my house (or car) could ever break. not so realistic! however, it does motivate me into remembering to watch my frivolous spending because i'm reminded that it all adds up!

Reason #476 for not being a criminal:

Being literally stuck with annoying fellow inmates whom you cannot get away from, while they're incessantly talking and all you want to do is sleep.**

**disclaimer: i do not know this truth first hand thankyouverymuch**

Things I love Thursday - Crystal Light to Go

i don't drink enough water. i have a very hard time with this, and one thing i do to help get more liquids in me is add Crystal Light to the water in my water bottle. it makes me MUCH more likely to drink & therefore stay hydrated.

I love Crystal Light On the Go packets as they are just the right amount of Crystal Light to add to a 16- or 20-oz water bottle. my favorite flavor is Natural Raspberry Peach - it's got the best flavor, in my opinion, and it also contains Live Active cultures to aid in digestion. the only problem is that it's tricky to find! only one of my local meijer stores carries it, that i've found... so i try & stock up when it's on sale!!

passing of time

seriously - where does the time go?! people, do you realize it's the 2ND week in AUGUST? I swear i just pulled out my summer clothes. i haven't even washed all my sweaters from last winter yet! i've used my window a/c unit less than a half dozen times. i've been picking ripe tomatoes off the vines for the past 3 weeks, for the love!

i'm not specifically lamenting the quick passing of summer, but time in general. sure, i haven't had my fill of the beach, softball, digging around in the dirt, etc. as much as i enjoy the cold & snow of winter, i'm not ready for it yet!

but more than that, it's a fresh reminder not to play the "i can do this later" game. i'm sorry to break it to you, but "later" actually came & went - twice, i think!!

i've had the blank paperwork for a will, living will, and power of attorney for months... and i had been meaning to get my hands on those documents for about a year previous to that actually happening. i think, "i really need to get back into the scriptures regularly", and make a goal for myself that i'm going to start at the very beginning of next week. or tomorrow. or this evening. and the next thing i know, weeks have gone by and there's a layer of dust on my bible that i guiltily brush off, then lay the bible on my bed to read later. (i drive myself crazy sometimes.. when will i ever learn!)

i often wonder if part of this retrospection is due to being in a place in life that i didn't ever imagine for myself. i didn't picture myself at 29: single, working nights (50-60 hours per week), in a messy house (pesky housework!), lounging around in my pajamas at 11:25am in my pj's on a monday (my day off), living an independent life that comes with occasional disappointments i'd have never thought i'd live. don't get me wrong - i love so many aspects of the place i'm in in my life - and i know with my whole heart that it's not my plans that i'm living, but ultimately God's.

but i do look back and wonder, how did i get here? and how did that happen so quickly?!

life is not all about my problems

i saw this picture today at 22 words and it gave me some serious perspective.
i am so, SO blessed.

thunderous

we had some fantastic thunder & lightning last night! i was working (of course) & was sitting at the "front of the bus", dispatching, which meant i was facing west & had a row of windows in my line of sight past my computer screens. i also zoomed out the traffic camera's & made those "look" so i could see the flashes inside, too, on the monitors. i happened to be glancing up at the perfect moment & saw a thick line of lightning from cloud to earth... it was truly spectacular. it made me long to get out my SLR camera & take some time-lapse photos!

we're probably going to get more storms later on today too... and a small possibility of some severe weather. i hope the storms take the humidity away! (not to mention, make work less busy tonight.. )