29+4

Another day older and a-deeper in debt.

A week ago I took Daisy, Daisy Adair to the Honda dealership and said I needed to get something different. Oh, how I loved her. Oh, how I loathed the payment. I was able to keep on top of the payments, but man, it hurt.

Meet Betty.


Betty is my new car! Lowered the payment by roughly $80/month, and that doesn't include the money I'll be saving on gas and insurance. I am getting an average of 29mpg with Betty vs. 22mpg with Daisy, Daisy Adair. I opted to get Betty instead of an Accord because I qualified for a lower end Accord and Betty was about the same price. However, Betty also had leather seats, navigation (both of which Daisy, Daisy Adair had) and to top it off, it's Bluetooth enabled and has a USB port, which allows me to charge my iPod while I listen in the car. (And I can control the iPod from my steering wheel!)

So happy birthday to me! I'm saving some cash and have new wheels!

Ahh, Spring Break!

I think it's the weirdest feeling being on Spring Break. Just knowing that my evenings are cleared up is so... nice. I have lots planned this week, am not banking on getting most of it done, but it's nice to have a few things in mind. I'm coming up on 29+4, and I want to start this year on a good note. There's a presentation on the Galapagos Islands and Charles Darwin Saturday night that I wanted to go to, but Rod made other plans. Luckily I'm friends with the wife of the man giving the lecture so I might just be able to bend his ear on another day. For those of you who might not know this, Galapagos is my number one destination in the world. Has been for several years. When I took Biology a few semesters back, my professor would talk about her trip to the Galapagos every now and then, and I'd just sit there wanting to hear more.

Anyway, I have tired of looking at the same picture of my new comfortable shoes that I love so much and get oodles of compliments on. So there. Princess and The Frog calls. Rachie is still a little girl at heart. ♥

Favorite Thing!

I love my new shoes!!! I saw them when I was out with Rachel, doing some church clothes shopping, and couldn't resist. Not only are they cute, but they're comfy, too! I think Keen and I will have a beautiful relationship together.

When I got home and showed Rod, the first thing he said was, "Those look like something you'd wear." Translate: "I think they're ugly, but I can tell you love them."

AND, on a side note, I apologize for the lack of posts. I now have a Chemistry tutor (HOORAY!) and I have been working on lots of school stuff and taking care of biznass!! (Is that a naughty word?)

Surprisingly Awesome!!

I think I did pretty good this month, considering.

Walk 4x week for 30 minutes, or Wii Fit/Fit Plus/Pilates 4x 30 minutes every week.

Gotta do better.

Scripture study. Every day, because I should. Heavenly Father has time for me. I need to better to make time for Him.

I think I did pretty well with this. Even if it is one or two chapters a day, I think that's better than nothing.

Get my craft room re-organized. Now that Helen's moving out, I am able to reclaim that space. Everything's been sitting in the front room for 7 months, and I hate it when people come over and see my craft room explosion.

I am not anywhere near to finishing this, but I can definitely say that I'm farther along than I had anticipated. This is quite the undertaking, you see. It's overflowing into March, and I think it can be done by/over Spring Break.

Find one new thing to make my woefully uncreative blog less woeful.

Success!! I LOVE my list book! I just need to transfer things from the book to my blog.

Focus more on finding joy in life. I know I talk a lot about my feelings of inadequacy and my desire to be happier. It's easy to spot the negative when you're not feeling on top of your game emotionally.

Success again!! Granted, I have days where I want to scream bloody murder and act like Veruca Salt. HOWEVER, I can say I've learned how to just let things roll off my back a little bit easier and not worry so much about what other people think. I was talking to Rod the other night and said that I have finally started to feel like I can start truly living for myself and doing things for myself that I have felt stifled about before, while still focusing my energy on my family. Don't ask me how I've done that, because I can't tell you. I just know that it's totally internal and it's only taken me 32, almost 33 years to get there. And boy, does it feel gooooood.

So, on to March goals!

• Get the Christmas stragglers put away, as well as any other out of season decorations around the house. This includes the snowy wreath on the front door.
• Walk Winston (who, I might add, is such a joy in my life) as much as I can, especially now that he's getting used to his leash and I don't have to stop every 5 feet and tell him, "Come on! Let's go!"
• Finish moving things out of the front room and putting said things into their right places.
• Cook more meals from home. I truly love to cook, but I just don't want to right now. I need to, too. My pants are telling me so.
  
• Prep and get one of my finished cross-stitch projects framed. (I know Nicole, I still need to show you the 'Anatomy of an Easy Project' all finished up.)
  
• Continue to read the scriptures daily.
• Continue to find bits of joy in life and be a better person because of them.