Pulling on the reins

For the past few months our spending has gotten a little out of control. Minus our trip up north, which we saved for, we've been living right on the edge of our means. To two people who are used to living well below our means this behavior was just out of the ordinary and unacceptable. Couple that with some big discussions while on vacation about our future and we've pulled the reins on our spending really quickly.

Don't get me wrong, we aren't having a hard time, we aren't in trouble financially, and we haven't accumulated any debt. We just aren't being as smart as we should be and we haven't been paying attention.

So we went cold turkey. For July and Aug we put ourselves on an aggressive and strict budget. Essentially we're almost living on one income. Every penny is budgeted. We've had this in place for two weeks now and it's been an eye opening exercise! We always knew on paper we could live on one income but actually putting it into practice has been an exercise in self restraint, creativity, and motivation, especially on my part.

It's certainly brought me back to a point in my life where I lived much simpler because I had to. I had to make more decisions instead of following through on an impulses. I can't decide if I like it because it makes me have to be creative with my time and money or if I can't wait to get back to living on two incomes. I also can't decide if this is something we want to continue to strive for to meet our goals faster. Our goals being a big motivator.

In Sept we plan to move from the really strict budget to a smarter budget with a little more wiggle room because we will have met the first and second of many goals to come. I also think that gives us enough time to break some bad habits and to pick up some new ones. From there we hope to find a happy medium between the here and now and the future.

Getting Back into the Swing

We are slowly but surely getting back into the swing of things around here. I never figured it would be so annoying to get back into our routine. That said, we are using the lack of routine to make some changes to our old one.

The major change we're making is dinner time. Before vacation we sat down to dinner around 8-9pm, sometimes later depending on what we got into. While in Mass we ate most of our dinners with T's mom who gets up at 4-5am for work and goes to bed around 9pm, which means dinner is around 5pm. I really got used to eating at a "decent" time and talked T into trying to keep that up when we got home.

Before, we ate late because we wanted the time right after work, during the daylight, to do other things - go to the park, take in a play, do some yard/house work, etc before settling in for the evening. But often times this led to major snacking, on my part especially so I could hold up until dinner.

We've done well these past two weeks on getting dinner on the table around 6-7pm. It's also allowed us to take walks and ride our bikes more after dinner because it's not so hot (and we aren't starving). We do feel less productive but it's also lowered our need to eat out because normally T is working on dinner right when we get home. That also lowers my snacking. We just need to get used to getting motivated after dinner.

So for now health is triumphing productivity. We're eating better and getting in more activities. I'm interested to see if we can make this a long-term solution. It's definitely going to take some time to get used to, especially for T because full belly means bedtime to her. She's the one who always liked eating late and she grew up that way when she moved in with her dad and stepmother back in high school. It's a big change, but I think it's a good one.

What is too much?

With Facebook, Myspace, and now Twitter and other apps how much information sharing on social networks is too much? Or maybe the more important question is, who cares?

I started with a MySpace account. I added my friends and started updating away. Next I found Facebook and really connected with people I had lost touch with. I closed the MySpace account because, really, what the point in having both?

Now it seems everyone is tweeting on twitter but is anyone really listening or following this? I don't know. I had a twitter account a while back and closed it but I just restored it to see what all the hype is about. I got to say, I just don't get it. Why tweet if you have a facebook status? Isn't it just redundant? I'm honestly curious. And who reads these things?

I have to admit I like some anonymity online both for safety and for privacy sake. There are just things I don't want everyone in the world to know. But if you're really good you can find out a lot with just a google search.

And who doesn't use google to look up people? I do. When we accidentally got an extra issue of Cruve Magazine, a lesbian mag, in the mail with an address that was right down the road, I googled the name. I didn't come up with anything but the point was I did it. I wanted to check out the other lesbian in my neighborhood to see if I wanted to just leave this on the door step or knock and hand it to her saying something like, "oh, my partner and I got 2 of these and then realized one was yours." I figured lightening wouldn't strike twice so I didn't knock on the door.

How much information are you comfortable with putting out there. I know some who completely anonymize themselves and loved ones online. I often wonder if I should do the same thing. Basically we write what we want people to hear from us though. We create an image of ourselves for people to see. Sometimes, though, it's not to our advantage. We end up boxing ourselves in to this thing that people think we are, based solely on what we've put out there on the net.

So what's too much? Do you google yourself? Do you have different "identities"? If so, how do you keep them separate? Do you not care about the information you put out there?

Vacation

I realize I should probably have a recap done by now and a photo gallery up about our recent trip to Maine and Mass but I gotta tell ya, I'm totally unmotivated. Add on top of that, that work is picking up and you guys might just have to deal without a recap. If you're my friend on facebook you've already seen some of the photo's. If you're not my friend on facebook I hope these will hold you over for a while. They are some of my favorites




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Halfway done - A Review

I thought since we're past the half way point in the year, which was July 2nd, I'd needed to do a review of my yearly goals.

Take a Belly Dancing Class
Thankfully I still have time to do this. I have to admit, though, it's not a priority. I'm just not as excited about it as I was. Will it get done? Maybe.

Go Backpacking
Augh. We had a trip planned but we didn't end up going for various reasons. If this is going to happen this year, and I really want it too, it will have to come in the Fall. I need to set another date on our calendar, pronto.

Volunteer
We did volunteer at the Humane Society but I feel like we need to do a little more before I can really say this is done. I admit this isn't much of a priority right now.

Work inside out
This is a tough one because it's not measurable. I haven't been freaking out about my weight, which has very noticeably gone up. And I have manage to take pretty good care of myself this year. I got rid of the negative voice in my head that be-rated me for how I looked and I feel a lot happier now. I'm now looking at things (food, drink, activities) as healthy and unhealthy verses counting calories, weighing myself daily, and binging. I've definitely improved my relationship with food and with how I view my body. I've moved into focusing on my career path and what I can do to find fulfillment in my work, which I think is definitely working inside out.

Make New Friends
I'm very close to calling this one almost done but it's not. We've met some really amazing people this year so far and I've reconnected with some people I used to know also. But most of the relationships are so new and they need developing, which I'm hoping we'll be able to do soon. We've also joined a few clubs and are looking forward to meeting people there. We've been pretty active about making friends this year and I think it's paying off.

Hike Foothills Trail
At this point, this is not going to happen this year, and I'm OK with that. We've done some really fun things so far this year so I don't feel like I've missed out. Plus we have done some hiking, just not on the Foothills Trail. I'm not worrying about this goal too much. If we get to it, great, but if not that's ok too. We always have next year.

Read 30 Books
I'm over half way to my goal I wasn't able to read as much as I wanted to this past month because of our vacation but I'm down 18 books. Only 12 more to go. I have no doubt I will reach this one.
17) Coyote Blue: A Novel by Christopher Moore
18) The BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Nature Photography by Jim Miotke

Pay off Student Loan
We did fall behind on my payment plan for this but we've managed take almost $2,000 off the student loan since we started the aggressive payment plan in April. We have 6 more billing cycles before the end of the year. Because we fell a little behind if we want to make this goal and start the new year without this debt we'll need to up our payment from $600/month to $700/month. Which is exactly what I plan to do.

Things I've Done!
Of the 14 things I set out to do. I've completed 6 of them including a Visit to Maine! The others are:
Do more scrapbooking
Remodel my bedroom
Build my savings account
Get Terri an IRA
Take a Pottery Class

I have to say I'm pretty pleased with what I've accomplished so far. I have some new goals right now and so I'm thinking of updating my list and ridding myself of the things I don't want anymore and adding the new ones. But does that make me a sell out? I set these goals with the intention of meeting them so shouldn't I follow through?

I think the answer to that question will vary for everyone. There are purist who think when you set a goal at the beginning of the year you should follow through without fail. For me, the goals will still be there but some of them no longer seem important to me. Things in my life have changed through the year and so have my priorities and focus. Where I want to put my energy and time has changed also. Updating will be happening soon. I'd like to take some time to think about what else I want this year. I also want to really weigh out why I am removing a goal.

So here's to the another half of the year! May we all live each day to the fullest.

Picture Overload!!!

As you all know, I got a new camera before we left for New England. Well I came back with over 700 pictures! What? Maine was beautiful, what can I say. Anyway. Now I'm left with the task of organizing them, figuring out which ones to keep, which ones to upload and where I'm going to upload them. So, be patient, dear blog reader. We might have to break this down into "events" over the course of a few days. Advice is always welcome!

Full Moon Tonight

Full Buck Moon
Tues July 7th, 2009
5:21am EDT

July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month's Moon was the Full Hay Moon.

Hello from the North

We had a wonderful vacation in Maine and are enjoying spending time with family in Mass. I don't have the greatest internet connection so a full update with tons of pics will come next week.

Wooot - Heading North!!

We leave for Maine tomorrow @ 4am. We'll be driving 15 hrs to a hotel right outside of Boston for the night. Then getting up Sunday morning to tour the coastal towns of Maine. We plan to hit 2 lighthouses, and the towns of Kittery, Kennebunkport, Portland, and possibly Freeport before heading into Bar Harbor to check into our cabin.

Monday we'll explore downtown Bar Harbor and Acadia. Tuesday we'll be doing a half-day sea kayaking tour where they are promising some wildlife. Wed we'll be riding on Lulu the lobster boat to watch how they catch the lobsters. Thurs we'll be hiking Acadia. And somewhere in there we're hitting the local brewery and winery.

Sat we will be on our way to the NW corner of Massachusetts. Sunday we will be attending the North Adam's Food and Wine festival with mom. (I thought it was a perfectly timed festival!) The rest of the week will be hanging out with the fam, fly fishing, and exploring. Fri I believe we are looking into doing a family picnic, Sat we'll be hanging with mom for the fourth and Sunday we'll take the 15 hr drive home. Monday of course we took off so we could re-coop and I know we'll need it.

So that's the tentative plans. I'm so ready to get going! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting it all together.

I've updated my resume this week and I have to tell ya, it looks good. I'd hire me! Some of the goals I want to meet before I start really getting serious about putting my resumes out there is sharpening up my skill-set and pick up a few new languages and technologies.

I went online to see if I could find some online classes or classroom classes but was shocked at the sticker price! Most were around $1000 per class. WTF? So I moved on to thinking I could just grab some books and go from there when I stumbled upon W3 Schools Online.

W3C, World Wide Web Consortium, is a web standards and guideline organization. I haven't really looked at their site since I got out of school. Basically they set the standards in Web Development. They are the FDA of Web Development but not as powerful because you don't have to submit to their standards to have a website.

So when I found out they had an online school in the form of hundreds of tutorials AND that they were totally free, I was stoked. They also have certifications. Basically you study through the tutorials, take free quizzes, then pay $75 to take the certification exam. If you pass you get the certificate! How awesome would that look on my resume? Plus I think getting the certificate would really help motivate me to get through the tutorials. I'm going to try for all 5 certificates. Some will be super easy because I use those skills now but some will be a little more difficult.

I'm so stoked. This will help me sharpen up my skills, learn some new technologies, and beef up my resume. So it covers a lot of bases for me in one swoop. When I get back from vacation I plan to set aside time everyday to go through the tutorials.

There are some other online sites like this one I might also check out for some graphics stuff. One I found recently is LVS Online. This one is more structured with a teacher and 6-week long courses for $25. They have all kinds of classes from Office to Photography, Web to Business. I haven't done a whole lot of looking around on the site or any checking into how seriously this certificate would be taken so I can't completely endorse it yet.

I've also been looking through monster.com to get an idea what's out there for me. I don't mind traveling a little and, after talking to Terri of course, for the right job would consider a move. The move would depend on the opportunity, salary, and location and it would have to knock my socks off. I'd prefer to stay where I am though. Anyway, I've also been able to see what new skills would increase my opportunities and salary by looking at job openings, which has been very helpful.

So what's left to do? I still need to get together my portfolio and create a site for it. I need to get the certificates I'm pining after and I need to start sending out resumes. I've never had the opportunity to job hunt while I was still employed. It's a nice place to be because it will allow me to only accept an offer if I really feel like its a good fit. I'm in no hurry and I can be picky. I really like that.

I'm also looking to do some freelance stuff. Terri's company is looking to do some brochures so I'm hoping to take that on and I'll make a little money while I'm at it. I want to show that I can do more stuff than just the style my current company has me doing.

So the next few months will be all about getting the ducks in a row. I'm going to continue to check out job postings and I'll certainly send out a resume if something grabs my attention, even if I haven't completed everything I wanted to. It can't hurt. In fact there is one I'm going to respond to when I return from vacation.