Stuck

I am stuck in a rut. I am tired all the time. I want to be at home. I want to sleep or just play with Dani. I'm really glad it is Friday, but I don't think my weekend is going to be slow enough for me. *sigh* Can I just take Dani and go off for a week? I would love to take her to the beach or on some sort of mini-hike. I would also like to do some crafy/artsy projects.

Time is not my friend, and it is taking a toll on my shoulders.

Photo from http://sophisticated-simplicities.tumblr.com/post/8819214602

"You and Me Makes We"

Dani and I at the Lavender Festival in Kenwood 2011

30 "Day" Challenge: Day 3: On My Mind

Something on my mind. Sometimes this is hard to pin-point because my mind runs around all over the place, it even makes me have a hard time going to sleep at night because it is so active. I picture my mind having all these files and it is as if my brain thinks I have to look at each file before letting me relax.

Anyways. Today, and lately, I have been thinking about getting debt-free. My sister and I took the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace class together a little over a year ago at my church. I highly recommend the class to everyone! Great class, great habits to form. During the class I remember being so discouraged because I had only a 10-hour a week job and didn't know how I could possibly pay off my loans, be able to send Danika to private school, etc., etc. Regardless I started working on my budget and staring my emergency fund.

Later I got my current full-time job. This enabled me to fully fund my emergency fund and start the "Debt Snowball" process of paying off my loans. I have worked hard to keep up with it and through God's provision have paid off all but one loan in a year. This is my biggest loan of $9,000 from school but because of my living situation I am able to pay rather large chunks at a time.

Here is the biggest thing on my mind: I like to calculate how long it would take me to afford/pay off something to decide how much I should allocate my budget. With the way things are right now, and if no emergencies come up (which I know can), I can pay off my last and final loan in...drum roll please......

Fifteen months. If I paid the regular base payment it would take me 9 1/2 years! I am so excited and passionate even about paying this off. That way I can save for a house or whatever else we need. It feels like such a huge step to me and it has taken a lot of work. God has blessed me very much. I'm praying that I can keep on this path and then when I am debt free to not go on a big shopping spree (a big temptation, lol!)

30 Day Challenge: Day Two - A Hobby

Disclaimer: Obviously, consecutive days are out of the question. I try my hardest not to use the computer at home and I always want pictures to go with my blog posts, so both of those make my posting much much slower.

A hobby.

As I mentioned in my Day One entry, I love art. Painting is one of my outlets and most definitely one of my hobbies. I have been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember. When I was in elementary school I remember I made an "art class" with a few of my friends and "taught" them how to draw some of my pictures. One was a cartoon horse if I remember correctly. :)

In Junior High/High School I was tutored by RVC's art teacher, Laurie Reynolds. She taught my friend Shannon and I. I have two favorite art pieces that I did from those sessions. One was a transitional art piece where a paint brush turned into a California Poppie. I'll have to take a picture of it and include it in this post. I love how whimsical it is. My second favorite piece was a self portrait that I did. What was really fun about it is that I covered the entire page with charcoal and then removed it with an eraser to create the image. Very messy, very fun.

Lately my paintings have been landscape and floral. I'll have to take pictures of some and include them as well. My most recent painting I did a month ago or so. It is an old tree with the four seasons on it in sections. My mom asked if the painting was for her and I told her that I wasn't sure if I would be giving it to anybody because I like it so much, haha!

I hope to continue painting and to be able to give them to friends and family. I just have to allow myself to make mistakes in them and incorporate the mistakes to make something beautiful. It is my way of recognizing how God works, we make mistakes and mess up, but God uses it to make something beautiful.

30 Day Challenge: Day One

Me.

I am a single mother of a beautiful 3 year old little girl. She is the love of my life. She also has made me remember the simple joys in life and to live not only for myself but for others as well. I have found that I live my life through my heart more than my head. Sometimes this causes troubles, and yes heartache, but I wouldn't change that about myself. I have to work very hard to keep my balance of head-and-heart thinking. I love the Arts. Art and music have been an outlet of mine to express how I am feeling when words cannot suffice. Some of my best paintings have been done when I am overwhelmed and even upset. Sounds kind of odd, but I think the slow movement of composing the piece calms my spirit and slows down the many thoughts in my head. Despite my love of art and my emotional self, I work in a law firm. I never thought of myself as a highly analytical person, like the people who work in the legal area, but I have actually found a good fit in this law firm. I tend to be the buffer, for the clients as well as the attorneys. I have had to learn to have tougher skin when people get upset. Given that one of the attorneys I work with does bankruptcy, we can have upset and anxious clients (and rightly so). Its not easy working full time. I find myself wishing I could be home more with Danika, even wonder if I am being a good mom by working full time, but I know that God provided this job for me. So I try to just trust that this is the right thing for now and wait and see what comes next. Knowing that God goes being my expectations and the joy and love of my daughter, I know that it will be great wherever we are lead.

Thirty-Day Blog Challange Introduction

I cannot believe it has been a over a year since I last posted! Wow. So much has happened and I feel like I need to devote a whole post to just that. ...Unfortunately, that post will not be this one. I will have to set aside a specific time for that later.

My sister and I have been talking about doing a blog challenge for a while now...probably over a month and she started hers so I thought I probably should start mine. The challenge is as follows:

Day 1: Yourself.
Day 2: A hobby.
Day 3: A thing that is on your mind.
Day 4: A goal.
Day 5: A person you miss.
Day 6: A blog.
Day 7: A picture of you when you were little.
Day 8: A pet peeve.
Day 9: A show.
Day 10: An insecurity.
Day 11: An actor.
Day 12: A thing that worries you.
Day 13: A list of favorite memories.
Day 14: A bad habit.
Day 15: A wish.
Day 16: A picture you took.
Day 17: A secret.
Day 18: A thing you are afraid of.
Day 19: A recipe.
Day 20: A picture of your "crew".
Day 21: A dream you had recently.
Day 22: A think you do everyday.
Day 23: A "meme".
Day 24: A topic that makes you think.
Day 25: A song.
Day 26: A think you want to do before you die.
Day 27: A think that makes you mad.
Day 28: A quote.
Day 29: A place that gives you wanderlust.
Day 30: A future.

For each day I will write at least one paragraph about the topic. Should be interesting!

Wow...been a while!

Oops....my bad! Actually, I think my writing went down a bit when I got back on facebook...heh. So! Lots going on! Biggest news right now....drum roll please....I GOT A JOB! Can you hear the angels singing? Yes, I got a job finally. It is this perfect little part-time job in Cotati for a sole practitioner (meaning one attorney for their own firm) in Trusts and Estates. It is 10 hours a week, three days a week, from 4-6:30ish. We haven't set in stone what my schedule will be yet, we are doing that tomorrow during my FIRST DAY! This attorney is so sweet and understanding! She knows that I can't stay forever since it is such few hours, but she wanted to hire me anyways! God knew this would be the perfect job for me because it is extra income yet it doesn't take away from my precious time with Danika! Plus, OK BIG plus, because I start at 4, it means that Grandma and Papa will babysit so I don't have to spend the extra money on childcare! There go those angels singing again! Can you tell I am a tad excited yet? Anyways, can't wait to start tomorrow. I feel so at ease with this attorney and if I do my job correctly and efficiently, then she can get more clients and give me more hours eventually. That was my biggest news. I have more stuff that I can tell you about, but I want the pictures to get with them and my sister has them on her computer. Need to get them! Danika is doing great, the little stinker keeps testing me and we are working on obeying and sharing, but she is very happy and makes me smile quite often. I'll try to put up a post just on her soon, for now I should get some sleep since I'm working tomorrow!! :D