miscellaneous change

so i realized today as i was cleaning our extremely messy one bedroom apartment which looks more like a studio when it is at it's worst. you guys know what i mean- one little pile of "stuff" makes your apartment look like a tornado hit it! so i decided today was the day- i was going to take my day off and clean the apartment- after some well deserved internet surfing and chick flick movie watching of course :0)

i realized from cleaning the house that not only do you find things that you wanted a loooooong time ago but could never find but also things that you never knew you had- like a brand new toaster- apparently a wedding gift D and i never knew we had received- how lame is that- i really really hope i sent out a thankyou note on that toaster...

another thing i also found was A LOT of change! i mean there was nickels, dimes, pennies, even quarters absolutely everywhere! D and i must have found at least 50 dollars worth of change! i felt like i was on the hunt for gold! naturally after finding so much change we decided to check the car for change and one thing led to another and we become billionaires...... you don't believe that do you? didn't think so.... but we definately came out of this "hunt" with a little extra cash- more cash then we had when we woke up! so i guess the moral of this post is every time you clean your house- also clean your change- not literally but you get the picture! just from looking in the car and in the house we filled 1/2 of a jar! that to me is amazing- all that change just lying around! i think that this jar will be our official change jar- what will we save for? oh i don't know.... the possibilities are endless- and since i like to make lists and fantasize about someday having enough money to make these things happen i will share my list with you fine people :0)

1. a house- something old with a lot of character and history- beautiful natural wood and two stories- a nice finished basement and possibly a nice attic that could be renovated into a master bedroom :0) and of course a hot tub ( a little bit of a stretch huh?)

2. kids- D and i have been talking about his more and more lately- we agree that right now wouldn't be the best time- we are thinking of sometime in the near future though so it is definately something i would like to save for. i know my mom struggled with money when i was younger and i want to be able to provide for our kids what they need- i don't necessarily want to spoil them but every once in a while couldn't hurt :0)

3. a trip to Peru- D and i also talked about this- we LOVE to travel! the first year we were together we saved every bit of money we had- and i mean EVERY BIT of money we made- D's tips from bartending, my measly salary at school and anything else we could scrape together! we took that money- which we also kept in the same jar we are using now for our change (good luck? i hope so!) and hit the road to Florida! i had never been there and it was an amazing trip- one of the best we've ever taken- memorable and absolutely breathtaking- the scenery was gorgeous and my trip mate wasn't bad either :0). wherever we end up going on vacation i know it will be fabulous- our 1 year anniversary is coming up august 11th- i hope this jar gets us to somewhere romantic and warm!

4. a new car- now this one as you will notice is lower on my list- because well i don't really care about what i drive. however i do know that i will need a dependable vehicle not only now for work and school but also for when we have kids. i don't need anything flashy- just something that will get me here and there and will last us for quite a while!

5. new furniture- living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom- again these things are lower because they are more indulgent, guilty pleasures. D and i love furniture- he loves the classics- post century modern all the way- i love funky furniture- my favorite store to browse? IKEA- definately IKEA! who knows? maybe our jar of change will get us that awesome new couch we've been eying up :0)

and more practically.....

6. new clothes for both D and I- we desperately need to update our dress- i have had a lot of the things i wear for work for faaaaar too long- D too. i really like the styles they have right now at target- and yes target is the kiss of death, especially to your paycheck and or pocket book- but i still am forever in love with that store- they have everything i need!

so that is my list- not a big one (well at least not toooo big right?) but it definately is a list! i can't wait to start making a little more money so we can finally start ourselves on the right track! D and i talked about today how we could save money- we accomplished the jar idea but what else is there? here is my challenge for my fellow blog readers- i love love love your comments- they are always insightful and heartfelt- this is why i turn to you for this :0)If you could answer this question it would definately bring more insight to not only me but also to all the other readers- i think we could also use a few savings tips and i look forward to hearing what you have to say!

HOW DO YOU SAVE MONEY? WHAT WORKS, WHAT DOESN'T?

well girls- speaking of money i have to hit the road- off to work :0) didn't i say this was my day off? well my semi- day off - no day is really complete until i have made at least one trip to either one or both of my jobs!

happy thursday! :0)

oh cricket cola, how i adore you....

okay so cricket cola will not be my only focus of this post- but let me get it out of the way because well i can't stop thinking about how good it is. for those of you who don't know what cricket cola is- it is a cola that is infused with green tea- full of sugar? yes. bad for you? probably. damn good? hell yes!!!!! it is probably my favorite soft drink- here is a picture of my love....i mean my favorite beverage- yea my beverage.....




























okay so that picture kind of made the post huge- but it had to be glorified :0) i have only been able to find it at Potbelly's sandwich shop- any ideas of where to get it? let me know! i love it- soooo good :0)

anyways not too much new- last night hubby and i went to botanas- a really cute mexican restaurant down on 5th and national- the food was awesome! very authentic and tasty :0)

tonight is our friend rachel's b-day so we are going out to club anything for some cheap beer and dancing- it should be a fabulous time!

other than that my life is semi-boring right now. it seems like all i do is school and work, school and work- no time for anything else. it really is sad but it won't be like this forever. hopefully a new job is on the horizon for hubby in the upcoming weeks so keep your fingers crossed for us! we really need to start banking some cash- we have a lot of bills and no way to pay them! we keep looking at this gorgeous house that is right near our apartment- i love this house!!!! it really is everything we want- but alas now is not the time- soon but not now. our goal is to be debt free by the end of summer- i know we can do it- D will be working a better job, i will have two jobs- so that is double the income- i really hope we can put all this debt nightmare behind us and move on! i can't wait! i have houses on the brain, i would really like children in the near future- all of these things unfortunately require money- but hubby and i don't like to dwell on money- we wish we had more but wishing doesn't make it so- and some day the luck will turn in our favor, i just know it.

so while i anxiously await the return of my husband i will leave you. there is lots of housework to be done and not a lot of time to do it in. however i have been known to clean the house in a record 20 minutes flat- we'll see what happens!

have a fabulous saturday night everyone- more musings soon to come!

started out good, went to bad, and then got better

so today started out good (see post above) i went to school- loved, and i mean loved my first class- fiber fabrics. This class rocks! we did wool dying today which was awesome! we died our own wool! i have never done much with wool or felting for that matter so i am psyched for wednesdays class! oooh! I found the perfect gift for petra (one of my best friends babies- so cute- i love her to bits!) that i can make myself!














aren't these just the damn cutest booties you have ever seen for a baby? absolutely adorable! and i can felt them myself! i am so excited! last semester in ceramics i made petra pig tiles- they were small square tiles- i made her two of them and then attached them to a nice blue wood antique looking frame- nada says she just loves them and looks at them all the time! am i the best auntie harmony ever or what? :0)

so after that class i went to psych- which i was totally prepared for- book in hand, notecards with both of my questions and of course my notebook with lots of notes i had taken while reading- i never do that! :0)

then it was lunch- salad and a taco- usually i man the taco bar- i love thy taco bar- but i only had one which i am proud of- i want to try to start eating healthier so i decided i could do without another taco and simply go for a larger salad. it was a good choice- salad is delicious and it actually filled me up so i was good to go.

finally the last class of the day was my fieldwork art therapy class- which was awesome because i had not had that class yet. we shared some stories about our vacations, did a group centering (where we introduce ourselves and tell everyone why we are there) and then we read through the syllabus- piece of cake! we were out of there by 4:15

then it began......i got to my car and decided i had plenty of time to drive home before work- so i got home, got out of the car and stepped in a huge and i mean huge pile of slush/dirt/cold water/unrecognizable slime- ewwww. i was pretty saddened by this but decided not to let it get me down- after all it was kind of funny when you think about it- i mean who does that?

then i got inside- changed into my work clothes and decided to count my money for the week- yea, i have a $20 that will last me for gas, food...wait, where the 20? i know i had a 20! WHERE IS THE 20??!?!?!?!?!!?
yep- you guessed it - i had lost the 20 dollars. so i did the only rational thing i could think of- tear apart my school bag, purse, bedroom, car and living room to find it- you would swear i was looking for a fix or something! absolutely insane- did i find it? no, definately not. so i call D at work- cry about how i lost my 20 dollars ( it must be that time of the month i swear to god i have never felt so emotional- but hey, 20 dollars is a lot of money!)

i then went to work- tons of shit in my inbox- what a great night this will be!

i randomly picked a stupid fight with hubby and instantly regretted it when i hung up- sometimes i just don't channel my feelings well- within minutes i had texted a make up text and all was good- but still- why did i have to do that?

so by now your probably thinking- did anything go right with this girl? is this whole blog post going to be about complaining? the answer? no! i got home, calmed down- turned on the tv to my favorite show- anthony bourdain and decided to make some ramen. as i walk into the kitchen i see a crisp 20 dollar bill sitting in the cat's water bowl- i ran at that water bowl like i was in the middle of the sahara dessert with nothing to drink. the cat looked at me- meowed at me- wondered- "what the hell is she doing?" but i had found it! wet, but still good!

so as you can all see- the day began good, started going south- and then we were back on track!

well i better get a move on my homework- all while making potatoes for a work party, doing the laundry, and spending quality time with D- trust me people i am a seasoned pro at this- it will all get done- or i will have one hell of a fun time procrastinating while i don't do it :0)