Bettering yourself is too expensive

I write this blog as I try to search for ways to pay for my graduate education without actually 1) working; 2) having to take out a loan; or 3) become a "working girl" (if you know what I mean). I have searched high and low for scholarships and grants to pay for my extended education, but I just don't understand how I have come up blank.

First of all, I am not becoming a teacher, so that leaves out about 25 percent of the money available. Second, I am not going to school for any sort of medical field specialty, which makes up about 50 percent of all the money available. And finally, the other option involves being a minority and "need-based" (of which, if you can't tell, I am neither...except maybe "need-based" but I "need" those shoes, right?).

So anyway, if anyone has any ideas as to how I can find some free money without killing myself to get it, I would appreciate it. Until then, I will just have to continue selling myself on the corner of Main and Picacho. Call me.

I will not shop at Wal-Mart anymore.

Friends & Family--

Please read this article from CNN Online and take it to heart. This is one of those stories than can change your lifestyle....and I will no longer be shopping at Wal-Mart. Consider it for yourself, as well.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/25/walmart.insurance.battle/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

The Reason I Don't Blog

Hello to all two of my faithful readers: I suck at blogging. I know you've noticed. I am awful. When it comes to the choice between blogging and re-watching Grey's Anatomy (all three seasons), I will pick McDreamy, McSteamy and McVet any day of the week. And I sincerely apologize for this blatant disregard for your desire to read my wonderful and fulfilling writing about pudding cups.

But, today, I will give you a little taste of my favorite blogs. For reference, I love home organization. Love it. I don't do it, but I love it. Truly. I just bought a subscription to Real Simple magazine so I can have that little something "extra" in my life telling me to get my ass in gear and unclutter my life.

In addition, some of my other addictions include the following sites that give you great ideas on how to simplify your life and discontinue your need to acquire STUFF:

Unclutterer
http://unclutterer.com/
Check out the posts in "Decluttering" and "Home Organization." They make me so excited, I could scream. It's like a justification for my anal retentive nature...just what I need!

Simply Stated
http://simplystated.realsimple.com/home/index.html
There are not as many things that apply to me, but I love, love, LOVE the magazine and this just adds to the love, allowing me the ability to read it all month long even if my magazine won't be arriving for another couple weeks.

J-E-L-L-Oooo....

I just wanted to give a little shout out to my new favorite snack: A fat-free Jell-o pudding cup in chocolate-vanilla. When I am eating it, I feel like a kid again...and it's only 60 calories! Chocolate-y goodness...in a single serving.

On my mind...

I promised Jess I would use my plans-less weekend to blog AT LEAST once...so here goes, Jess...just a few things that have been on my mind this week that I haven't had time to blog about.

1. Food Costs
This sounds pathetic, but I don't usually cook for myself...and if I do, it's to the extent that I make a grilled cheese or try my hand at mixing up some Hamburger Helper. I know, I know....how will I ever find a husband if I can't mix flour and eggs together? I don't care. BUT, I do live off of Lean Cuisine. Don't judge me, please. They are delicious and only FIVE Weight Watchers points. Well, I went to the grocery store on Thursday night because I am literally out of EVERYTHING. I needed something to eat for lunch Friday and get me through the weekend. I approached my favorite aisle...the frozen entrees section....and lo and behold, the Lean Cuisines have gone up in price by 75 CENTS! Yes! What am I going to do?

2. Cost of Gas
I resent the fact that my Lean Cuisines now cost MORE than a gallon of gas...but not for long. Please, please....SAVE OUR ECONOMY. I can't afford my life anymore.

3. Student Loan Check
I got mine for this semester. And I plan on PAYING OFF my credit card, which is probably the smartest thing I can do at this point, because it is eating me alive. I am excited to move toward paying off my debts, which was a New Year's Resolution of mine. :o)

4. My Magazine
Is supposed to be on its way to the printer in Denver. My first publication on my own...and I am so proud of the way it turned out. I can't wait for my friends and family to see it in print. It will be a proud moment of mine.

5. Hot as Hell
I am NOT ready for the summer, and the weather today told me I best start working on my tan....because before too long, I will be SOL and see-through compared to most of the girls running around campus. If only I had another trip to Hawaii planned this summer to give me a chance to lay on the beach and soak up some sun. Maybe I will have to work on that. :o)

Well, that's all. I am sure I will have something more profound in the coming days.

because we love what we do

Google chat conversation:

me: Jess!
How's life?
Jessica: whew. busy. SO busy.
me: No problem. I will talk to you later, then!
Jessica: not only do i have work, but i told my cousin i'd proof a project he's working on, so I have 70 pages of educational stuff to read by tomorrow!
nah. it's good
i'm searching the web for "Wellies" or rain boots
me: Oh....I am at 49.5 hours this week.AND I have to come in this weekend
Jessica: same here
me: Magazines are insane
Jessica: well...i'll be working, just not going into the office.
me: Yeah, me, too,
Jessica: agreed. goodness. what did we get ourselves into?!
me: Who knows? But it doesn't pay well.
Jessica: lol i know! wow. that means we actually do it because we love it. go figure
me: I know.
I am totally blogging this conversation.
Jessica: hahaha right on

I guess she is right. We really DO love what we do...otherwise we wouldn't spend our Thursday night in back-to-back photo shoots after working a full eight-hour day. And we wouldn't be still working on into a 50-hour work week. The magazine industry is fabulous.

The End of an Era

This brings it home. The Brew is no longer.

And to steal the words from a movie, "You've Got Mail," it's probably going to become something really depressing, like a Baby Gap. Or a Pic Quik.

*Moment of Silence

Goodbye, good friend. Goodbye.

On Living Alone

On the phone tonight:

"Enjoy your night alone," I said.

"Thanks a lot."

"No, really. I meant enjoy having time to yourself."

"You like being alone, don't you?"

"Sure, but I don't know any different. I've never lived with a guy before. Only my brother, but he doesn't count."

It's true. I love living alone. Making my own messes, leaving things out, kicking off my shoes at the door and not caring whether there is a pile of clothes on the floor. The messes are my own, the space is my own and the remote is all mine.

How do people compromise when they move in together? Do they say you choose one thing for the living room and I will choose one thing for the bedroom? Who knows? I don't want anything to do with it. :o) Give me my messes...I won't compromise on that.

This post turned out to me much more boring than I meant it. :) Oh, well.

I resolve to love Valentine's Day

I have fielded questions from a few of my friends, "What should I get [insert significant other's name here] for Valentine's Day?" "Take a look at this." "Should I get him four cookies or seven?" "Let me read you this card I got him."

Enough.

You know, I don't dislike Valentine's Day in any way, shape or form. I have been blessed with Valentine's for about four of my 24 years and I am thankful for that. In fact, I think Valentine's Day is kind of stupid....and not in the "made up by the chocolate companies" or "I hate men" kind of ways, but in the "why do I need a day that forces me to tell the people I love just how much I love them?...and do it with a box of chocolates bigger than my head" kind of way.

Not that I don't love helping my "luckily paired up" friends figure out what to get their significant others, but I don't like being reminded of the fact that I won't be receiving one of those over-the-top and completely embarrassing tokens of affection this year.

In the end, I resolve to love Valentine's Day this year...for the sheer joy I will receive when I get to hear my friends complain about the lame gifts they received or the fact that their boyfriends/girlfriends completely forgot. Plus, Valentine's Day falls on a Thursday, my soccer league's game night so I will love being able to kick the crap out of unsuspecting women who get in my way. Happy friggin' Valentine's Day.

For God's Sake: NEVER BUY A JETTA

For those of you that know me, my car serves as an endless string of headaches for me, my brother and my parents and tonight, it was a migraine.

I was hurrying up with a TON of errands I needed to do after work: change into soccer-playing clothes for practice, pick up/drop off dry cleaning, fix my broken tail light and buy new black pumps (my heel broke off...long story, another post). Then, I was off to drop off some paperwork at the Pi Beta Phi house. When I jumped back on my car ready to speed off to soccer practice, it came as a huge and rather annoying surprise to find that my car would not come out of park. Mind you, this has happened to me before, so despite my calm curses, I started and restarted the engine to see if I could get it to work. Then, I panicked and called my dad.

Thank God for dad and the crank flashlight he gave me in my stocking last year. He talked me through how he had fixed my brother's Jetta last time when it did the same thing, but no such luck. And because I am a stupid girl, my brother's roommate, Isaac, came to my rescue and tried to fix it as well. Turns out we aren't mechanics and it is now still in the Pi Phi parking lot, where it will remain until my knight in shining armor brother brings me his truck in the morning to take care of the issue and get my car towed to the dealership, where I will tell the man that sold me the car to shove it where the sun doesn't shine.