A Not So Quick Catch Up

I don't think I have done a catch up post in a long time. Not that it's really even a thing, just basically letting whoever wants to know what's going on in my life. There are a few major things so I am going to try and break it up into those things and go from there.

Living Situation - My roomie Lindsey is getting married come December (you can see her awesome proposal story here). It really is an exciting time and I am so pumped for her and Braden. We moved up here two years ago and found a great apartment, then when that lease was up we moved closer to friends and community, well now the time has come that our lease is up yet again. We love where we live and would like to stay, but the prices are gong up $200 and that's just something we are not able to budget.

The situation is crazy considering she will be moving out in December so people keep asking me what I am going to do and what the plan is. Luckily at our amazing church we have met some awesome people, and one is this awesome girl named Holly. Her lease is up in June and she was looking into maybe getting some roommates. We really want to live in the Marietta area and we really wanted to be in a house. After looking at a ton of houses and attempting to call people who never call you back we finally decided it probably wouldn't be in the cards for us. The up front costs of moving into a rented house are also nuts considering they need one whole month on top of paying for that first month's rent. Who wants to drop $1000??...not Jenny. After many a discussion the best thing that seemed to be possible was to find an apartment.

That is the place we are at now, looking at apartments in the area that works for all three of us (who work in three different parts of Atlanta) and making sure they will take two dogs. It's stressful but in about a month when I am sitting in my new apartment and all of it is over with, it's not going to be a blip on my radar. I just have to remember to take one day at a time and know that in the end stressing out causes nothing but bad things and negativity, and I don't want to live in that state. This is the week we will most likely decide and sign some papers, so please be in prayer with us as we move ahead.

Job / School - Soooo on this subject...if you have been following along you know that I had decided to completely change my career from Teaching to being a Child Life Specialist. I took my GRE and attempted to get my masters, ended up not getting into the program I applied to, was totally ok with that, decided that it was cheaper to do it another route, applied to University of Alabama to do long distant learning, got accepted, and was planning to start taking classes in the fall...well yeah that's changed yet again.

A few weeks ago I was hanging out with my friend Jennie who goes to my church, we were going to have lunch and then go to her kids school and pick them up early and take them to get ice cream. Her husband Chris also works at that school. I was fascinated walking the halls because it was a private, project based learning school and I was loving what I see. I jokingly said I would love to teach in a place like this, but I wasn't going to be teaching anytime soon. Jennie said she could so see me there and that I should look into it. So I did. I researched so much and fell in the love with the school. I decided to go ahead and apply and see what would happen. I was extended an interview and ended up not getting the job. It was a great experience and if anything it brought me back to a place where I realized that teaching is still a passion I have.

Luckily, I am so honored to get to walk around people who are so wise and speak into my life and helped me as I mulled over not going back to school and jumping into the teaching field here in Georgia. I was learning that my biggest issue was my pride, after telling everyone I was going to change careers and not teach, I was having a hard time taking that back and thinking that others would think I was so wishy washy. But I realized that I am only 24, it's ok to change my mind, I have a while to figure it all out, in the end it's all about what gives God the most glory. So where does that leave me? Well I am still nannying for now, but the goal is to take the GACE which is the teaching test here and then get certified here in Georgia. I am giving myself a goal of getting my act together to start teaching next fall at the latest, possibly sooner should the opportunity arise.

Finances - Growing up I remember a few things about finances. I remember when my parents were completely out of debt and it being a big deal. Other then that, I don't remember too much. I had my first tax paying job at 12 when I delivered papers with my mom every morning for a year and half. From that day on, I would babysit or have some sort of job to pay for things that I wanted. I loved being able to buy things (and I still do). Moving up to Georgia and getting an 8-6 job where I was making salary was a big change. In college I got a couple of credit cards and a ton of student debt. I worked in college but that paid for rent and other expenses and still left me in a heap of debt.

After I graduated everything was put into my name. A phone plan, insurance, rent, utilities, car maintenance, everything. I was completely independent and that's the way it needed to be. For the first few months of me working full time I was just spending money because I was making way more then I ever did in college and wasn't really keeping track of my finances. I would just attempt to make sure I wasn't late on my bills and would overdraft my account about once a month. Finally I started writing down a "budget" and that's what I have been doing for the past year. I say budget loosely because often it was changed around because of stupid things I would buy or spend my money on.

Then I was reading my emails and one talked about how Dave Ramsey had one of his books for a free download, so I decided I would download and read it. As I read it, things started to click and I really loved the way he talked about money and getting out of debt. Finally the wheels started turning and I realized I needed to get my finances on crack down ASAP. So I printed out a couple of his budgeting sheets which talk about getting every dollar a job, and then I ordered another one of his books that should be coming soon. I also took a major step and cut up all my credit cards. I had cut one up last year and so it was finally time to cut up the other two. He talks about his baby steps and the first one is to put $1000 in an emergency savings account before tackling debt. So that's where I sit now, shoveling any and all extra money into an account and then getting ready to start tackling debt. I love math and numbers and so I sat down and crunched numbers and realized if I stick with my budget, I will be credit card debt free September of next year at the latest! That would leave me with just student loan debt left and I will be ready to tackle that.

So anyways, that is kind of where I am at in life. Lot of big changes and I am ready to buckle down and make it happen.

Happy Monday,

Jenny