Class Ring!

I finally ordered my class ring for my masters! I am beyond excited about this! I got a traditional ring as my high school class ring. When I saw this one, it just seemed so adult and modern. The stone will be red, a garnet, the school color and my birthstone.

The school offers the ugliest gold signet ring with their seal on it. As much as I wanted a ring with their seal, as it's really very nice, I hated that $400 ugly gold thing. And yeah, $400!! Not happening. This one is less than half of that! It will of course say 2012 and Sara on the side with my full name on the inside. It takes a while to make it, so I wont have it until the end of May or beginning of June. But I can wait. And the seal I love? I'm getting that on my graduation annoucements. Also a made by Sara creation, with the help of Shutterfly. The school's graduation announcements are outragiously expensive and of course can't be ordered until July. So I found a picture online and Shutterfly and I made a wonderful card. I ordered a proof so I can make sure it's perfect and will order more when it arrives.

I didn't go to my undergrad commencement, I was too busy moving to Kansas with my new husband. :) And sadly, I wont be able to go to this commencement either. Once I graduate in July, I will be moving straight home to find a job. But a job and a future mean more to me than walking in some ceremony. I cannot wait to gradaute and start our new chapter. This degree means that Joe can ETS. And that is the most important thing right now.

Priority One

Amazingly enough, Yeah, I actually quit my job last week.

I still can't believe it.

It's something we've been debating for a while. My thesis needed to be priority one, as Joe says. And the job just wasn't helping any at all. Know that job that you used to love then slowly started to dread then eventually come to hate? That was my daily hurtle. I worked there for two years. I loved most of the people. I will miss them terribly. But there are some things more important. Like school, my masters, my thesis, my career, and our future. My masters will make it possible for Joe to ETS. My masters will make moving home possible. This is a very important step in our lives.

I love all of the support I got from my friends on Facebook and Twitter. Thank you all so much! After listening to very small minded people tell me I wasn't a wise decision, I had the support from the people who actually mattered. The boss man asked me why I was doing this, and if I had a plan. I told him about graduating and them moving home so I could be looking for a job, and hopefully finding a job, and house hunting before Joe ETSed. My supervisor kept making jokes about how young and naive I was, how hopefully and unrealistic I was about my future. I just wanted to scream. For someone who was trying to convince me to stay, she was making it really easy to walk away. It makes perfect fucking sense that I would go back home and find a job before Joe quits his, right?? We are not stupid. We're planners. We cant be unemployed and homeless when Joe ETSs. This is our plan, and I think it's a damn good one. Oh, the other option she gave me was to take a break and work on my thesis and then come back in July when I'm finished instead of going back to Arkansas. Why on Earth would I come back and work with these people after I have a MASTERS?? I hate the man I used to work under. He pulls "rank" on us all the time. I would I have a degree over him only to come back and be barked at by his dumb ass? I don't think so.

Anyway, I've been reading like crazy and writing a little too. I have a stack of articles literally about 4 inches tall I've been working my way through. I'm learning so much about my topic and hopefully coming to a good point to research.

I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband who let me quit my job. It was so unnecessarily stressful and frustrating. Going to work everyday only to come home tired and pissed just wasn't worth it anymore.

And yet... I feel so guilty. Joe still hates his job but he cant quit his. There are some amazing women on Twitter who have been looking for jobs for months without success. And here I am just quitting mine. I looked at Joe this weekend in a panic... "Am I a 'homemaker' now?" I know it sound offensive, but that is not my idea of a good title. He just smiled.... "you are a student now." Ahh... does he know me or what??

Yogurt Maker??

I'll spare you the whole long story about talking to my mom. But basically it all came down to the junk our government is putting into our food. There was a girl in Japan who started her perod at THREE YEARS OLD because of the hormones in their food. My mother has a farm with chickens and will be getting goats soon. And I'm looking at starting a family soon. And researching what's best for baby. I fully intend on making my own baby food. My aunt made her own, it's not hard at all. And now there are machines out there that will be a big help.

But with the arrival of my mother's goats, I will have the ability to make my own yogurt and cheese for my children. My mom bought this for me today so I could get to practicing. I love yogurt and will enjoy making my own. There are different recipes and different ways to make yogurt, but it's basically chemistry when you get right down to is. I am so excited to get this in the mail!! Just wanted to share! http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/automatic-yogurt-maker/?pkey=e%7Cyogurt%7C3%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C1&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCHNoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-Featured_Recipe_Rule-_-

The end of an Era

I've been getting this feeling lately like something is ending. It's hard to describe. I get this "hurry up" anxiousness about everything- classes, work, time off. That everything is about to end or change.

And I would LOVE that!

But Joe still has two years in the Army. I still have a year left of school. Nothing is ending, nothing I can pinpoint anyway. Some of the "hurry up" feeling is left over from the deployment. I felt the same way about that, the days need to FLY by so I can see Joe again. It's the same feeling but on a much larger scale. The days need to FLY by so we can start our new life together, sans the military.

I tell myself to relax and slow down. Enjoy life. Enjoy this unique time in our lives. But that idea just depresses me. I can't stand feeling stagnant. I need to feel like we're going places, going towards the bigger goal... whatever that may be.

Maybe everything is sort of ending. Joe's Army career. My school. My twenties. Our single life. We plan to move home and start a family in a few years. I'm 27. Maybe this is the end of an Era.

On to bigger and better things! But here's to slowing down, taking a breath, enjoying the scenery. Life is short, I cant be rushing through it.

Credit Cards

Well folks, I finally gave in. Joe got a credit card this week. We're 27 years old. And we need to build our credit up. And Joe thinks this was the best idea ever. Since I was able to walk, my mother has told me how awful credit cards can be. People get in over their heads. Interest is outrageous. Why on Earth would a person need a line of credit? If you want something, save up for it and then buy it. And for my 27 years on this Earth, this is what I have done. And it's worked out pretty well for me. Until we wanted to by a new car. I had a job. Joe was a SGT in the U.S. Army. And we couldn't get a loan on a 2006 Honda Accord for less that 18% interest. My parents offered to co-sign with us and all was okay. Except that my *always independent* husband felt bad having to depend on someone else to co-sign.

So now looking at our future, getting ready to ETS and move home and buy a house, he's obsessed with our credit scores. And he applied for a credit card.

I told him it was his job to keep up with it. We would NEVER not pay the monthly amount so there's no interest to pay ever. And we would only use it for gas and groceries.

So we went to the grocery store the other day and when Joe got ready to pay.... he pulled out the debit card. Debt isn't something either of us want. We just paid off the car! And I have no idea why Joe thinks this is the best way to build credit. We decided the credit card would be only for gas. So I used it this morning. I was the first to do so. And Joe said he would go online and pay it off as soon as it hit the account.

I was talking to a co-worker today and she told me that they had a credit card for emergencies. Another told me that she and her husband put everything on it and then just pay on the bill at the end of the month. Another friend told me she only puts school related items on it, like tuition and books. I must say, given the recent government shutdown scare, it's nice to think we have a small back up plan now. Nothing beats our savings, but we really don't want to have to tap into that if all hell breaks loose.

Do you have a method to your credit card? What have you found works best for you and your family?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone is having a great holiday. I cant help but think about the couples and families that are separated for whatever reason; wars, careers, school. I hope you can find some joy in this holiday season in spite of the distance between you and your loved ones.

I am thankful for...

... my loving husband who means the world to me.

... my supportive parents who are always there for me and my family.
... my wonderful pup, Rigel, who is my complete sanity at some moments.

... the good health of my family who have to stick around for a very long time.

... my friend Mandy, who has become like the sister I've never had. I will miss her so much.

... the internet. I got this idea from a different blog, but it's so totally true! It keeps us all connected and informed.

... my Twitter friends and military family.

... my Blackberry. Along the same lines as the internet, keeps me in touch with all the important people in my life.

... the move we're preparing for. It has come at a perfect time.

... the life we've made for ourselves and the great future we have ahead of us. I cant wait to see what the future has in store for us.