Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Hair

This has been bugging me for awhile now and I am really ready for a change. I want to get my hair cut short, but at the same time I am scared to do it. I realized that I have worn my hair the same way for about the last 8 years! Yuck! I am thinking about doing something like this. I like the length, it is short but long enough that I can still be lazy and put it up and it won't take too long to grow it out if I want.
My biggest fear is that I will look even fatter with short hair, that I won't have something to hide behind when I feel extra fat. Which is something I have been working on as well. If you notice I have a ticker on the sidebar at the moment it is 10 pounds! I have 16 more to go to reach my first goal but then it about 30-50 pounds until my ultimate goal. Right now I am trying out Weight Watchers. I don't think I will stay in it for too long, just because I don't have the money to drop on it! They have changed quite a bit of stuff in the program from when I last did it and I like it much better. The biggest thing is going to be walking and biking everywhere this summer. Pete has his little trailer that we have for behind my bike so we can go run errands and do some shopping, too.

Crafting

Finally I can return to my crafts! I decided in January that I was not allowed to do anymore crafts until I graduated or finished ALL of my classes. Well that happened a couple weeks ago so I am cleared for crafting! For graduation I received a sewing machine from my parents, and not just any sewing machine, but an amazing machine! I now am using a Janome 3160QDC and I love it! My old machine was a Christmas present from middle school from my Grandma Horn. I outgrew it this year and it just couldn't handle some of the projects that I attempted very well and Phil commonly called it my machine gun sewing machine. It is a nice one, basic but it does what it needs to, just needs a bit of elbow grease and motivation sometimes. So far now that the ban has been lifted on the crafts I have made pillow cases for our bed, diaper changing pad for Pete, a skirt for Stake Conference, plus a pair of shorts for Phil. It has been a busy little machine but holds up against the work, and always looks nice.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The Hunt is Afoot...

Phil has been looking for jobs for the last couple weeks, as I mentioned earlier he had 10 interviews in one day. He has an interview everyday this week so far he has gone from Mishawaka to Lanesville to Connersville to Muncie and will end in Knightstown. We have heard from 2 schools that do not want Phil (their loss, not ours) we were pretty sad about one of the jobs because it was one we had really wanted and felt good about, he was the second choice of the candidates. We still have more jobs to apply to and backup plans if we need them. We still have a couple schools that we are really interested in that still haven't gotten back with us for an interview, but that job has only been posted for a week so it isn't a bad sign yet.

We just hope that Phil gets a job that he likes and will be one that we will feel comfortable with.

Right now I am working on my brother-in-laws high school graduation announcements. I love doing these types of projects, as you can tell by the new blog design. I like to use gimp for the grunt work and then do the finishing touches with the free unregistered version of picnik. I think they are coming out nicely.

Pete is getting more teeth (finally). He has 1 that has cut all the way through 1 more that is just poking out and 2 more that you can really see, but haven't quite yet made it through. He has been a snotty, stinky mess lately. I hope he gets them all in at once and is done for awhile.

The pictures are from Easter. I just got the copies from Dad so I haven't had a chance to go through them yet, but I couldn't help but posting the one of Pete in the daffodils.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Graduation

One of the major stresses in our life is finally over, though Ball State is trying to keep it there (but more on that later), because we finally finished college! This is mostly going to be a bragging post so sit down and buckle up because there is quite a lot to brag about!


First not only did we complete school we did it:

While being married...While being pregnant...While having a newborn and infant...While family was out having fun without us...

****image not found**** hmm... for some strange reason I don't have any pictures...

While having a jobs...

With Honors...
Phil was summa cum laude and Kim was cum laude
And the crown jewel of our graduation mortar broad...
WITHOUT ANY DEBT!

We do not have any student loans, no credit card debt or bills, no car loans or mortgages. Nothing!

It is possible, though definitely not the most enjoyable thing in the world. We did it and had a baby, paid our bills and worked our tails off for it. Part of it was the fact that Phil can charm a committee for scholarship, part of it is being married and no longer on our parent's taxes, part work, and part having investments and working through high school and most of it was a blessing of paying our tithing. My parents did not pay for any of my actual school things the first year they did pay for my room and board but that is it. They did take us out for celebratory dinners and vacations to help relieve stress which was amazing. Phil's parents helped him buy a laptop by lending him money, but we paid it back last year. We also have about the tightest belts possible, we spend about $30 a month on groceries, we have a cheap apartment, we bike whenever and where ever we can, we go out on free or cheap dates and find neighbors willing to babysit for free (Thanks Ryan and Betty Jo).

All in all it is possible to graduate from college debt free, it's hard don't get me wrong, but I'd do it again because we have grown so much more through the toughest of times and become stronger because of it, as a family and individuals.




On a grumpier note:
Ball State just doesn't want me to leave. The other day I went to check my grades and my semester did not exist under my grades section, my transcripts or my dapr! I also had a class from last semester listed as incomplete. I about died, but instead I emailed my professor and my adviser, both of which were out of town. Luckily my professor fixed it once blackboard was available again and my adviser's general reply email told to who to contact with immediate concerns. Right now everything looks right and hopefully I'm get my diploma soon! So really it has a happy ending too!




Updates

I have been way behind this year so far. I'm going to blame school and possibly Pete with a dash of other random stress on the side. Anyway I'm way behind so I am going to correct that soon.


As in now...

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Something Amazing...


Okay so you probably think this is something about our life and such but it isn't. It is about a book one that I am trying to convince myself not to go to amazon and buy right now without a second look back. I think I may have died and gone to heaven...As you know, I craft and as you may know we are Star Wars fiends. We went as it for Halloween and dressed Pete up as a baby Ewok! I made our nephews Stars
Wars stuffed animals for Christmas and Pete has a Yoda hat. So yes insane about it...So the two have joined forces and created Star Wars Crafts-yes heaven in a published format! Here is the link to amazon about it for all those other lovers and crafters. It makes it even more exciting when I am finally done with school and the no-crafting ban has been lifted!


But in real life news also Phil has 10 interviews today with schools in Indiana. He had one with Warsaw today and it went really well! They are hiring both English and ESL! (The interviewer even put stars next to his name to remember him!) But really who wouldn't want Phil???? I know I sure love him and want him around all the time!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Funeral, Birthday and Easter

Well it has been quite some time since I last updated about much. Lets begin with a funeral. Phil's grandmother passed away about two weeks ago, his siblings and dad chipped in to get him out to Utah for the funeral so I dropped him off in Indy on a Wednesday evening and Pete and I headed up to Warsaw to get some schoolwork done and not be lonely. Phil spent some time with his family and came home on Friday evening. Aunt Kate brought him up to Warsaw when she came up for Easter. (handy huhh?) We had a birthday party for our nephew Ben, who turned two. We got him a giant green ball, which Pete was quite sad to see leave the house. Pete decided he needed to make sure it was a quality gift for Ben so he chased it around the house occasionally just to make sure it was in top shape for his cousin. I made Phil's grandma's rolls for Easter dinner with the family and I thought it was quite fitting. Pete participated in his first Easter Egg Hunt with Lucy; while Ben and Ally had a much harder and drawn out one. Phil left in on Sunday evening while I stayed with my parents to finish up classes that were due May 2.