the joys of being broke

so it occurred to me tonight, as i looked over my bank statements and credit card bill, that i will be using my credit card to live off of until grad school starts. once school starts, i will have the money i budgeted for living expenses from my loans. good news on that front also: all my loans got approved, so i'm done worrying about how this year is getting paid for. i always knew it was going to be all on loans, but because i am getting all federal money, there are lots of hoops to jump through. but yeah, without a steady, or large, paycheck coming in, i can't really afford anything. i quit my job at harris teeter, but i'm still waiting for one last check from them. and i'm really hoping that i get it before 2 outstanding bills are deposited and overdraw my account, again. credit cards are evil, but i have come to appreciate how expensive life is and that sometimes people can't do it without buying on credit. i'm not thrilled about it, but i have to pay my bills and buy groceries. i was talking to kara about this whole financial situation since we graduated, and a wonderful thought occurred to me. in three years, when i am done with graduate school and have a great job, i will actually get paid regularly! and most likely, fairly well too. the starting PT salary is usually upwards of 50K a year. i can't even imagine how much money that is. but simply the fact that i won't have to do my grocery shopping at the dollar store is great. (i'll probably still go to the dollar store, cuz its awesome)

so here's to being broke at christmas! and here's to being in debt up to my eyeballs!

back from Mexico!

so i've been home from Mexico for a week now, and my life has been changed forever. i loved every minute of it and doing God's work. we went to Back2Back Ministries, which is run by a group of American missionaries who have been down there for about 14 years. the group i went with was amazing, really cohesive, and we worked together so well! we did a bunch of work with orphanages that B2B is linked with. we dug trenches, sealed roofs, poured concrete, served meals, and played with all the kids. i loved these kids! i wanted to bring them home with me! we were there over my birthday and on the actual day, the orphanage we were at did a special birthday surprise for me. all the kids got together and sang me a song for my birthday and then jumped on me to give me hugs. i'm really glad someone snapped a picture.


speaking of pictures, i took over 1000 while we were there. yes, you read that right- 1000. i narrowed it down to about 800 that i burned onto CD's for everyone in the group. i quickly became the group's unofficial photographer, and i got so many awesome shots. i put up 6 albums on facebook, so check them out.

i've just been hanging out this weekend, enjoying the wintery weather outside from inside! we have 3 books to read for PT school, so i've spent a lot of today curled up on the couch with a book. i love it. last night, i went to a DPT party and got to meet a bunch of people in my class and lots of students that are already in the program. it was fun and i got a lot of good advice about the program. i know i will regret saying this, but i've been really bored this past year, and i am ready to get started! the sooner i start, the sooner i can be done, and the sooner i can get a job and start to get out of debt. which is a plus. since i will be about 100K in the hole when i'm done, including my loans from undergrad. i'm ready to learn. i know i'm a dork.

i'm headed to church tonight because i don't want to wake up early tomorrow to go. and i don't have anything else to do tonight, so why not go to church?!!? i love my church. its amazing.