6) I'm going back to school! PK & I jointly resolved to return to college this fall. PK will be starting his journey towards a degree, and I'll continue to work towards my Bachelors. While's PK's choice to start classes centered around his desire to progress his career, mine is a more personal decision. I excelled in high school; I consistently received nearly perfect grades & never struggled to surpass my educational goals. I assumed my experience in college would mimic my high school performance. I was mistaken! I found myself quickly distracted from any educational aspects of college, instead I focused on the more entertaining opportunities (Hi, PK!). My grades suffered, and I ultimately took a year off from school. After Mason was born, I rediscovered my motivation & maturity and re-enrolled in online courses at a local community college. With my growing family as an incentive for success, I began passing classes & achieving my goals, and I appreciated the sense of accomplishment I felt. At this point, I don't necessarily need my degree for any potential career prospects (we jokingly discuss that I retired at age 20!), but it's not about attempting to secure a job- it's about proving to myself that I can do this. I can graduate college. And I will! It may take a while, but I'm enthusiastically making the endeavor, and that's something I can be proud of.
When you're going back to school, you need a freshly personalized backpack... duh!
7) I feel the need to perpetually spoil things for myself! Whether I'm reading a book, watching reality TV, or enjoying a movie, I have to learn how it ends...usually before it even starts! I reference the final chapter of a book in advance, I find the full description of a movie's plot online, and I search the internet for potential blogs that reveal the ending of a reality TV show prior to its conclusion. I simply appreciate these things more when I'm aware of the outcome!
8) I'm a natural redhead. I'm asked frequently, "Is your hair color real?" It certainly is. I'm familiar with people who may attempt to replicate my hair color (cough cough, Mom!!), but I've never had to dye my hair. I've always been amused (never offended) by the silly, comical stereotypes that accompany being a "ginger."
9) I deeply appreciate a clean house! So many aspects of my life are uncontrollably messy & chaotic that it's a genuine relief & reducer of stress when my home is especially neat & tidy. With 3 kiddos under the age of 6, the task of keeping our space orderly can be challenging, but it's something I continually aim for. In the past I admittedly spent too much time & energy aspiring for a meticulously cleaned home. I eventually realized that my efforts were futile, and I was squandering away valuable moments with my sweet family while I obsessively straightened up our house. I now center my attention towards finding a more obtainable balance between focusing on my family & sincerely enjoying the moment (rather than fixating on the potential mess), and preserving a reasonable level of tidiness in our household. However, I'll always revel in the completion of a freshly cleaned home after everyone else has retired to bed.
10) PK & I have made the decision to continually aspire to live a debt-free live. Prior to Mason's arrival, when we had first starting living together, we took a Financial Peace course created by Dave Ramsey. It really enlightened us to the various methods of gaining financial freedom & being more responsible with our money. Unfortunately, we ultimately ignored what we had learned, spent irresponsibly, and acquired a fair amount of credit card debt. Thankfully we realized the potential ramifications of our countless, careless expenditures & learned a valuable lesson at a relatively young age. We cut up all of our credit cards, became much more intentional with our spending, and designed a plan to purposefully save any excess funds to allocate towards paying off our debts. I'm proud to announce that both of our vehicles are now paid off, as well as a significant amount of our credit card debt. As a result, we've also also been able to establish a savings fund to utilize for the purchase of a new house! We're making progress & we're determined to attain financial independence! I can sincerely appreciate the beneficial lesson our experience has taught us: our poor choices in the past can (and will) continuously affect our family in the present.
I'm done! Thanks for reading along! Did I achieve the goal the helping you get to know me a little better? I earnestly hope so. I'm wishing all of my lovely readers a fabulous week! It's my last full week with Mason prior to him beginning kindergarten; I'm excited to spend the next couple of days indulging myself with my sweet, handsome boy's company!
