Finally, a break!

Is it true? Am I really done with my spring classes? Seems a little surreal that I am no longer responsible for studying something! I don't know how to feel........
While I'm super excited about not having class I am hoping that I get selected to take this summer school course, just call me an over achiever lol

While I have this free time I plan to finish up as much as possible in terms of wedding planning. We only have 66 days left...... which really means I have about a good 45 days to get it all set! My biggest task to tackle at the moment are the wedding invitations. I took the DIY route for this and while I have the wording down pretty good, my biggest challenge is finding a design to fit. I want it to reflect both mine and Lewis' personalities without seeming fake or commercial..... Haven't found anything that speaks to me yet, but I know it's out there!

Really though, where has the year gone?
Along with the invitations we still need to choose a place to do the cupcakes for the reception, send out final payments, finish pre-marital counseling, talk with the Reverend who will be marrying us, hash out the final details for flowers, book the hotel for the night/weekend.......the list of little things to complete is a mile long. I'll just be glad when all of it is done and all I am responsible for is showing up with my dress on a hanger lol.

When you look at it, I'm not truly getting a break ....... just shifting gears!

Oh! OAN: For all my folks who are doing the money challenge that I talked about way back in January HERE..... It's Week 19, have you been keeping up with saving ya money? I can honestly say that it can be difficult to part with it at times, especially when you are a little strapped for cash.... but I've been pretty disciplined and I'm proud! The challenge is really about to take off now too, from here on out it's big savings! It's never too late to join either, just check out the link for the challenge!

New Year Money Challenge

I was cruising through my Facebook news feed when I noticed something one of my friends posted. It was a  photo of dollar amount to deposit every week for 52 into your bank acct. The amount increased by the number of weeks, for instance at 24 wks you would deposit $24...... and by the end of the year you would have saved over $1000! I am definitely going for this one because one of my goals for the year is to save over $500 outside of the money that I already set aside. Now what I plan to do with this money is a total secret, even to me lol. Here is the photo:

I think this is a easy, fun way to save up some cash...... without even realizing it! What do you think? Does this entice you?

What I've been doing

I haven't gotten to post much in about a week.... with school, Lewis being home and sheer laziness I've been pretty tied up.

At school we checked off on medication administration... I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to properly draw up the medicine or give the injection; but it went smoother than I thought. Thank goodness


Here are what they gave us to play with:

Not only was I scared I would do the procedure wrong, I was also nervous about sticking myself! Real needles btw..... I'm a lil pro now, I try and draw medicine every chance I get!

Lewis came home and we tried to make the most of our time together, especially yesterday, since he was only here for a week. Went and caught a matinee ::Red tails, which was a really good movie I was surprised:: and out to eat at Saltgrass steakhouse. I'm guessing his schedule for now is 2wks on location and 1wk off ::which he'll prolly NEVER take entirely off, cause he can't stand to sit home longer than 2 days:: He left this morning and won't be back til the first of next month..... Sucks not having him around that often but it's better that he does this travel work now instead of once we start trying to start a family.

I'm going to be searching extra hard for a good bank to open our savings account in.... we gotta start putting money away for the wedding and other little life events. He doesn't care what the interest rate is on the account but I don't want to dump our money into a bank that's only going to like 0.01%!! Just ain't happening.

I got my first exam next week.... EEEEK!! I did my last day of school for the week today so I'll be hitting the books HARD for the rest and some of the weekend to make sure I fully understand the test material. Yay :-/

But other than all of that....I've been a super happy person :)
Guess I'll turn it in, clinicals wore me out!!

Got Goals??

As yet another year winds down, it's time for me to crank out some goals to achieve. I started doing this about 3 yrs ago when I was in a situation that I didn't care to stay in much longer....I made a few long-term goals and then created a lot of short-term goals to help me get to my long-term ones. I've stayed pretty consistent and I've achieved a lot by doing it.... so why stop now?? Here goes:

Long-term goals:

• Get my credit card balance under $100 (or really close; probably like $300...that balance is sky HIGH!!) 
• Make nothing less than a B in my nursing courses
• Save over $1000 for the yr
• Grow my hair out to BSL (bra strap length)

Now to make my long-term goals happen I have to create little goals to stick to.... these are actually the hardest ones because if you don't achieve them, there is no way you can win the big race!!

Short-term goals:

• Put about $140 towards my credit card every month
• Look over/ study about 1-2hrs everyday... read assignment BEFORE class
• Deposit at least $50/mth into savings
• Moisturize and seal 3x wk and protect ends

My goals seem doable huh? You would be surprised at hard I find it to actually stick to these things!! Especially the studying goal... I am such a procrastinator :/ and if it bores me, there is NO WAY I can stay focused on it! I have to try super hard though cause I barely made it through my first 8wks of nursing school and that scared me and my fiance'.....it's go hard or get kicked out! 

With the whole putting money on this and that it's all good....I just have one teeny roadblock: I DON'T HAVE A JOB. I've been unemployed and getting unemployment for the past 6 months...and that ish is coming to an end REAL quick. Matter of fact, I just received my full benefit payment today so come the first of the year I'll be ALL out. I've been applying for positions but only in the nursing assistant area.....I feel like goin outside of healthcare work they won't be considerate of my schooling. I was offered a work-study job on campus that I will look into once the school opens back up.... and I know they will work with my school schedule, it was designed for that very reason!!  Eh, doesn't hurt to stay optimistic right?