We have been very happy here for the last week, though. We're excited to have an office space and have enjoyed how quiet the neighborhood is. We've been taking advantage of our proximity to the light rail station (which has been a little icky considering the weather lately!) and have been enjoying a much more user-friendly kitchen. We've discovered that the unit is a bit drafty, which makes me a bit nervous knowing that we are paying the heat here, and our shower's hot water tends to run out more quickly, but overall we really love it here.
The other major news is that the Beetle has been sold. I'm handing over my little blue baby to a very sweet 18-year-old girl on Friday, and while I'm sad to see it go I know it is for the best. There's no reason, given our location and my role as a student with a free RTD pass, that we should be spending so much every month on a second car. By selling it we're saving $190/month in car payments and a whopping $80/month in insurance, which can start going into the savings account and will hopefully start building more quickly. I will say, as much as I hated depleting my savings to pay it off (in order to get the title for the buyer) it did feel really great receiving the pay-off receipt. I'll refill the savings on Saturday once the Bug's officially sold, and then from there it'll be a future of buses and light rails for me, which will be much easier as spring approaches.
I can't help but feel like this move has really been a fresh start for us. The last six months have been such shit for us that I think we really needed a new place in a new neighborhood to help us feel a bit better. I'm starting to feel quite a bit better in general, which has been nice. The master's degree is starting to really kick into high gear, which has been a bit stressful, but I've just got to put my head down and do the work. I'm feeling really confident about this choice, as I've said before, and even found a Marketing/Communications internship at the Denver Center which I would love to do (I need to figure out how to get some press release experience first, though). I'm also starting to think more about PR and how that might even be a better fit for me, mostly due to my personality traits. But for now I need to focus on getting the degree done.
In other exciting news I am down 20 pounds since I started dieting in July. We did have a few months after I lost my job that we didn't diet and the loss became really stagnant, but I started getting back into it a few weeks ago and am so close to goal I can hardly stand it. Once I hit that goal I need to start working on the toning/exercising part (I still hate my thighs) but I'm only about 7 lbs from goal and I'm so excited.
Matt and I did our taxes last week and lo and behold we actually got a refund this year! After getting totally screwed last year it was really nice not to stress about paying into taxes this year. We got about $840, which honestly isn't as much as we'd expected, but still a good amount. That, with my excess from school and my extra $1,200 from selling the Beetle and we should be fine, as long as we budget it well. The first expense we need to cover right away is a new set of tires for the Subie. Unfortunately with all the snow and ice we've had the last few weeks we quickly realized that Matt's tires no longer have the tread needed for this kind of weather. Luckily that shouldn't be more than a couple hundred, which if you look at it is the same couple hundred we'd have spent on the Beetle this month, so I'm not too terribly worried about it. I'd also really like to get a new mattress (we've had the same mattress since my sophomore year of college) to see if that'll help my back any, but that's an expense I can wait on till I know what our finances for the rest of the semester look like. We've also got to keep a good amount set aside since we're trying to visit Matt's family in Missouri in March.
Other than all that, work is fine despite the lack of hours. BBW is giving me more than I was expecting and ON is giving me less, which is fine since ON requires me to get up at 4:45 in the morning. I've been looking for something closer, like a barista job or a hotel job, but haven't been able to find anything part-time. There is a franchise coffee shop down the road from here which I may apply at, but now that we've only got one car I need to look for things along a transit route.
But I suppose it's time to curl up in a blanket in the recliner and work on my homework. I've got another chapter to read and a case write-up for class tonight, then somehow between tomorrow and Sunday will have to get the rest of my homework (reading, writing assignment, and starting on a group project) for my online class done... tricky, since I work all day Friday/Saturday and tomorrow Matt and I are celebrating Valentine's Day early and going to the New Belgium Brewery for a tour. Matt missed out due to work when my parents came in September, so I'm excited we get to go together. We're going to go on the brewery tour and then find a nice place to have dinner... I'm really looking forward to it :)
Okay, enough procrastinating, time to study!
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