Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2008 has come and (almost) gone. What fun, what merriment, what crazy gifts! It was nice to be back in Tampa for a much-needed break.

We actually opened our gifts on the 21st, since that's the only time my sister could do it. Besides, we like to do things early around here.

S got three sweaters from me (one new, two *slightly* used), Mom got warm socks to help ward off frostbite in the frigid north known as Indiana, and I gave Dad the coolest gift ever--an ice cube tray that creates ice in the shape of guitars. And it even had a bass! I know it was a good gift, because he immediately posted on Facebook about it.

We certainly know how to have a good time around here, whether it be with flashlights or with word games!











Many fiercely competitive games were contested on this board.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Paying off the "Mortgage on my Mind"

I've always thought of my student loans as a kind of mortgage on my mind/brain. I was one of those naive students who took out loans for grad school without really thinking about what that would mean after I graduated. I mean, I knew cerebrally that I would have to pay them back one day, but I never thought about specifics--how long it would take or what kinds of sacrifices I would have to make in taking on this kind of burden.



When I saw that first statement and realized just how substantial the numbers were, it was overwhelming. After a while I just couldn't think about it anymore or I would start to feel ill. I vowed to do everything I could to pay off the private loans (which have much higher interest rates than the federal loans) as quickly as possible. And I'm proud to say that I've reached a huge milestone in this endeavor.

As of today, my private student loans are entirely PAID OFF! My final payment went through this morning, and it is an awesome feeling. It took 4 years and payments totaling roughly $38,700 to accomplish this. [Edit: It took exactly $38,427.80]

*Fist pump* Yeah!

[And a big thanks to M, who is in the same boat, for being so supportive]

Deck the Halls With Chubby Penguins

Blurry backgrounds--I can make blurry backgrounds now!  Yay!  Yes, I finally bit the bullet and bought a better camera. Not that I don't love my point-and-shoot, but I've wanted to be able to take more than two kinds of pictures (with flash and without flash) for a while now.  So along with millions of other patriotic Americans trying to stimulate the economy, M and I went shopping on Black Friday.  For ourselves.  And M bought me a dSLR.  He's the greatest!

I'm still very new to learning the "science" of photography, and so far the camera is still smarter than me, considering photos I've taken in the automatic mode look much better than those that I've taken in the manual mode, but hey--I've only been doing this for 4 days now.  

Also in the spirit of Black Friday weekend shopping for my family myself, I went to that land of sparkly, shiny goodies, Crate & Barrel, and brought home holiday cheer in the form of the cutest animal ornaments you've ever seen.  And I can make them stand out even more with blurry backgrounds.