Update...school, work, house???

So I've got a month and 21 days until Graduation! The days are certainly dragging, but the projects are coming together slowly and surely. Once Thanksgiving comes around, it will be all down hill from there! Now that is something to be thankful for! =-) I'm really excited for the next stage of my life, and I can't wait to graduate and leave my job!!!

I was offered a promotion at the end of August to begin in September, and accepted the position with the arrangement that I would be creating a training program for the company, and take on additional training responsibilities and a few other tasks to help the managment. Along with the additional work load, I was supposed to recieve a $1-2 dollar raise. This position is doubling as my internship for school, so I have to continue with the job eventhough THEY HAVE NOT INCREASED MY WAGES!!! The company I work for has NO integrity. After talking to my manager (who has no influence on the pay raise) about my concern, she informed me that because this job is dependant on my internship, it's possible that they are not giving me the pay raise, because they figured I would do the job either way. Really? This only goes to show how little they value their employees and confirms the fact that I do not want to continue being a part of it in any way shape or form.

But the beautiful thing about all of this is that I have been encouraged to move on! I am hoping to take a year or at least a semester off from school, and then go back to attain my graduate degree in Educational Counseling. I hope to start working in the school district next year so that I can start networking. Depending on what positions they have available (Paraeducator, Avid Tutor, Admin, Substiture) I will probably work a few nights a week at a local restaurant so that I can start saving!

Save for what you might ask? Well I will soon be entering the world of homeownership! I have been pre-approved for a loan, and I'm officially on the market for a townhome! I'm excited to have a place to truly call my own! I won't have to worry about rent increases every year (yay for apartment life) I can have a dog! I can customize things to look how I want them to! It's all very exciting. I have found a few places that I'm interested in, and I'm in contact with a real estate agent, so it should be interesting to see what I find! =-)

Well that's my update! Hopefully more good news will follow!

On my knees...

Jeremy Riddle - Sweetly Broken (From the album Sweetly Broken)

"To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of its suffering I do drink
Of its work I do sing
For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered
What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified
You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled

In awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous
Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness

*It's amazing how amazingly simple life can be when you put things in perspective and get your priorities straight.

blank....

Burn out sucks...

I feel incredibily confused...

I am emotionally and physically exhausted...

Blank.

(But isn't this picture beautiful???)

A spark...now I need a flame

I finally got away from my awful rut and was able to get a few things accomplished in regards to my school work. I find that when I'm able to get out of the house I have a much easier time concentrating. Enter: Panera Bread, it's no library, but they have free wi-fi and provided a quzi-healthy dinner, a combination that can't be beat. The atmospher is actually pretty calming, soothing music, just enough background noise, that you're not nervous to turn a page, it would have been perfect had the just stayed open a little later. I only got an hour and a 1/2 of work done because they closed at 8:00. It was a much needed boost, and I wish it had lasted longer, but I feel that any small feet is something to be celebrated.

I'm so ready to graduate it's not even funny, so focusing has been a little bit challenging lately. What bothers me the most is that I'm distracted by nothingness. Sometimes it's important errands, and tasks that I need to get done, but more often than not, it's stupid stuff, like watching TV or a new movie, or surfing the web for things that are irrelevant. One thing that is wonderful to report, is that my credit balance is incressingly dwindling. I have a few major accounts that I will keep open, but my lasik is almost paid off, and I'm feeling like my goal of reducing the number of accounts is coming closer by the day! Yay...

Another great thing, is that I've started creating goals to accomplish after I graduate, so that I'm able to keep busy and enjoy a year off from school before going back to get my master's degree. I am still keeping my eyes and ears open for possible grad schools, but I'm definitely going to apply to UNC (University of Northern Colorado) and APU (Azusa Pacific University). I'm pretty determined I'll either be in Colorado or California, but I will definitely keep my options open. I limited myself to great proportions for undergrad, and not that I regret it, but I always wonder if I would have made the same decision if I had kept my options more open.

Here's to the future!