{Renegade Craft Fair in Austin on May 15 &16}

{Beauty Inspiration}

I hope to one day be this beautiful.

{Freedom}

I’ve always been pretty good with money, even as a child I would only spend about half of what my parents would give me if we went to the mall or anywhere else. Almost every day my mom would give me 50 cents for a soda for my school lunch, I would always pocket it and save it for later.

I am though, in debt. Sadly. One of my goals has always been to be out of debt by the time I was 30, and although I don't think I will be 100% out of debt I hope to be pretty damn close. I have decided to devote the majority of my extra money to eliminating my debt. I think I will let my car and school loan just go on its normal path. Although trying to negotiate a lower interest rate for my car loan is probably something I should look into. My time and energy will be mostly spent dealing with the credit card debt.

Sadly, most of my debt has come from helping out family. In fact, one of the credit cards I am paying off is not even mine, it’s my moms. I took that on to ease up the hardships she was having. I was not born rich, by any stretch of the imagination. My family came into some very hard emotional and financial difficulties after I turned 18 and that just meant that I needed to help out my mom and my sisters to make sure they had what they needed to survive and sometimes that meant putting a few things on credit cards, like when their refrigerator died. Looking back on it, I bet that if I had never moved to NYC after college I would not be in debt right now (just to clarify I have never and will probably never be in unmanageable debt). But that said, I wouldn't trade my NY experience for anything, it allowed me to grow as a person and I cherish that time I had.

Hopefully works come through with some nice overtime this year and I am cutting back on needless spending. I have enough shoes and clothes for the rest of the year to be honest and I can’t really justify buying anything else, unless I find a good reason to treat myself. Last year I was blessed to get a lot of overtimes and I hate to say that I didn't use much of that extra money on debt. Lesson learned!

Lets hope that by 30 I really can be done of most of my credit card debt. I would be so proud of myself.

{Cilantro Lime Vinegrette}

I keep wanting to make this, one day, one day.

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/cilantro_lime_vinaigrette.html

{Chiffon Petal V-Neck Cardigan}

I love this cardigan. I love most cardigans though but I think this one is so pretty and feminine. Yum.


Chiffon Petal V-Neck Cardigan

{To Clean or Not to Clean}

I can admit that I am simply a pretty unorganized person. I don't like to clean, I don't like to vacuum I would rather my bedroom and my entire life be self-cleaning. I do though, love to be organized, which is ironic because you have to clean to be organized.

Every once in a blue moon, however, I get into this cleaning frenzy, it’s super rare though. A little over a month ago the guy that I am dating and I cleaned up my entire room (he’s so sweet). I’ve notice that I’m slipping back into my bad bad ways and have made it a point this week to get back on track. There is a pile of clothes (clean ones at least) on my bed and they have been there over a week. I did a pretty good job about giving everything its own ‘home’ so cleaning shouldn't be that much of a problem.

I should tidy up the kitchen and living room while I’m at it.

Cross your fingers for me that I actually get this little task done.

{Tik Tok Tik Tok}

I went to visit my parents this weekend. I always get nervous going ‘home’. For a very long time ‘home’ was just not the most pleasant place to be and honestly I dreaded almost every trip because I knew it would end with me and someone in my family getting into some sort of screaming fit or someone crying or just a whole lotta drama.

I hate drama.

The older I get the more my family has seemed to level out. I truly love seeing my sister, niece and above all my mom. Though, she did call me old this past weekend. Not cool mom. She also asked me the dreaded question… “When are you going to find a companion?” Ugh. Basically, I’m getting old and I’m alone and she wants grandbabies. Lol.

I truly am in no rush to jump into a marriage or relationship. I would much rather take some extra time to develop a strong bond with my partner and build something that is going to last for a long time. Of course, I would love to have children one day and at this point in my life I can say that if all works out I will be a mother one day, one way or another. I do believe that I have the potential to be a strong supportive mother, mainly because my mother is just so awesome.

I am not blind to the fact that motherhood is hard, I would like to be debt free before I venture into mommy land and I would prefer to be with someone that I am in a loving supportive relationship.

I’m only 27, 28 in May. I still think that I have time, though I do sometimes hear my biological clock ticking away reminding me how I’m not getting any younger.

I know in my heart that my journey in life will be exciting and I truly look forward to what lies ahead because I am sure it will be amazing. The older I get the more positive I become. Things always have a way of working themselves out. There is no point in self pity, because you are where you are in your life for a reason. Sometimes bad situations, or what we perceive to be bad situations, help us by forcing us to take another path in life that we would have never taken without that obstacle.

I’m excited to see what’s to come.

Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Posted using ShareThis

N.E.E.T. Find of the Day: Colette Patterns

N.E.E.T. Find of the Day: Colette Patterns

{Lets try this again}

I haven't really written anything in a while. I was pretty confused about what direction I wanted to take my blog. I get so put back when I try to think about directions and how personal I want to make my blog. I've come to realise that if my blog is as scatterbrained as I am, that's just fine. I would love to be able to look back on this in a few years to be able to see what I was doing, thinking and experiencing.

Probably one of the most significant changes in my life so far has been the birth of my best friend's baby, Mark. He's a cutie and I just love him. I was also very honored to be asked to be Mark, Jr's godmother. ♥♥♥



I have also continued to see a guy that I really am starting to care very deeply for and only hope that it continues on to develop into something very special.

Work, meh... its work. I continue to think about what I want to do, but I always get stumped because there are so many thing that make me happy. In this economy, I truly am lucky to have a job, period.

I am traveling to Ft Worth this weekend to visit with family, cross your fingers that its a good visit. :-)

xoxo
-n

{What a start}

Its already January 20th. The fact that February is fast approaching makes me nervous that this year will turn out just like every other year. A list of changes, wants, etc. that never really become anything. I really want this year to be different. I want to “figure it all out”. LOL, I know I know that's pretty grandiose of me. But hey might as well shoot high.

{This is on repeat in my head}

{Beauty Inspiration}

Crystal Renn

{One Ingredient Ice Cream}

I tried this last night when my roommate mentioned it. I had a few overly ripe bananas to use so I figured why not. and you know what, it turned out a lot better than I expected. I was really surpised how the whipped banannas really tasted like vanilla ice cream. You should give it a try some time.

• Peel your bananas first.
• Cut them into small pieces.
• Freeze for just 1-2 hours on a plate.
• Blend, blend, blend - scraping down the bowl when they stick.
• Enjoy the magic moment when they turn into ice cream!

You can find a better step by step recipe with photos here.

{Fear}

Everyone has something they they are scared of. Some people are really held back by their fear whether it may be a fear of heights or water or some creepy little insect. Mine have never been those types of fears. I used to have a big fear of what I considered to be failure, but I think that was just my young inexperienced mind at work. As I've grown up and gained new experiences I try to look back at what I think I've learned. This morning I started to think about what I am afraid of. I came to the conclusion that at this stage in my life I seem to be in fear of two things 1. That I will die with regrets (wont live my life to its fullest) and 2. That I will never experience the type of love that you read about and hear about. Although I like to think I aspire to live my life to its fullest- my laziness gets in the way A LOT. Love, well that's just something that I'm going to have to wait and see about. I'm hopeful though.

{Resolutions}

I know a lot of people don't like to make new year resolutions. But I really do, it allows you to reevaluate what you feel you need to improve on and what you possibly failed on last year. Its always nice to meet a resolution and to just have anything you feel you need to work on written down. So here it goes.

1. Lose 20 lbs. (I obviously would like to lose more but baby steps)
2. Be neater/ learn to pick after myself before it begins to look like a major disaster.
3. Go camping at least 3 times this year.
4. Go on another overseas trip.
5. Take my mom on a nice trip.
6. Read more.
7. Write more.
8. Go on dates/find love.
9. Study for the GRE.
10. Try not to be so damn lazy, lol.

{2010}

Its a whole new year, a whole new decade. I would like to think that this past decade was a good one. I feel like I grew a lot as a person. I did a lot of things that Ive always wanted to do such as graduate from college, move to NYC, live on my own and travel to Europe. I'm on my own and I'm really proud about that. I feel that a lot of the emotional problems that used to hold me back from a good life in the past are finally behind me. I feel like I can process things better and can handle stressful situations in a more constructive way. I look forward to this new year and cant wait to see what life has to offer me. I hope that I can always remember that obstacles are never as bad as they really seem and that everything can be overcome. I hope to find love and to laugh a lot. I hope to travel and experience new things every day. I hope to soon reach my "happy weight". I want to be happy. I hope everyone had a great New Years and for those that had a rough time this year I wish for you all the best in the new year.