New things going on

Can't believe it's been over 2 months since I wrote a blog. Damn, the holidays are busy.

This coming Tuesday will be three months at my job already. I'm still having the time of my life: I LOVE it. This last week we were doing testing for a major software roll out that's going to be available to Alpha Xi Delta now. AXiD was omega's first national client in 2003 (ie: all AXiD chapters were required to use Omega). Since 2003, Omega has picked up ADPi and Alpha Gam, and software was written specifically for these organizations. Some of those features were presented to AXiD and are now going to be available, as well as some new, exciting stuff specific to AXiD. I know this first semester is going to be difficult - my FVPs are going to complain about the new changes, but I'm excited about it, because it's going to make everything SO MUCH EASIER once the changes are in place and the bugs are worked out.

Speaking of AXiD....I have area wide training in a few weeks (YAY!), and it looks like I'm going to be a housing corp treasurer soon. At least - that's the rumor anyway. Still waiting on official word. I'll admit - I'm kinda terrified - but it was bound to happen sooner or later. I'm really excited to be involved though.

On the school front: 4 classes down, 13 more to go until I have an MBA! I've made 2 As, a B and a B- so far. I'm determined to actually graduate with honors this time. Got screwed out of honors in high school, screwed around too much un undergrad....so this time, I'm going to do it right! I started a statistics class this week, but My book still hasnt arrived, so I'm going to have to play catch up. Boo! But my professor has said he will work with me, so thats good.

Once again, I've started back on weight watchers. I hate food. I hate eatting. I hate being FAT. But, I think one of my concerns for losing weight has been squelched. I have SO MUCH weight to lose (115 pounds....urgh...) that by the time Jonny and I decide to start a family, I either wouldnt have time to lose it all and enjoy it, or I would lose it, and then get pregnant, and still not have time to enjoy it. Well, we recently had the conversation about "when" to start trying, and for now, we're not going to try until AT LEAST Spring 2011. That's when I'm supposed to graduate from grad school, he's scheduled to graduate that summer. So - for now, that's the projected time that we're thinking about starting a family - unless things change significantly between now and then. That gives me two years to lose weight and get healthy and feel good about myself. I still dont know if I'm quite yet in the right frame of mind to be successful yet. I'm still having a hard time. I did go grocery shopping yesterday and bought all healthy stuff. I guess we'll see how these next few weeks go, and if I manage to be successful or not. Urrrrgh.

Jonny's still looking for a job. I hope he finds something SOON. He's got some leads...just waiting to see how things are going. Even just something small with a little bit of income would be nice. I'm already feeling the crunch of payday to payday now, and it sucks. That, and the fact that I desperately want a house so freakin bad, and know that it's pointless to even search right now while he doesnt have an income. I'm tired of living in an apartment. We purposely only got a 2 bedroom when we moved to Columbus to save money, and because it was supposed to be "temporary" but JESUS we have too much stuff. We still have boxes piled in our closets. I havent pulled out alot of my stuff that I want to sue because I dont use it on a regular enough basis to warrant it being out, and it jsut sucks. I NEED a house. I NEED space. I need somewhere to call my own and start making a home out of it. Columbus doesnt feel like HOME yet, because I dont have somewhere to call home and dig my roots.

Well, Jonny and I are off to check out a new church today: St. Mark Methodist. I guess we'll see if we like it there! Love you guys!

Round two, house hunting: Columbus area....

So when I was offered the job at Omega, my boss hooked me up with a real estate agent. We told the agent we werent looking to make any decisions before christmas, but that we only had a 6 month lease on the apartment, so ideally, we're hoping to have something worked out by the beginning of April.

We're still learning the area - what parts of town are safe, affordable, etc. We havent met in person with the agent yet, but we probably will be after the first of the year. We've given him a wish list, and he's doing some research for us. I found a few online that, based on the online info, I might be interested in. Hopefully he'll know something about some of these properties, or it'll give him a better idea of what we're looking for.

Here's what I sent him:

http://www.realtor.com/realestate/1103538387/

http://www.weichert.com/search/realestate/PropertyListing.aspx?P=21519588 VERY interested in this one....

http://www.realtor.com/realestate/1098710095/

http://www.kpdk.com/page/listing/mls/100776/ Like this one alot too....

http://www.weichert.com/search/realestate/PropertyListing.aspx?P=22959847 And this one....

Realize Your Potential

Wow, cant believe I havent updated on here recently.

The job is amazing. AMA-XI-NG. I cannot even put into words how happy I am. Ever since I got a bunch of accounts assigned to me, I am SO BUSY during the day. Jonny is afraid I'm going to become a workaholic. I've been going in to the office about 45 minutes early each morning because right now, I FEEL behind. They tell me I'm not, they tell me that I'm doing okay. However, I was put in as the second Alpha Xi Delta representative (YAY!), so rather than doing the norm of 25 accounts, and then 2 weeks later, 25 more accounts, etc etc until I had a full load, I got 26 random accounts initially, and then was piled on with 56 AXiD accounts. Which is fine, but I'm still transitioning and introducing myself to my admins....and it's taking some time to fully transition. I like going in a few minutes early to have some quiet time to work on administrative stuff - bc once the phone starts ringing, it doesnt stop. So I'm going to have just 82 accounts for a little while, and then I guess they will start giving me a few more once I'm up to speed with these that I have.

Nonetheless, I'm having the absolute time of my life. I enjoy being able to help my Alpha Xi Delta sisters across the country, as well as the few other sorority and fraternity chapters I also have. I am SO grateful to Alpha Xi Delta - for allowing me to realize my potential - that I'm good with finances, I'm good with managing a chapter's finances. I got to do it as FVP, and advise at GSU....and now, I do it for many chapters as my career. AHHHHHHHH!!!!

I talked to one of my admins from a school up north yesterday. Poor girl, I just wanted to reach through the phone and give her a hug. She doesnt have a financial advisor, and she feels overwhelmed. I dont want to say too many details for privacy reasons...but I think by the time I got off the phone with her, she felt better about her position and what it was she was supposed to be doing. I spoke with another sister who's chapter was having initiation this weekend, and she was so thrilled to tell me "TFJ!!!" as we were getting off the phone... Brooke told me if I wasn't careful, I'd have all these girls wanting me as their financial advisor...HAHAH! Nah, cant be your official advisor, but I can certainly help you out with AXiD financial policies. Speaking of which - new stuff Omega is rolling out for AXiD in January= Frikkin AMAXING. So excited for the new services and how streamlined and efficient it's going to make things. YEEEAH!

Random fact: I have one sorority chapter (not AXiD) that has 254 members. Holy Moly! I cannot even imagine being in a chapter that big. Can you imagine the chapter meetings? Or the socials? How does a chapter than big even function? I bet risk management is an absolute nightmare....

Hope you guys are doing well, and have a Happy Thanksgiving with your families and loved ones this week. Take care.

<3,
Amanda

Update on the housing situation!

Jonny and I went to Columbus today to see about an apartment. We finally decided that considering all factors, it was most cost efficient for us to transfer our lease to the new apt in Columbus sooner, rather than later, and to find HIM temporary living arrangements. Plus, this way I get to take my Buster with me!

Well, we still havent quite figured out where he is going to stay yet. There's an extended stay over on Jimmy Carter BLVD that he's going to look at. We have a few other prospects in mind if push comes to shove - but we're still working on that angle.

We will be moving Oct 8-11 into Willow Creek apt homes off Buena Vista Rd in Columbus. I've got to look into getting a moving truck - either budget, or u-haul, or something. We're trying to be as cost efficient as possible. We got a great deal on the place we got. It's smaller than what we've got now - but it's temporary and you get what you pay for. We got a 6 month lease, and we've decided to box our stuff up in such a way, that crap we really dont need to unpack, won't be unpacked. I'm not painting the apartment, and I, honestly, probably wont decorate either. It's 6 months. it's just a place to sleep shower and eat until I can find a house to call home. There's no point in unpacking a bunch of crap only to pack it right back up before too much longer.

So yeah, that's what's up with us. Kinda of exciting. So...if you know of anyone who has a room with internet access (for his school work) available for about 2 months that my hubby could stay with, please let me know. We're willing to pay - we just need something temporary. The closer to dunwoody, they better. Thanks!

AWESOME....but terrifying stuff going on.....

First and foremost - my job search is OVER!!!!!! After what seems like an eternity, I can finally say that I'm thankful things turned out the way they did, because the job I've recently been offered is 10 million times better than any of those interviews I went on earlier this year.

I'm going to be an account manager for Omega Financial! AXiD's, you should know what this is....I am so thrilled I can hardly control myself.

I'm on cloud nine - I'm putting in my notice at the credit union on the 26th and that will probably actually be my last day, due to their security policies. I hope it will be anyway, I need that time off to get situated.

Jonny and I will be moving to Columbus GA. He is currently in school at Georgia Perimeter College in Dunwoody. So our initial idea was that he would stay in our apartment until December, when classes were over, and then we'd break the lease and he would come in Columbus to be with me. In the mean time, I would have temporary housing arrangements, while searching for a home to hopefully move into by December. The plan was that he would come to Columbus on the weekends while we searched for a home.

Well, the more we thought about our situation, the more we realized we didnt want to rush into buying a home right away. We've never owned before, and we desperately want a house, but because neither one of us knows the area at all (my interview was literally the first time I had ever been to Columbus) we decided that it would be better to get an apartment to start off with, while getting to know the area, and take our time to find a home.

That being said, what we've decided to do now is, in order to avoid paying penalties for breaking our lease, we're going to look into moving to another Mid America apartment community, which is the same management company that our current apt is managed by. So in December, we'll move out of our apt and into either Whisperwood or Willow Creek. We were planning on going to Columbus next weekend to make arrangements and put an apt on hold for us for that time so that one will be available for us when we're ready for it. We'll probably do a 3 month or 6 month lease option at that point, depending on price and availability.

The problem I'm still running in to, is I still need something temporary to last me from mid-October through mid-December. I have tried everything i can think of at this point to find a roommate or suitable and affordable situation. I've signed up on roommates.com, with no luck because most people want long term leasers. I even targetted military families who might want a roommate to split the bills with. I've tried contacting the auburn alumnae association of my sorority to meet people in the area who might have a room available for short term rent. I checked out CSU, to see if they had any dorms or student housing that wasnt filled that I might could get lucky and stay in short term...no luck there. I looked on craigslist, and got not response....I really have no idea what else to try at ths point.

And finally, the most affordable extended stay place I can find is Value Place (www.valueplace.com) which actually looked like a really good idea, considering all the ammenities, but it's still $179 a week, which is over $700 a month, which is more than I can afford to pay, while continuing to pay for my apt in woodstock while my husband is still in school. Plus, it's on the south side of town, which everybody tells me is not a good area for a female to be by herself. I was hoping to find a temporary roommate situation for $400 a month or less. Maybe a military family, or a student with an extra room. I only need something for 2 months until we can get him out of classes and moved down this way so we can get one of the apartments. I simply cannot afford to be in a car for 5+ hours a day and 270 miles roundtrip... :(

So....that's the downside to my situation. I gotta figure out how to get through the next two months given the circumstances....

I just want to scream. I'm so dag blasted excited about this next chapter in my life..... YEEEEEAH!!!!!

Babies

Now don't y'all get your hope up anytime soon. This is not a "Jonny and I are going to start trying tonight" kinda post. This is a "I'm still terrified as all get out about having babies" kinda post.

As I've said before, I'm a message board junkie, and there's one in particular that I chat in on a pretty regular basis. This message board was created a little over 2 years ago, and in that 2 years, most of us got married, and many have already started having families. I was one of the last ones to get married - I think there's still one more in the works right now.

At any rate...most of the girls on there have started popping out babies already...or, are trying. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that (so rebecca, dont get all defensive on me!) but it's just an observation...recently married, now having babies.

Of those girls, I can think of several who have started to have marital problems due to the recent addition of the baby in their life. I'm not going to discuss any of their specific issues for privacy reasons....but this scares me. Jonny and I have already agreed that the baby making is on hold, until we get a house. We're planning on house hunting next spring. After we get the house, I'm sure we'll discuss then, when we want to actively start pursuing a baby.

I know that marriages are difficult. I know that being a couple, by yourself, doing your own thing, and then throwing a little one in the mix of it's GOT to be tough. Jonny and I are FABULOUS right now. At this point in time, I wouldnt change a single thing about our marriage. Yes, I want a house. Yes, I want another job. Yes, I'd like to have more money to do more weekend getaways, etc. Yes, I wish I had more time and energy to keep my house clean on a regular basis, rather than messing it up during the week and cleaning it on the weekends. But for the most part, what we've got right now is pretty darn good, and I like being a newlywed that doesnt have to worry about "well what will we do with the baby/kids if we decide to go somewhere for a romantic getaway, etc...."

I'm selfish. I'll admit it. I think I have every right to be. There's a reason I'm not pregnant right now, and havent ever been. Because I know I'm not ready. My fear is, as I've said before, that I dont know when I'll be ready, and when I'll stop being scared. I don't know if I'll ever stop being scared of kids. I dont want to be that couple that never has kids because they are too selfish and wrapped up in their own lives to bring a child into the mix of it. I just want to wait until I'm ready. At the same time, I dont want to wait SO long, that Jonny and I get comfortable with it being just the two of us, that when we do finally have a baby, it changes our whole dynamics with one another and it makes it that much harder to adjust to.

I LOVE the girls on the message board that I chat with, and it breaks my heart to read that some of them are having marital problems this early on. Obviously, I only know their side of the story - not their hubby's, but based on their side of the story, their hubby's can be total jerks, based on what I've read. Everyone wants to be able to say "Oh,my husband would never do that to me..." but lets face reality...he might. My fear, when we do finally have kids, is that I'll FINALLY have that mama instint, and FINALLY be okay with a baby, and be OBSESSED with my child, that I'll neglect my husband. I dont want to neglect my husband, and I don't want to be a bad mother. And I honestly dont know how I can be good at both. :(

I know I've got time to let things fall into place before this even becomes an issue for us, but time flies. I just hope I'm ready when it gets here....

My car was broken into last night.

The weirdest thing is - it doesnt appear that anything was taken. I dont generally keep anything of value in my car.

I went to my car to come to work this morning. I unlocked it and got inside. I oticed my glove box, open, my center console, open, and my dash board box, again - open. Everything had been pulled out of the dash box, and the glove box. I didnt notice anything had been removed from the center box.

Apparently, I had had an old expired credit card in my dash box. It expired in 2005. But they didnt take it! It was laying in my passenger seat. I've already contacted my CC company and told them to put a temp freeze on the account since that card is in the safe deposit box and we dont use it for anything anyway. I even had a $1 bill sticking out of my ashtray. Was it taken? No. It was still there.

It doesnt appear that anything was taken, but I really dont know for sure. I have so much trash and junk in my car, that there's absolutely no telling.

What I dont get is, I normally lock my doors. I'm pretty anal about it. So if I didnt lock them, thats not like me. On the other hand, I cant say for certain that I am absolutely positive that I locked it last night when I got home from work. So the only thing I can really think of, is that when I pulled in from work last night, there was this little kid, probably about 10 years old, who had parked his bike in the parking spot that Jonny normally uses (next to the spot that I normally use) and I guess he got pissed off when I pulled into my spot since his bike was so close and I could have "almost" run over it. So if for whatever reason, i didnt lock it, he might have just been a prick who rummaged around for the hell of it.

I think I'm going to call my apt complex and let them know, in case there have been any other instances last night, or recently.

It's so weird though! I don't think anything was taken - so why even bother???

Grad School

One of the things my parents always told me they admired about me is that I always seemed to have a plan, and that I lived my life, I didn't let me life live me. For example: in high school, I tossed around the idea of college. I had an idea where I wanted to go but hadn't quite made up my mind. For the heck of it, one day, I took the ASVAB exam. Apparently, I did really well on it. The Army called me and would not leave me alone about my asvab scores and did I want to join the army. Long story short, I finally said 'okay, fine, I'll come talk to you guys.'

After talking to them, i decided that maybe the military was a cool idea. My dad advised me to check out all the branches before I made a decision. Because of his advise, i did check out all the branches (except marines, no thank you...) The air force told me I was too fat, and to be honest, I didn't want to crawl around in the mud for the army.

So as they say.... 'in the navy......'

So, my senior year in high school, I enlisted in the Navy and shipped out in November after having graduated in June. I had a plan. Do the military for 4 years, get the GIBill, go home, go to school, get a job, and hopefully at some point, find my soul mate and eventually start a family.

At this point, I've done all of the above, except, the starting a family one. I have a job. But I'm not happy with it. So until I can be happy with my job - happy enough to where I wont just get up and walk out one day, and risk my income, I cannot, and will not consider starting a family. Oh yeah, and we live in an apartment right now. I want a house for babies, thankyouverymuch.

Yeah. Nowhere in that "plan" was there ever anything about grad school. I didn't ever see myself doing it. My senior year of college, a few people asked me about grad school, and my response was "ehh, maybe one day, after I've popped out a few babies and they've gone off to school. But right away after undergrad? no way..."

Well, just shy of one year after graduating from SPSU....6 months after getting married....almost a year at my "job"....I'm in this "I never expected to feel this way after graduation" state of mind. I'm torn. My home life, is FABULOUS. I love being married. My husband is the greatest, and even though they say the first year is the hardest, we've managed to do pretty damn good so far. My extra curricular life is still fabulous. Quite honestly, it keeps me happy. I LOOOOOOVE being an advisor to the chapter at GA State (even though they hate me because I have such a tight leash on their checkbook). I love when the girls come to me and ask for advice. I love helping. I LOVE giving back to the organization that made me realize alot about myself. Mushy mushy crap, yeah, I know....sorry, but it's true. My friends are great. They've done amazing things for me, and I couldn't have asked for better friends...

So basically, I'm torn about my life right now because I LOVE everything - everything about my life except my job, and I miss school TERRIBLY. I pursued an Information Technology field of training for 4 years. 4 in the military, and 4 through undergrad. I've been "working" in IT for a year now. I HATE IT. Actually, let me rephrase. I'm BORED with the IT that I'm qualified for. The IT that I think I would have fun at, I don't have the qualifications, for, and nobody will hire me in those jobs to get the experience.

So fine, whatever. Though there are parts of IT I still love, I've realized I have a passion for something else. Money. Finance, and Accounting. Numbers. Budgeting, billing, AP/AR, ledger work. Administrative stuff involving numbers. That's what i want to do with my life. I loved being FVP in AXiD. I love being an advisor, and you know what? If I do say so myself, I'm damn good at it. Unfortunately, I have no formal finance education, or paid experience in this field.

So after being unhappy at my job for over 6 months. After applying for finance jobs, with not much luck for over 3 months, I finally decided to regroup. I asked myself "What can i do, to improve my work life situation? How can I get experience in finance? Either educational or paid experience? Well, you haven't had much luck getting a paid job getting the experience, so it looks like education is the next step."

So I made a new "plan" for my life....

Initially, I was going to get an accounting career certificate online through a local technical school. But after much thought, and the fact that half of the classes were repeats from my undergrad days, I nixed that idea. Higher education, I thought, might be a good idea. So i started researching. I knew I didnt really want to sit in a class room again. I knew I wanted to keep the ability to work full time, now that I'm married and trying to get settled into married life so that eventually we can start a family. So I started looking for classes part time and online.

Kennesaw, GSU and West GA didnt have quite what I was looking for. I started researching online universities, and filled out some interest forms for someone to get back in touch with me to answer some questions.

So.....with all that said and done, I am proud to say that on May 5th, 2008 (ironically, exactly 1 year after I graduated from SPSU) I will begin taking online classes for an MBA in Finance through Grand Canyon University out of Phoenix AZ. I just missed school too danged much...and I really want a job in finance. At least this way, I can put some education experience/goals on my resume for finance, rather than "how cute, you were FVP of your sorority, and you want a job..." as my only experience.

Blergh. Why cant employers just risk and take a chance on someone? I guess it's meant to be this way. I guess I was meant to go grad school all along, and just didnt know it.

WOOO! I'm excited. I get to stimulate my brain again!


*edit* If you're looking into online schooling options, undergrad, or grad, or even certificate programs, and want to talk to someone, my enrollment counsellor Jeremy Ketterer was amazing. If you want to talk to him to get some answers to questions about how the program works, you can request info at his website at http://gcu.edu/ec/jketterer, or call him at 1.888.293.2566

Military Wives as Surrogate Mothers

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ReproductiveHealth/Story?id=4561403

Okay....I dont know how I feel about this.

On one hand, okay, if you have the right mindset, and are looking to do it more than just for the money, thats fine and good. I dont have a problem with Surrogate mothers "in general"

What I have a problem with, is military wives, who are being paid money, to be a surrogate mother, but yet tax payers money is paying the health care of that woman and baby, while she's being paid by the couple.

If you think about it as an employee/employer relationship, if a woman wants to be a surrogate mother, then the COUPLE should pay her health care expenses. In this case, of a military wife, who "just so happens" to have medical coverage, it's not fair, or ethical, for a woman to abuse the military medical coverage.

It kinda pisses me off just thinking about it, actually. A military wife who is pregnant with her own child by her military husband is one thing. A woman being paid a crapton of cash to be a surrogate, is completely another.

Thoughts?

Ex-Sailor Convicted in Terror Case

Ex-Sailor Convicted in Terror Case

I was a part of that battlegroup. April 29, 2001, my shipmates and I, as well as the other ships in our battlegroup, were going through the dangerous Strait of Hormuz (which is scary as f*ck, I might add), and this holier than thou convert thinks he had the right to put MY safety at risk?

:mad::mad::mad:

"up to 25 years in prison" doesnt do justice for this. Has anybody heard of Johnny Walker? (no not the drink, and no, not the bomber guy) You would have thought we'd figured out how to stop these creeps from doing crap like this by now....:(