What I'm Into Right Now

Sunday night swims with my small group. My room looks like this the next day as I lay everything out to dry, but it's too fun to care.

Listening to these guys while studying. Can I say they're my new favorite band? Sorry Ray LaMontagne, The Killers and Citizen Cope but you'll have to make room for Young the Giant.

Doing work at Starbucks. Maybe it's the hustle and bustle around me, or maybe it's just the caffeine (probably the caffeine) but I get work done and enjoy getting out into the community a little bit.

This nail polish. It stays glossy even after trudging through the sand, it doesn't chip on my hands and I've gotten lots of compliments on the color! Plus the name, Tangerine Crush, just rings of summer to me. 

The fact that I'll be 24 next week!!

Contentment

I have been living here for 10 months. That is crazy talk. So here are some fun memories from my time here.

Catching this touchdown!

Attending Passion 2012 at the Georgia Dome!

Watching this bearded lizard the kids I nanny own.

The building where I attend all of my classes.

The text I got at that ungodly hour from my friends informing me they were heading to Atlanta from Virginia to attend Passion 2012.

My friend Ashley and I took a day trip to DC on what happened to be the rainiest day ever but we still had a good time.

My roommate and I at the Norfolk Tides game.

Celebrating the bride (pink skirt) at her bridal luncheon in Chattanooga, TN.

Nannying these two goofballs.

Visiting Charleston, SC and getting to see Brad and this gate which was made into a necklace I own.

Playing with these two cuties a lot.

From our visit to Zoo Atlanta. I took this picture with a monkey named Grant and a bronze gorilla statue.

Running the Shamrock 8K in 48 minutes!

Gavin DeGraw in concert at Norfolk Harborfest fo free!!

The Andy Warhol exhibit at the museum around here. They have the coolest t-shirts; I will own one eventually.

Budgeting

I've always been a fan of the principle "spend less than you make." I thought it was enough to pay off my credit card each month and call it a day. I mean I am in grad school so it's not like there are too many questions about where it goes. Food, tuition and rent about sums up my three biggest monthly expenditures.

In the spring, however I took a free Dave Ramsey class offered on campus. Money has always intrigued me; how to spend it, how to save it, etc. So I signed up and everything made sense and I did most of the things he recommended EXCEPT budget.

Fast forward about a month and I have a new job with a consistent monthly income so I decide to give budgeting a whirl... Because that's how budgeting works... on a whim.

Let me tell you, I don't much like the word no from others, which is why I hesitate to use it on myself when it comes to my spending. Hence my lack of a budget and my blown food budget from the month of May. I mean blown. Wow. Good thing May ended and it's June which means a fresh start.

If you'd asked me before what was holding me back from budgeting I would have said either my poor math skills or my inconsistent income from part time jobs. However, I can now say the true reason I didn't stick to it was because I have a really hard time saying "no" to myself. Self control is a fruit of the spirit that I'm lacking.

I'm here to tell you that conviction, money management and self control are all good and healthy and lessons I've learned this past month.

So with that, here's to hoping for even better self control in June.