Back To School?

The last few years I have been playing with the idea of getting a Master's degree to help further my education and career. It seems that the bachelor's degree has become the equivalent of a high school diploma in many industries. It is now required by many companies before they will even call you in for a phone interview. But will the Master's degree be that extra push I need to get my foot in the door? Is the $50,000 spent on the education and 2 years stressing out over grades and homework assignments going to be worth it when I'm done? Will it really pay off?

Reflections

It seems like yesterday that I was graduating college, stepping out onto the stage in Wells Fargo Arena in my maroon cap and gown. Yet, it was almost 3 years ago that I received my bachelors degree, and 7 years have past since I finished high school. It makes me think of everything I thought I would have accomplished by now and everything I actually have.

During the past 3 years, and after a long search, I was able to quit working as a teller to join a company where I can grow and develop the skills I need to be successful in the business world. Although I still haven't figured out exactly where I want to end up, I am working on my career plan one step at a time.

Not only have I gotten a "grown-up" job in the corporate world, I have taken the leap into homeownership by buying my 1400 square foot townhouse in Gilbert. After almost 2 years, the house almost doesn't look the same as it did when I signed my life away to the mortgage company. The place has new paint, new floors, new appliances, a completely new backyard, and next up is the master bathroom.

Several of my friends have gotten married, and even a few have started to have babies. Although this is somewhere I want to be....someday.... I am currently happy playing Auntie Sara, babysitting and spoiling and giving the bundles of joy back at the end of the day. I have found, after hearing parenting stories, that I am more thankful for my sleep and alone time that I can get every day.

 To replace any children in my life, I have my own baby....puppy... Zoe. She is so full of life and beyond spoiled with belly rubs and treats. Saturday morning, as I returned home with bagels for Mike and I, kept looking around and sniffing all of the paper bags looking for her doggy bagel she is accustomed to. As I had not got her one, and didn't realize how sad she would be without it, Mike made a point to buy her one today instead.... She is one spoiled pooch!

Which brings me to my new "roommate" Mike. I've always read statistics that say a majority of women meet their future husbands at work and thought they were very cliche. Then, I met Mike that fateful day walking into Business Banking training before the octagon took over my favorite bank. Three years, 6 months later, we are still together and learning something new every day about ourselves, and being fascinated with how in-tune we tend to be with the other's thoughts.

With 3 years since my college graduation, and another 3 to go before my 10-year high school reunion, I find myself looking forward to the challenges that await me... Bring It On Life, I Can Handle It!

Changes in 2012

I absolutely cannot believe February is almost over this year, time has seem to fly by these past two months. It seems like yesterday Mike had finally agree to move in and we were signing up to take our Scuba Diving certification courses. Now that it's President's Day, we are both officially Open Water Certified Scuba Divers. We can rent our own equipment and go diving with, our without, a professional local diver. Now all we have to do is plan a trip and go see the beautiful underwater habitat's in Cozumel and Hawaii!

On top of finishing our open water dives this weekend, Mike and I spent the better part of yesterday moving his furniture into my house. We now have the next week off to spend meshing our stuff together so it all fits nicely. The next few months will be an adjustment period as we both learn to truly live with eachother, but I am very much looking forward to living with him.

It has also been brought to my attention that I need to expand my Excel and Access skillset in order to move up in my fields of interest. I am now enrolled in an 8 week online course for Microsoft Excel at SCC. Next up, an Access class, if I can find one. I am suprisingly very excited to take this class, as I have a newer found infatuation for excel.

This will be a interesting few months, to say the least, and I am hoping they are everything I think they will be and more.

How I Coupon Without Being Extreme

Since I posted my original blog about my shopping trip a couple months ago, I decided to share with everyone how I coupon without being extreme and purchasing 50 bottles of toothpaste/laundry detergent when I am really buying for Mike and I, and occasionally my mom and brother. I learned to coupon by using CouponSense.com. It is a great website for those starting out and don't understand how coupons work and how to take advantage of sales and store coupon policies. After about a year, I felt it was necessary to try shopping without the help of Couponsense and my savings has been about the same, although I spend 2-3 times the amount prepping and grocery shopping every week. I still receive 1 Wednesday and 2 Sunday newspapers every week, so I can get double coupons to stock up for my house. I have hardly the room for a real stockpile, as seen on most Extreme Couponer's TV Shows.

How I Organize My Coupons:

I use a 3 ring binder. Mine is only 1.5 inches thick. I also ordered protector sheets that have 9 pockets to a page, and thick tabs. I have 4 sections in my coupons: Grocery, Household, Personal and Store/Restaurant. Inside the sections, I have organized my coupons into subsections based on the aisle/department in the store. This makes it easier to flip though the pages as I'm shopping if all of the coupons I need are on the same page(s). Every Sunday, I pull out all of my coupon inserts and collate the like inserts. Then I clip them (2 at a time). and sort them into my binder. This is the part that takes the longest. Send me a message if you have any questions on how to organize your coupons in the binder, I am more than happy to help.

The wonder of animals...

I was in a shop in San Diego back in December and went into a shop at Seaport Village. The shop sold pet paraphenelia and happened to have a car magnet shaped like a paw print. Inside the paw print, the magnent so boldy asked, "Who Rescued Who?" Well if that isn't a true statement, I don't know what is... I don't know where I'd be without my smart and clumsy Zoe. She who cuddles with me every chance she gets, is excited about the tiniest things, and makes me laugh when no othet friend can.

Halloween mixtacular

As another halloween passes, i see all of the adorable costumes my friends are dressing their kids in and remember trick or treating as a child. Amazingly, i was one of two different characters every year until i was 13. The first, i used my cousin's old dance costume and went as a genie or jasmine. My second, i wore an old dress sewn by my grandmother with its matching yellow bonnet and apron and went as Dr Quinn Medicine Woman. I was in love with that tv show growing up.

The other thing i remember about Halloween is caramel apples and candy corn. So when i saw this recipe online for Caramel Apple Cupcakes, i absolutely had to make them for halloween. These delicious cupcakes are made with shredded granny smith apples and filled with homemade caramel. They were a huge success and well worth the 4 hrs of hard work.

Holiday Baking

It's been a while since I've written anything, and you'll have to forgive me because I have been caught up in my kitchen. Mike handcuffed me to the stove so I could finish my holiday baking and get my goodie boxes out to my friends and co-workers. Over the past few weeks I have managed to make:

12 Dozen Snowflake Sugar Cookies (decorated)
8 Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies
6 Dozen Molasses Cookies
6 Dozen Snickerdoodles (Sorry Hillary, they all got eaten)
2 9x9 pans of peppermint fudge
1 9x9 pan of rocky road fudge
60 dark chocolate covered candy canes
24 white chocolate covered Hershey's candy canes
24 chocolate mint cupcakes with mint icing

48 egg nog cupcakes with rum icing

  36 vanilla bean cupcakes with chocolate orange frosting

If you are interested in any of the recipes, let me know and I'll post them up here. I've also had the joy of selling 3 photograph prints this month! So far, it's been a good December and I've had a lot of fun with the great people in my life! Also, if you are curious how I get the frosting so pretty, I bought a kit that comes with a pastry bag and giant decorating tips. See Best Ever Cupcake Icing Kit at BakeItPretty.com