My NEW Favorite Things

So I'm a super huge tea fanatic.  I love tea, as well as all tea-related paraphernalia.  I have a small collection of tea sets, and once in awhile, the girls get together for a good old fashion tea party.  And I'm pretty well prepared to host these parties.  I have tea cups and saucers enough for like 12 people.  I have several tea pots, and milk and sugar sets.  But I had to put my regular sized spoons out with each cup, and regular sized spoons are way too big and kind of overwhelm a tea saucer.  

No longer!!  I found these awesome teeny "appetizer spoons" and they fit PERFECTLY with my tea cup & saucer sets!  I'm hosting a Brittish-themed book club on Friday and I'm pretty excited to put these to use!  

A Case of the Thursdays

TGTF....

Thank Goodness Tomorrow's Friday!

This is usually my motto for Thursdays, but today more so than most.  I've had an epically long week and I'm ready for it to be over.  I'm ready for the end of this uninspiring week.  I need the relaxing weekend I have planned.  I need some extra sleep.  I need some couch time with my husband and my dog/cat.  I need these last few days of January to be over.

We're on the tail end of the month, and the tail end of our budget.  We've done really well sticking to our budget goals this month.  We reduced our spending by about $200 to pay off a student loan, and we were still able to do some of the fun things we wanted.  We went to see West Side Story for my birthday, we saw some college buddies play at the Doug Fir for their CD release party, Bryann spent a weekend at the beach house with his buddies playing board games, while I went to a fun Wine & Dine party with a cool BYO favorites theme, and we went to a fantastic cook-off put on by some of our friends.  Now we have to make the last $30 stretch for the last 5 days... (I have a feeling my gas tank is going to eat it all, though)

I'm ready for January to be over.  I'm ready for the sun to start coming up before I get to work.  I'm ready to sit down with February's budget and plan it all out.  I'm ready to pay off the next loan.  I'm ready to celebrate the first Valentine's day with my husband.  I'm ready to sing in my first concert since college.

For now I'll have to settle for the week being almost over.  And I'm currently in my pajamas sipping on a tasty Apricot Ale, helping Bryann make dinner and enjoying a relaxing TGTF.

Refinancing is... Fun?

We're moving forward with refinancing our house to a 15 year mortgage.  Bryann has a buddy on his softball team who is a loan officer at Umpqua, so Bryann has been keeping close tabs on mortgage rates.  When they dropped to a record low 3.25% on a 15-year mortgage, Bryann and Dave filled out some paperwork and locked in the rate.  We're not sure how it's all going to play out over the next couple of weeks, but we're taking the next steps.

I've run the numbers for a couple scenarios, just to make sure we really want to do this.  A 15-year mortgage means a higher monthly payment, and since we're working on paying off our student loans, we could definitely use the extra money every month.  But we'll only be behind a month or so in our loan pay-off plan if we go this route.  And several factors just keep pulling me back to the 15-year loan.  Most of it though is that the money we're putting towards our mortgage will go farther for us.

First of all, we won't be paying pesky mortgage insurance anymore.  That's money I don't have to think about throwing down the drain.  Secondly, the percentage of our mortgage payment going towards interest (right now) will be lowered from 75% to 38%.  That's more money I don't have to think about throwing down the drain.  And over the life of the loan, we'll save almost $70,000!  Wooooooooooo!!!

Even short term, even if we consider selling the house at the end of our required stay (3 years from the purchase date), we'll have over $4,000 more equity in the home.

So next up is an appraisal on Tuesday, then deciding if the loan-to-value is really worth it.  Then signing a crap-ton of paperwork... again...  We're excited about where we're going, and all the good things we're doing for our financial future.

...Save the Deepening of the Spirit

And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.

For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.

And let your best be for your friend.

If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.

For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?

Seek him always with hours to live.

For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.

And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.

For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

 -Khalil Gibran

I've been reflecting a lot lately on the relationships in my life.  Tamara passed this along a few weeks ago - 20 New Year's Resolutions for 20-Somethings.  Hilarious as most of it is, #14 struck me.  " Cut one person out of your life who you truly do not like and add one person who you truly do. Note: not on Facebook, on Earth."  

As I was reading this, the instant part of my brain was thinking - easy enough, I'll delete a friend on Facebook - but then when I read the end, I was caught wondering if there was anyone in my life I didn't like.  That answer, I'm proud to say, is no.  I may actually be too young to say this, but I'm too old to deal with people I don't like!

Some of my favorite women at my bridal shower, April 2011

I know I've talked a lot before about my super awesome and amazing friends, but among those friends (and family) are some truly amazing women.  They are all strong, independent, wonderful women.  There are too many positive adjectives to describe them.  They are all the perfect examples of what friends should be.

We don't gossip about each other.  We don't cut each other down behind closed doors, or behind backs.  We throw compliments around, not insults.  We encourage each other.  We support each other.  We build each other up.  We cherish each other.  There is no other purpose to our friendships save the deepening of our spirits.  I'm so lucky to have them all in my life, and I strive to be as great a friend to them as they are to me.

The Bachelorette Crew, May 2011

Momentum

Things are getting exciting in the Turner household.  We're paying off another loan tomorrow!  This will be the third month in a row with a loan paid off, and I'm really excited about the momentum we've built!  Bryann is even in talks with a friend who's a loan officer at Umpqua Bank about refinancing our house into a 15-year mortgage.

I first brought up the idea of becoming debt free last October (2010) and we went about it halfheartedly through most of 2011, until in October Bryann realized we were way off track of our goals.  So he got serious, made a budget, made a blog (check him out at www.oregondebttrail.blogspot.com) to hold himself accountable, and recommitted our household to becoming debt free.  Since then, we've paid off a loan every month.

Next month is the last month with a relatively small loan attached.  We're gonna push to pay off a $2,800 student loan, and it's only the momentum that we've built up over the last several months that's going to allow us to do it.  We don't really have $2,800 left-over after we take out living expenses and the occasional dinner out.  In fact, even with the extra income of having a roommate live with us, we're still about $300 short...

So we're gonna try to decrease our frivolous expenses this month, and cut back on going out next month in order to get it done.  It's gonna be hard.   With all of the birthday celebrating to do next month, as well as Valentine's Day, we have a lot of good reasons to go out to eat, or grab some drinks with friends.  But we have an even better reason to cut back and say "Thanks for the invite, but we gotta sit this one out."  Thank goodness we have awesome friends who understand what we're trying to accomplish. 

I'm so excited about what we've been able to accomplish with a lot more focused intensity, and a lot of support from our friends and family.  We've been pretty lame for the last couple months.  We've had to say no to a lot of outings.  I didn't even get to go out to a fancy birthday dinner.  So I'm really thankful for all of the support and understanding we get from those around us.  I'm looking forward to seeing what kinds of crazy things this momentum will help us accomplish!

Reflections on My Time as a Twenty-Something

I just turned 29 a few days ago.  It's almost the end of an era.  Perhaps the era doesn't end at 30.  Perhaps it ends when we have kids.  Perhaps it never ends.  But it definitely feels like something is coming to a close.  So I just want to reflect for a moment and make sure I did it right.

In my twenties, I...

• Got a bachelors and a master degree
• Moved every year until I was 28
• Lived in four different cities
• Worked at 16 different jobs
• Owned 4 different cars
• Dated undisclosed number of boys  :-P  (that's a secret, I'll never tell... xoxo!)
• Traveled to 15 different countries (Mexico, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Fiji, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Sweden, Denmark, England, France, Aruba, Curacao, Virgin Islands)  
• Partied my face off
• Made and kept amazing friends for the entirety of my twenties
• Bought a house
• Adopted a dog and a cat
• Started a Wine & Dine club
• Married my best friend

My twenties were marked with a lot of change, indecision, and insecurity.  But my twenties were also blessed with great friends, great adventures, and loads of fun.  I have one more year to be a twenty-something.  I'm not sure what I'm going to fill it with yet.  Probably more traveling, partying, and adventure-ing.  But I'm not terribly worried about it.  I could have turned 30 this year and been satisfied with the way I spend my twenty-something years.  I've done everything I wanted to do and I've filled my life with the experiences I wanted (and with the experiences pretty typical of a twenty-something.)  And in the most general sense, I have no regrets.    Sure, I made some mistakes.  I hurt some people.  I hurt myself.  But when I consider where I am now, and how wonderful life is, I am reminded that everything always works out just the way it should.

So I find myself 29, mostly settled, perfectly content, and very happy with the direction my life is going.  If I had to go back and do it all again, I'm not sure I would do it any other way.