Away from it all

To save money, I opted not to have Internet or television at my house over the summer, and let me tell you, it's glorious!

I figure, I'm in front of the computer 8 hours a day during the workweek, and I can always hop in the car and head to a coffee shop if I'm desperate for Internet. If I'm desperate to watch TV, I can pop in a DVD into my laptop or go to friends' houses. So far I've been okay, granted it's been less than a week and I haven't spent a weekend at home yet. Also, I've been home very little this week.

It's nice to go home and just have silence. I think at my old apartment I got into the habit of turning on the television as soon as I got home for background noise. Now, I go home to complete silence. Just from this week, I found my concentration has improved and I'm sleeping a bit more soundly.

I could get used to this.

Withdrawal

I caught an episode of Martha Stewart where the guest star emphasized that any kind of carbonated soft drink causes women's bones to brittle. That, and along with the warnings about aspartame, I thought it would be a good idea to give up soft drinks for good.

At this point I'm not addicted to caffeine, but I miss the taste. Believe it or not, I'm craving a diet, caffeine free soda. Resist, Tracy, resist.

House-Sitting

It's strange to be in a house that's not my own.

But I'm starting to like it. At first it was a bit big for me and empty, but when I got ready for bed, the 2 cats snuggled up next to me and I no longer felt alone.

The house is strangely decorated and although there are window treatments, the windows don't have curtains that close or blinds. As I was getting ready for bed, I kept thinking of the Drew Barrymore scene in Scream and got pretty freaked out. Luckily, the house isn't in the middle of nowhere, but since I'm off a major road, I have no neighbors facing me, making it seem like the house looks out into a dark abyss at night. Also, since I'm used to my apartment complex turning up the heat to 80 degrees year round, it was shocking to wake up to a 65 degree house this morning. Even more shocking is the fog-horn-sounding alarm on the alarm clock. I got up probably an hour earlier than I have the last 2 months and rolled into work before my superviser this morning. I'm carefully conserving water and heat at the new house, not only because of watching the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, but also because the owners of the house are paying for my utilities. The drawback? I don't have Internet at the home anymore.

This week is the last of my busy weeks for awhile, I hope. Goal for the week is to schedule my medical appointments, clean my old apartment and turn in the keys, and finish unpacking at the new house.

Goodbye Apartment

My apartment has no furniture. It's strange that it can have no furniture and still feel like home. Tonight I sleep on a mattress in an empty bedroom and tomorrow I move into a 2 bedroom house that I will house-sit till the end of July.

My parents made fun of how nostalgic I'm getting but it's the longest I've ever lived anywhere in Ann Arbor. 13 months - not that long at all. But the only space I've had longer is my cubicle at work. That, and the LSA Student Government office, but I was only there 2-3 days a week.

Goodbye first home, goodbye.

Updates

Finalize decision on grad school and all relevant paperwork
Pack up my apartment, clean it, and putty up the walls
Take pictures of and sell my furniture on Craigslist
Sort through all my clothes, books and CDs and donate extra stuff
Change my addresses on my bills/credit cards and forward my mail
Cancel my utilities
Get a blue parking pass from the University for April through end of July
Turn 23 ;)

I had a good birthday. Friday night after work we went to the Firefly Club for some Dixieland Jazz followed by a gathering at the Heidelberg. Played photohunt and darts. Good times. Sunday I got my free lunch at Cottage Inn, then went to South U to get free Bubble Tea and Stucchi's ice cream. My parents took me out to dinner at a new Taiwanese restaurant (I think it's called Asian Legend by Thompson and William). I finished off the evening with watching "The Lives of Others" (won the Oscar for best foreign film - it was a great movie!) and getting more free Stucchi's on State Street. Oh yes, and my small group made me "cwaffles" which is cake batter cooked in a wafflemaker and served with frosting.

I got some pretty silver jewelry from my girls as well as some birthday money that I used to buy some yoga clothes (I've been using the same outfit I've had since freshman year of college) as well as some rock climbing gear so I don't have to keep renting that stuff. Also, I got enough cashback from my Discover card to double my rewards and will use it to buy myself a watch. The Limited sent me some birthday gift cards along with Express, and I used those to buy myself a pair of jeans (I finally wore down my last pair) and sunglasses (I lost my last pair in Chicago). I like being practical about my gifts!

I think I'm officially done with the "keep positive" part of the move and am just cranky now. Part of it I bet is because I haven't had time to cook so I'm eating junk all the time. Last night for dinner, I ate a piece of cheesecake, some ice cream, and half a bag of pretzels. Needless to say, I woke up feeling awful today. I did cook lunch/dinner to last me 2 days so hopefully eating better will help.

It's crazy to think that my apartment will be empty by Sunday. From the looks of things, it'll be a miracle if I can see the carpet again!

Southern Girl at Heart

It's been decided. Unless something goes horribly wrong, I'm moving to Texas in August!!! I admit I visited Austin thinking that it was just going to be a fun visit, but I ended up falling in love with the program there. =) I love the laid-back atmosphere, the colors of the buildings, the live music, the 300 days of sunshine. Texas is my birthstate - and now I can finally call myself a true Texan. I'm no less than estatic. =)

It's SUNNY in Ann Arbor! I think this is my favorite time of year in Michigan. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the weather is (relatively) warm. I love how when I visited North Carolina or Texas, people had winter coats on if it was 65 degrees out. It's only 40 degrees out in Michigan, and people have on their shorts and t-shirts tanning in the sun!

Now that my grad school decision is out of the way, it's time to concentrate on the here and now. I've sold my loveseat and kitchen cart. I still have to sell my sofa as well as a few pieces of furniture I have yet to post on Craigslist. Life's been busy with work, trying to wrap up the Psych data I collected last semester, keeping up with my hobbies (yoga, pilates, rock-climbing) and hanging out with friends and family as much as possible before I leave Ann Arbor in 4 months. I admit I'm a bit tired of being in this transitional phase in life, but I'm trying to enjoy every moment of it.

I shall leave you with a few pictures of my future home:

March Goals

I'm so sleepy!! I just feel lke there's so much to do and I still haven't recovered from traveling (and making life decisions). I hear of people traveling at least 200 days out of the year - I don't know how they do it! Maybe I'm just weak. =)

Anyway, there's a lot to do this coming month. I think I'm going to be like Lisa and make a list:

1. Finalize decision on grad school and all relevant paperwork
2. Pack up my apartment, clean it, and putty up the walls
3. Take pictures of and sell my furniture on Craigslist
4. Sort through all my clothes, books and CDs and donate extra stuff to Salvation Army (Actually with all my stuff, it may not be a bad idea to try selling them at a yard sale this summer)
5. Change my addresses on my bills/credit cards and forward my mail
6. Cancel my utilities
7. Get a blue parking pass from the University for April through end of July
8. Turn 23 ;)

And looking ahead to April:

1. Clean my car, get the engine checked, oil changed, windshield replaced
2. Price my car and sell it
3. Learn to drive a stick
4. Buy a used car (5 speed manual, I've decided)
5. Get my hair cut
6. Draft a job posting to find a replacement for me at work

Through all this, God's been providing for me in awesome ways:

1. Already I've had 2 people who've expressed interest in buying my car, duct tape and all
2. I found a place to stay for the summer - I'll be house-sitting from March 25 to July 30 and paying next to nothing in rent
3. Financially things have been tight since I haven't been reimbursed for any of my trips. Amazingly, I checked my bank account today and I'm still in the black without the reimbursements!
4. I also am getting an upgrade on my laptop for free! (even though I really don't need one, but it's a blessing nonetheless since my current laptop will probably last me only 3-4 more years whereas grad school is a 5-6 year program).
5. I also have an amazing small group who are continuously praying for me and lending me their ear about decisions and where to go (half of them are in grad school already)

I've been faithfully using my Franklin Covey planner since freshman year of college, but am contemplating a switch to an electronic PDA. For those of you who keep busy schedules or are in school, have you found the Palm to be more effective than a paper planner? I'm thinking of switching to a) save money (I wouldn't have to buy refills year after year), and b) improve mobility (my paper planner won't fit into my purse). Any suggestions?

Done with Traveling!!

I got back yesterday from the last of my school visits. I had some great interviews, 1 horrid one, but thankfully things ended on a high note.

It's really neat to visit different regions of the country knowing that I have the choice of moving there this fall. I'm really glad I ended up going to all the places I was invited to - my last visit was a trip I almost canceled because I was so tired of traveling, and it (surprise, surprise!) turned out to be the most fun visit of all!!

But now the decision-making begins. I think I've narrowed it down to two.