Living on the east coast, especially up in the northeast brings with it a certain kind of frantic pace to life. People move faster, talk faster, drive faster, work faster and live faster here than they do in other areas of the country. Growing up, we'd take trips to my parents' family of origin in Virginia and I'd notice how much slower people moved and talked there. I just chalked it up to southern people being slow on the whole and that the way I lived was the norm.
When we moved to South Dakota we traveled all over the mid west and I started to think that maybe, just maybe, people on the east coast lead a much more frantic existence than necessary. There really isn't a reason to be in such a hurry all the time to get so much done to live a life of more, more, more.
I really came to relish the slow pace of life out west when we were there and if it wasn't for family here on the east coast, we'd move out there in a heart beat. There are a number of towns there that are extremely attractive to us. Besides South Dakota and Colorado, I could see us settling down in a town like Boise in Idaho. It consistently comes up on the top places to live lists because of the quality of life there. It's a beautiful town with a lot to offer - great schools, great homes, great communities. It's no wonder that the Boise real estate market is booming and is poised to be the number 1 market for appreciation in 2006. Impressive, no?
It would be nice to move back west and slow down our lifestyles a bit, but I don't realistically see it happening in the next few years. I'm too tied to family here!
I had a dream last night that scared me to my core. The scare has stayed with me all day today, too, because it was so real. In my dream, I ate ice cream for my snack instead of my usual blueberries and yogurt and I immediately was thinking of ways to lie and justify it so that it wasn't a break in my abstinence. The whole dream was more based on me trying to come up with ways to say that it was okay to have ice cream and the whole sneakiness of the disease just really took over. I was "back in it" like I had never left.
Since I've been sick this week, I haven't been to a meeting since Sunday morning. I think I need to get to one tonight, no matter what.
When we bought our house this summer, we ended up with the best mortgage broker experience we could have imagined. It turns out this guy had a very interesting story to tell - when he bought his first house, he had a horrific experience and as a result of that, vowed to learn all about it and prevent as many people as possible from going through that nightmare. He's doing a darn good job of it, from what I can tell, too.
I became intrigued by the whole business, as it seems this man is doing very well for himself. He's got a nice care, a nice house and he told us he makes very good money doing what he does. I wouldn't mind getting started in the mortgage broker business myself, but I'm guessing it's hard to break into. Some of the questions I've had are how do you find mortgage leads, how do you get contacts with the different banks, etc? Just basic starting up questions.
Today I ran across this site that offers double-positive leads to mortgage brokers. The only calls that get transferred are those of genuinely interested and qualified borrowers. The mortgage broker pays a small fee to the company that's providing these leads, naturally, but it sure seems like a great way to get started - or even for those in the business a while who are looking for more leads. I love how innovative people are who think of these kinds of services to provide - very smart!
You
can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other
people than you can in two years of trying to get other people
interested in you.
--Dale Carnegie
I love that quote. It really is true that the more involved and concerned we are about others, the less concerned we are about ourselves, and in general, the happier we become. It's amazing how much happier I am when I'm not focusing on myself all the time. It's nice to realize the world doesn't revolve around me. And again with the paradoxes - even if I try this with selfish motives at first (wanting people to like me), if I truly apply this principal, the end result is that I'm happier with myself and no longer seek the praises of everyone else.
Yesterday I wrote about getting into debt over the holidays and how spending too much on credit cards can get you into financial trouble. If you find yourself in this predicament, another solution is to compare credit cards from different companies and look for ones that offer good, long-term deals and 0% balance transfers. It is the interest, after all, that gets people into trouble with credit cards. We once had that problem and we ended up paying more than twice what the initial charge was - how frustrating, but a good lesson learned for us. Do yourself a favor and don't end up in the same boat we did!
Disclosure
What's the best present you gave this year?
This is a toss up, but I think the winner is the presents we gave to the family we adopted this year. We got all of the presents for two girls, a boy and their mother along with their Christmas dinner and it felt damn good to do that. I hope they enjoyed it.
The runner up present has to be the puppy we got for our family. She's been such a blessing in our lives these past few days. I can't wait to watch her grow up and become a large member of our family.
Did you spend too much for Christmas or have unexpected financial hardships come your way? I know a lot of people do struggle with finances after the holidays and it's unfortunate. Some cases are inevitable, but a lot of the problems stem from poor budgeting. It can be a devastating merry go round that is seemingly impossible to get off once you enter the debt cycle, too.
If you do find yourself with debts you need to pay off, you can look into different types of loans. Whether you look into personal loans or perhaps second or (God forbid) third mortgages to get some extra cash flow, be sure you do so with your eyes wide open and use good judgment when selecting a program. My personal advice would be to set more realistic monetary budgets during the holiday season so you don't get caught up in traps come January - it's no fun and your friends and family will love you regardless the gifts you give them. I promise.
Paradox is a huge part in 12-step programs. It seems that so many things that are suggested for recovery are counter-intuitive to what should work to help. For instance, when you've got someone who you're really resenting and spending a lot of negative energy on, the best thing to do is pray for that person.
It seems that praying for someone I'm resenting would not do a whole lot. My inherent nature is to continue obsessing over this person and thinking about how I'll get them back one day. Or I'll pray for them all right - I'll pray that every bad thing imaginable happens to them. Of course, that's not the spirit of the prayer intended to help get over a resentment.
Praying for this person's well-being, health and prosperity - asking that every good gift that I personally wish for to be granted to this person - helps me to stop resenting the person. It truly does - I've tried it many times and it does work. The best part about this solution is that I don't even have to mean the prayer when I say it! Eventually, though, my heart does soften and I find myself meaning it as well as not having such harsh and negative feelings. What a paradox. What a gift!
Are you making a New Year's resolution? I have strayed away from the practice in recent years because I feel I am trying to better myself on a regular basis, not just at the start of a new year. However, I don't really see the harm in thinking about what the new year will bring and what it is I need to work and focus on this year.
I found this site called 10millionresolutions.com that has an ambitious goal: they want to collect 10 million resolutions by New Year's. So if you're going to set a resolution, why not go over there and share it with the world? I did.
My resolution for the coming year, 2007, is this: To be kinder, gentler and more loving with everyone including myself.
I figure this is an attainable goal and it's one I strive for a daily basis, but don't always achieve. I am a work in progress and always will be, but hopefully this year I will be able to focus on this much more instead of just thinking about working on it.
Once you fill out a resolution, they'll even send you a certificate to print or use how you wish. You can also fill our a survey to get a free t-shirt or trial membership to another site if you desire.
One of the items on my Christmas list was a mandoline slicer. I wanted it to cut my potatoes when I make fries because it is getting to be such a pain to do that with a knife. I must have been a good girl because I got a Cuisinart mandoline slicer! Right now I'm still fine-tuning the process and learning how to use it. Last night I had a bit of trouble with it. Tonight I got it working great, but I had the setting a little too thin and ended up with two cookie sheets worth of chips! I'll get there, though. And it sure was nice getting all those slices with very little effort. It was also neat to have all the slices in uniform sizes. I used to have a conglomerate of different sizes and therefore some would be more or less well cooked than others.
I'm looking forward to getting creative with this thing!
