{Bachelor's Degree}

I'm not even sure I can begin to tell you how happy I was to get this piece of paper in the mail.

To finally be done with my bachelor's degree, after working on it off and on for 17 years, felt like quite the accomplishment.  My only regret is that I didn't finish it while still in the Air Force.  That wouldn't really have made much difference, just given me more time!

Now, I'm working on my Master's degree at University College, University of Denver.

I just finished the first quarter with A's and the experience has been great so far and the professor's exceptional.  I really hope the next two years goes just as well!

-Nicole

{Family}

Family.

You can't live with them and you can't live without them.

My dad, who is still in the ARMY, was sent to Korea for a year.  My mom could have went with him but they would've had to be there then for two years instead of just one year.  So, they made the decision that he would go and she would stay in the states.  They had been living in Texas but that's not home and, even though she could have stayed with my sister and her family, they would have ended up killing each other.  They also own a home in North Carolina but no longer know anyone who lives there and there isn't family there either.  I haven't had much time with my mom these last few years because I live in Colorado so I told her she should stay with me.

And she did. 

It was terrible and great all at the same time.

She got here November of last year and left in July this year when my dad got back from Korea.  She didn't spend that entire time with me.  She also went to Korea for two months to spend time with my dad there and then she spent another month in Louisiana, taking care of my grandma who'd just had surgery.

I know without a doubt it would be great to have them living closer to me.  Not with me again. I hope that never happens haha but closer would definitely be nicer.  They now are living in Missouri and won't know for awhile where my dad will go to next.  I keep hoping for Colorado Springs but that probably won't happen.

We also were able to spend time with my niece and nephew for a month and half during their summer break.  My sister let them come with us back to Colorado.  Again, that was awesome and terrible haha.  I had my mom, niece, nephew, began house hunting, began graduate school, and still had to work my crazy schedule.  I wouldn't change anything though.  I do wish I hadn't been so busy so that we could've spent more time doing fun things with them.  We did get to do some fun stuff though.

I got to spend time with each one of them individually and have Naynay night.  Naynay is what they call me.  It started when my niece was just a baby and barely making baby noises.  My mom swore she was trying to call me Nannie (which is Godmother in our family) and Naynay just stuck (ironically I took one of those "What's your ghetto name" quizzes on facebook and mine is Naenae).

Overall, it was a great time.

I do love my family, especially my niece and nephew.

They are my two favorite people in the whole world and I'd do anything for them.

-Nicole

{Home}

Finally. :)

This quote I found on Pinterest speaks volumes to me.

I made a decision earlier in the year, around April/May timeframe, to try and buy my own home.

Scariest decision of my life.

Buying a home seems to make sense to most people.  I get it.  It's a great investment, tax write-off, cheaper than rent, paying your own home off instead of someone else's. For me though it's not always been something I wanted to do. Not on m own anyway.

The dream is to meet someone, get married, buy a home, have babies, right?

That's always been my dream anyway but things have not worked out that way and I finally accepted that it may never workout that way.  

I also did not want to buy a home yet because I'm living hundreds of miles away from my family and closest friends.  Will I live here in Denver forever? Because buying a home feels like a "forever" type of deal to me.  Not only that, since I do live here by myself, if I buy a home that means I'll have to take care of it.  Where as before, if something broke all I had to do was call the landlord and guess what! They HAD to fix it and it wasn't coming out of my own pocket.

The last guy I dated kind of unexpectedly gave me a push in buying my own home.  He was very insecure and intimidated by my success: I have a place I can afford on my own, that I furnished on my own, paid for with a great job.  After I got over the ridiculousness of why he was breaking up with me I realized he was right.  I absolutely can do anything and everything on my own.  So I went to a home-buying seminar through my bank.  Then a few weeks later, after sitting on the idea some more, I went to my credit union and applied for a pre-approval for a VA mortgage loan.

And I was approved.

All on my own.

For $200,000.

What?

The first house I tried to buy was beautiful.

It was this small cottage built in like 1931.

It was on a double lot on the outskirts of Denver, a central location to work, school, and fun.

The inspection went about as horribly as you can expect a home built in 1931 to go.  What a learning curve.  After the owner was unwilling to fix any of the major issues, I moved on.

I then put a bid on a condo in my favorite neighborhood.  I overbid by $3000 and someone outbid me.  Ugh.  Let me tell you... I looked at a lot of homes.  Houses, condo's, townhouses.  Most everything in my price range (which is really low for Denver - I could buy ginormous homes in my hometown for that price point), were fixer uppers.  Especially the houses.  I do not want a fixer upper.  It's just me here and I didn't want something I had to fix up, not for $200,000 anyway.

Then I found this townhouse

  

It's perfect for me and Gandalf.

It is only a 1 bedroom and 1 1/2 bathroom BUT it's 1030sqft.  It also requires no fixing up and is a lot less than what I got approved for.  The neighborhood is nice, it's close to the lite-rail to take me to school or downtown and it's still not far from work.  It's got a small patio and it backs onto a small greenbelt area.  It's also got a really nice park within walking distance.  

So.  I bought it.

 

And everything feels right.  This is my place.

It's home.

Nicole

{August Love}

My word, it's August already! So, I've been without Internet since the 30th. Boo. I've been going to Starbucks after work to use their Internet to do my homework for graduate school.  If that's the worst thing that comes from this move,  however, then I'm okay with that. I still have so much to do: unpacking, putting things away, buying a sofa, creating a business for class and creating an event for another class.  Of course, there's still working 48 hours in 4 days as well.  This week I've got a lot going on too: ADT set-up, a Cubs versus Rockies game, doctors appointment, hopefully a hair appointment, internet appointment, and class. Fun times. I also will get some running in their as well. I've been feeling it and it's definitely time if not even past time.  Anyway, life has been good to me and I am so very appreciative.

{Moving day}

I know, I know...

I said I had lots to talk about and then *bam* gone again.

It's been crazy hectic and busy.

The Colorado sunrise I saw as I was getting off work that last shift.

Today is finally moving day.

It's seemed a long-time coming but I am ready.

I will have full details coming with photo's of the new place.

Pre-move in photo's and after.

In the meantime, my place has been a mess because

I had to work 48 hours in four days and go to school just two days before closing.

That part has not been fun, going to school and searching for a new house

and then the whole packing up and moving.

It was work, family visiting for a month and a half,

graduate school, and finding a new place.

Probably the most hectic my life has ever been!

But definitely in a good way!

So, anyway, my mom packed most of my stuff for me and then I've been moving

it to the garage since the condo I'm renting is on the 2nd floor.

This makes for an easy peasy moving day. 

Mostly.

I have some friends to help me move the heavy stuff like my

dresser, mattress, and box spring.

You know, stuff I could not move on my own.

Closing is at 1:30 but I still have some last minute things to do, 

like backing up my laptop in case it dies on me.

Is a jingling laptop bad?

And there's homework.

Well, a discussion anyway.

The homework may have to wait until this weekend.

{I'm baaaaaack}

I've been gone for quite some time from the blogging world.

Well, at least when it comes to writing my own blog.

I've definitely been stalking reading those I've always enjoyed.

I've got so much to talk about as it's been crazy busy around here the last few months!

Things like:

My mom living with me for almost a year

My 10 year old niece and 5 year old nephew living with me for a month and a half

Finishing my Bachelor's degree

Starting on my Master's degree

Buying a home!

Well, specifically a townhouse

New crafts for the new home

Weight gain

Weight loss

Plenty to talk about indeed.

For now, it's time to work on homework.

{Boxing & Kickboxing Classes}

I found a Groupon last week for Title Boxing Club.

I'd tried out A1 Boxing and Fitness last Fall.

You may remember my post about it but I doubt it. ;)

It was a great workout.

What I did write about was their schedule.

It didn't really fit with mine since the classes they offered clashed with my schedule

What I didn't write about was the instructor.

He left us mid-way and began training someone in the boxing ring.

Every now and then he'd call out a new number sequence for us to box.

Two women had to help me with the number sequence since I, being new to boxing, had no idea what the moves were in relation to the numbers.

The difference between Title and A1:

Title instructors have been great

They walk around making sure everyone has the moves

They call out Front and Back moves instead of numbers

They let you know if your right foot or left food is forward based on if you're right or left-handed

They stayed focused on the class the entire hour

I definitely like Title way more than A1.

I've gone to the Boxing classes and recently tried the Kickboxing class for the first time.

They are some pretty intense workouts.

When my HRM decides to work I've found I burn between 630-700 calories a session.

You're also not punching or kicking a bag the entire time.

You're given somewhat of a rest period for your arms/legs by doing other workouts.

Jumping jacks, burpees, sit-ups, running, mountain climbers, etc. are all things you'll find yourself doing in between the punching and kicking.

The instructors (at Title) are really great at showing you the boxing/kickboxing moves too before you begin them yourselves.

I won't lie, going to a boxing gym has been pretty intimidating for me but it's been so worth it.

I doubt I signup for a membership because I'm a cheap bastard and even though Title is cheaper than A1, I still don't want to dish out $60 a month for a workout class.

Especially, when I have free access to gyms at Buckley AFB.

Two free gyms, one of them open 24/7.

So, I'll continue to use the Groupons as I come across them.

The one I just bought is for 4 weeks at $28.

Not a bad deal at all. 

Much better than $60.

The best part about both boxing clubs?

Your first visit is FREE.