Heat Stroke

No doubt you have heard about the extreme heat and drought we are going through. It has been over 100 degrees every day since I moved here. This week one day the high is 108.

I went running the other night about 7 thinking it would be cooler, I almost past out because it was so hot. At 6 am it is already over 90. There is no way to get cool or stay cool.

It is brutal and misserable.

Sweatin' it up all day in Dallas--Wahoo!!!

Post Meeting Update

We met with our ELP yesterday.
First, it was really great to act on this step. I feel like we have been stuck on step 3 for a while due to circumstances, so I was pumped to start moving ahead.
Our ELP was great. He had was Dave calls, "the heart of a teacher." Our meeting started about 5:45, and we didn't end up leaving until almost 8. He explained things so well, and we both walked out of there feeling as if we learned so much.
We got the paper work started to roll over some old 403 B's and 401K's into newer investments.
The next few weeks we need to do a little digging into some old investments and gathering paper work and getting everything going in the right direction and squared away.

Over all, it was a great decision and hopefully we will be able to reach our goals.

Preceptions

Do you ever wonder what others think of you? How do they perceive you? Is it the same way you think and perceive yourself?

At times, I think of myself as weak. You could ask anyone in my life, and they would tell you that they think I am mentally strong. My husband, my friends, my family, they would all say the same thing. Sure, I can do things I don't like and I can tough them out, but what people don't see is the mental battle. I have to battle things out in my mind so often. There have been so many times when I have wanted to quit something, when I just didn't want to face reality and mentally it was a big struggle to deal with stuff. When I think of a person of strength, I feel like they would never have the thoughts of caving in, of giving up, of letting go.

I remember growing up and going through some hard times, and I would look at my dogs, and wish that I had been born an animal so that I would not have to go through tough time. Its funny that I remember this, because whenever something hard would come up, I would sit there and wish that I wouldn't have to do it.

I was about to lie and write that I didn't know where this was coming from, but the truth is I know the root of this. I started a new job today. I am working in a corporate office in a high rise building, and today was hard. There was so much new stuff thrown at me, and so much information, and I realized very quickly how much I don't know. When I left for lunch, I walked away questioning my ability to do this job. Do I have what it takes? Can I do this?
Then, the really stupid part of me realized that I will no longer have a week off for Thanksgiving, or 3 weeks off for Christmas, or Spring Break like I did when I was a teacher. And I found myself longing for the classroom. Longing for the comfort of my warm safe haven where I knew what to do and how to do it. And I spent the day questioning my decision to take this position.
And for a brief second I found myself gazing at my dog and...well, you know.

Step 4

It has been a long time since I have done a financial update. Way tooo long.
So here it is--we have reached the Dave Ramsey Step 4!
We reached step three quite a while ago, but with P being out of a full time job, and working part time jobs for the past year, we have been in a bit of a holding pattern financially, and we were working to build our war-chest as Dave calls it. Basically, we knew we were moving, and there were a lot of changes and we were uncertain about so many things, that we needed to simply pile up some cash for a bit.
Now, we are ready to move on! I have gone on Dave's website and I have contacted and ELP and we will be working to get our investments up to snuff!!
IRA roll overs, Roth IRA's and investment talk is in our future. And I am very excited!!!