The Last Month - By The Numbers

I haven't blogged in awhile.  A lot has happened.  I like numbers.  That being said, as my little brother says, "leggo!"

3: number of years Chris & I celebrated 3 weeks ago tomorrow.  3 years already?!?  It's hard to believe that that gorgeous, sunny day at the end of August in 2008 was 3 years ago.  That also means that it has been 3 years since our glorious honeymoon in Jamaica (one of my fave pictures from that trip, left.  Typical "Chris & Nikki picture" - Chris is not amused, I'm making up for it with a goofy face).  We WILL get back there someday.......hopefully sooner rather than later!

10: years since the tragic attacks of 9/11/01.  10 years since just another normal Tuesday at good 'ole Terre Haute South, in my senior year, in my first hour classroom with Ms. Minar (Newspaper).  I was calling local radio stations in a small room off the classroom to see if we could get some airtime about a carwash, when a DJ rudely hung up on me, informing me that they were "more worried about our country at the moment."  Laughing, I walked back into the classroom, talking about what a jerk that DJ had been.  At that moment, someone had turned on the classroom TV (was there a PA announcement?  I can't remember), and somehow, it was turned on just in time for us to see the 2nd plane hit.  I remember what I was wearing (dark blue jeans from Pac Sun and a dark red Aeropostale hoodie that belonged to a cousin of my boyfriend), I remember my jaw dropping, I remember having the feeling of such disbelief, of such helplessness as we started seeing people jump to their deaths.  It was truly this generation's defining moment, much like our parents & parents' parents remember the assassination of JFK.  The 10 year anniversary of that tragic day also means Chris & I's 10th HS Reunion is coming up, probably in late spring of 2012.  How is that possible?!  Hes already informed we're not going.  We'll see.  :)

2: games that the Cowboys have played so far in the regular season

2: games that have nearly given me heart attacks; fortunately, the game in SF yesterday turned out better than the game that we *%)(^$&^*@^%^)!$ gave away to the New York Jets last Sunday night.  They better be ready for next Monday night against NFCE rival Redskins, because my blood pressure really can't handle it.  Thankfully, that game will be at Cowboys Stadium for the home opener (of course they've been on both coasts already to open the season).  Hopefully, Romo's rib & lung (punctured lung yesterday and he still played??!?) heal up enough to play Monday night b/c we'll need him!!!!

1: wedding we've attended - Chris' sister was married on 9/10 (yes, they realized it would be 9/10/11), and it was a beautiful wedding.  Dramatic, petty & immature bridesmaid aside (the "other" SIL), it was a really wonderful day.  Jenn had been married before - back when Chris & I had started dating in July of 2003.  Jenn was only 20 that summer, and that wedding just had a completely different feel than the one she just had.  It was her new husband's first wedding, and his family really went as "all out" as they could.  They were just so happy and just got back from their honeymoon in Montego Bay Saturday.  Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Stephens! 

It is going to be a blazing fast next 6 weeks.  We have 2 free weekends, and then literally not a free moment until November.  10/8 I will be in TH running in the same 5K I did last year (all proceeds going to Concerns Of Police Survivors - COPS - this year it will have truly significant meaning with the tragic death of 30-year old Police Officer Brent Long from THPD earlier this year).  10/15, Chris' fraternity brother & his wife Katie are coming over to visit.  10/22, Chris' parents will be here.  10/29.......we are moving.  To where, you ask?  Oh.....no idea yet.  We just know our lease is up 10/31, and we signed our official notice of vacating Saturday.  Enough with these apartments.  Hopefully, we'll find a house to rent, b/c I am tired of apartment living.

Fall is here, I love it, I just hate what comes next.  Hoodies, football & cider, oh my!  ;-)

Is it really worth it?

Chris and I own some pretty expensive things.  TVs, computers, cell phones, jewelry.  But nothing is as expensive as the two pieces of paper that are currently still in their original holders from Ball State: our degrees from college.

I was very lucky and blessed that the only debt I had out of college was of my own decision.  A couple small credit cards (and one stolen which was a huge mess, but has since been taken care of) and that's it.  Chris wasn't so lucky.....we'll leave it at that.  Suffice it to say that thank GOD we both didn't have student loans coming out of college; we'd be living in a box.  Student loans, college, all of it - is a really frustrating situation.  Here we sit, and friends of mine sit, thinking we did the right thing - going to college, getting our degrees, getting "ahead."  HA.

I started seeing the effects of my decision to "get ahead" shortly after I graduated........I was passed up for an Assistant Manager position at a bank - the girl who got it ahead of me didn't have a college degree, but while I was sitting in classes for 4 years about business calculus, fundamentals of accounting & finance, marketing, management, history, art history, math, gym, IT, auditing, tax & nonprofit accounting, she was busy working 40 hours a week, getting that invaluable experience, and lo and behold - she ended up ahead of me.  I know friends who have faced the same thing since we've all graduated....working jobs that are entry level or barely above.........watching our degree-less friends advance within their careers and make double (or way more) money than we do.  And it frankly pisses me off.

We're going to have to make some pretty big financial decisions and moves in the next couple of months, and those are scary.  I know we're both fortunate to have good jobs (with only decent-ish pay, but whatever) and we could be a lot worse off than we are.  We've been careful in our planning of house buying/ baby making/ big purchase deciding since we've been married and it has, for the most part, paid off.  So far this year, we've paid off 3 credit cards and I'm now in full "snowballing" mode on any and everything else that I can.

But the question remains: were those 2 degrees worth it?  Worth the "experience" we traded in for them while in college, worth the seemingly insurmountable financial challenges they brought about the day we got those pieces of paper?

Right now.......I say no.