I realized it might be best to condense three of the posts that I promised to you this AM into one post so here it goes . . .
- My interview with Ryan Trares of the Daily Journal (Franklin, IN) was rather fantabulous yesterday AM. I really got to share my heart about what the blogging community has meant to me and what it’s been like for the last 11 months blogging and sharing with you all. You’re such a part of my community. Community changes, shapes, cares, gives, receives. And I LOVE community. I also love storytelling (no!?!?!). Those who know me well know that I love hearing a good story and even more telling a good story. And bottom line, everyone’s got a story to tell. Plus, so many of our stories are the same in so many ways. Life is lived best when we’re connected through community and story. As a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend, a person, this blog has opened up a new venue for me to tell my story and engage in community. I’d like to think I’m a more of who I’ve been made to be because of both of those things. Ryan is great to talk to – a curious and interesting person in his own right (great attributes for a journalist to have, no?). So my experience was fun and cathartic. Which leads me to my second experience yesterday which was less than cathartic and fun but more amusing.
- I happened to be at the mall for the interview (Paradise Bakery and Cafe to be specific, YUM) and decided to run over to the aerie store since it was Thursday and with the a list you can get a free gift per month but it has to be on Thursday. I had my laptop with me, so I swung it across my chest diagonally and put my Wonder Woman Bag with my handy dandy coupon binder over my right shoulder and trotted through the mall. I slung down my binder on the aerie counter, flipped through the pages to find my card and easily collected my freebie which was AWESOME (see today’s round up for more details). Then I chatted for awhile with a very nice group of ladies working there whom were marveling over my binder. I gave them my business card and hurried along down the mall to get back home to the girls and the Queen Mum. After all, we had a busy day ahead of us and I needed to eat some lunch because I was starvin’, yo. Then I noticed a very fine looking young man looking at me admiringly. Now mind you, this fella was at least a decade younger than me, very metro, muscular, and easy on the eyes. Hmph, I thought to myself, “I don’t look so bad for 32, eh? That’s right buddy, I am totally hawt but I belong to the King. And he is lucky.” Now here is where I should have paused and corrected myself for such crazy pride and ridiculous notions. I should have known something was askew, quite literally. My brain and/or spirit would have been able to get there if it hadn’t have been so darn breezy in that mall. Yes, the air must have been cranked way up to compensate for the summer time heat. But why was my chest in particular feeling cool? One glance down and everything clicked into place. Everything made much, much more sense. Yep, that’s right. My top was unbuttoned right down past the bottom of my bra. AIIIEEEEE!!!!! I quickly gathered the buttons together and ran into Christopher & Banks. I begged the women working at the counter to let me spare what was left of my dignity by letting me slip into a dressing room to *ahem* readjust things. Once I got my buttons re-buttoned, I was sure to place my laptop only on one shoulder along with my Wonder Woman bag. I laughed with the women at the counter and quickly made my exit from the mall. These are just the types of things that happen to me. And I’m happy to share them with you so that you feel better about your own lives. Hopefully it wasn’t like that through the whole interview or while talking to the gals in aerie, although the odds are good for one of the two. *Sheesh*. Lesson learned, laptop strap across your chest is not a fashion statement and may lead to wardrobe malfunctions.
- Last but definitely not least, I am thrilled to announce that as of a couple of short hours ago (right after our free lunch at Chick-fil-a) we have paid off our 2006 Chrysler Sebring about 3.5 years early. Suck it Fifth Third. And we’re coming for you Sallie Mae. People I am telling you, this journey of becoming debt free has moved much more quickly than I ever imagined. It only takes a little intentionality to get that debt snowball rolling. In the last 15 months, we have paid off my student loan, our furniture (dumbly bought on a payment plan), paid for a caesarian delivery and birth, paid for our daughter’s ear tube surgery and MULTIPLE trips to the doctor, paid back the bar loan we took out between my husband graduating from law school and taking the bar when we were both unemployed, bought a new water heater with our emergency fund, and not used a credit card once. We are believers in the Dave Ramsey system. Our goal is to never pay a payment of any kind again. ever. Celebrate with me people, this is good news indeed. It’s kind of crazy because it’s been pure blessing of the Divine combined with the King’s hard work and my crazy frugality disorder (where every extra penny we have pays off debt) which has allowed us to begin tunneling out of our mound of debt. Mind you, we still have the King’s school (undergrad AND law school) debt to plow through and some credit card debt to eliminate. We are not there yet. In fact, we ain’t even close. But as Dave Ramsey says, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it ain’t a train. Choo Choo, baby. Choo, Choo.
www.queenoffree.net
Amy Sp says
Congrats on paying off the car!
We just started Dave Ramsey a little over a month ago, and have paid off about $1,200, but we too still have a long road ahead. I love to hear success stories though!
The Worgess Family says
Congrats on paying off the car! We’re on the Dave-plan too and Sallie Mae is a beast! We have the same problem with my hubbie’s undergrad and gradschool, but his was Seminary (um, can anyone explain why it’s soooooooo expensive to get a degree that you won’t get paid much for???) Soooooooooooooo wish we would have heard of him five years ago before seminary! oh well, such is life, but you’re right, a little budget along with Divine intervention goes a LONG way! 🙂
Frugal Femina says
Ok, I’m sorry about your shirt, but you’re right. It makes us realize you’re just like the rest of us. I love when people are honest like that. And it gave me a good laugh today. 🙂
And so glad about your car! Dave Ramsey is super duper! We have the Sallie Mae beast, too. 🙂
moosh in indy. says
Next time you go out in public I’ll be your button monitor. Heh.
JCo says
Super fantastic on the getting the car paid off! Yeah! Debt free is the way to live. I want to hear when the house is yours. That is the day my husband and I are working toward.
"The Queen of Free" says
Thanks for celebrating with me everyone. 🙂 We are filled to the top with joy. Good luck in your own debt slaying adventures. You CAN do it! Sallie Mae and mortgages can’t own us unless we let them.
Glad to entertain you Katie. 😉 These things continually happen to me. It’s more a of a daily sort of thing than I let on (or have time to tell you about).
Casey, it’s sad to say but my wardrobe needs chaperoned. This is why I don’t get out often. It is so unruly. I appreciate said button monitoring service. I accept.