He's so good to me.

Don't you love those days when you realize that you've really hit the jackpot? Everything else has been nothing more than a roll of pennies.

A new obsession...

As some of you already known, I'm prone to obsession. I find one thing to focus on and ignore everything else until my curiousity for said topic has been sated. On one hand it's almost always a positive experience to learn more about something new. On the other, ALL I talk about is my new obsession, whether it's a purse or gems or stocks or travel or various other silly things. I know this behavior has cost me many a good friendship and causes much grief to my fantastic boyfriend.

Well, today I have come to you with yet another obsession to add to my list:

Poison dart frogs!

Recently I've been gathering information and supplies to build the vivarium of all vivariums. I've already ordered polyurethane foam, moss, exotic driftwoods, and I've stockpiled a decent amount of plexiglass, silicon, and various gravel/rocks to build a habitat as natural as possible. Now I'm in the works of finding an appropriate pump to build a waterfall (yes, a mini waterfall!) in the aquarium to provide humidity and a little scenery. So far, this little project has sucked away a good deal of my play money.

The sad thing is that it's going to be at least a month or two before I can get this set up properly enough to enjoy it. The plus side is that it'll allow me some time to find a decent supplier of dart frogs.

Friday Frustrations!

I realize that I'm not to talk all that much about my place of employment.... I know there are eyes and ears all over the place. However, some things HAVE to be said. In all walks of life, and in all occupations, every worker looks at another at some point in their life and asks....

Why are so many people so stupid?!

And alas, there are no answers.

How we manage to survive the pangs and arrows of evolution, I know not! And yet I'm crawling out of bed at 6:45 in the morning to subject myself to another 4 hours of delicious, social torture.

Someone please sleep in for me.

And in other news, Val and I now have our first joint checking account. This is where everyone goes "awwww" over the romance of having both your names on a checkbook. I'm such a romantic. <3!

Relics

I'm currently running my old (make that VERY old) mac iBook. It's been so long since I've actually used the poor thing. Normally she sits abandoned on the entertainment center below a stack of books.... all seven gigs of glory forgotten.

But today she's humming her little tune, hot enough to fry an egg on, yet completely functional. I only had to repair her once- that was when the battery died in china. She was fixed for a couple of hundred yuan and now she won't work unless she's plugged in. She's on the list of Things Julie Needs to Repair, along with some of my old friendships, my grandmother's accordion, and my temper.

As you all must have heard, the Crocodile Hunter died. I was surprised by how heartbroken I was to hear it. He was a crazy man, but a good one. The world could have used more of that type... yet it seems like those are always the ones to die first. It seems so random that he would have died by a stingray- there are very few documented deaths of that kind. My heart goes out to his loved ones and I can only hope that some shred of good comes from his passing.... Maybe more people will decide to dedicate themselves to wildlife conservation or at least live their lives with minimal negative impact on their natural surroundings.

The Weekend!

So it's another Thursday. In only 4 more hours, the clock will finally roll over to Friday- the sacred day of the week. Val and I are celebrating our last weekend of the summer together by venturing north to our lovely Canadian neighbors. As previously posted, the poor boy has never been out of the country. Looks like it's time to change someone's world view!

It's been a long time! Too long in fact- but life has been extremely busy. Condo searching (with no luck), apartment hunting (also with no luck), visitors and work. I remember someone saying that the busier life is, the less likely one is to write about it... it's so true. Each day I had something I really wanted to say, yet there simply weren't enough hours in the day to say it in.

Let's catch up, shall we?

Work- I love it. I didn't expect to like my job as much as I do now. There was a moment where I didn't feel like it was a good fit for me and that I would be better quitting, but after pulling through that slump I realized that it's a phenomenal job. I work with great people, and it's rewarding to help people get on the right track to actualize their financial dreams. Personally I've never been better with my finances in my life. Not only do I have an aggressive 401k set up, I'm investing in stock outside of it. It's a huge step for me, and I'm proud to say I'm setting aside 10% of each paycheck into some sort of savings, with my company throwing in an additional 5%. It's a great feeling. It's safe to say that this job is my first "real" job- the first one I've ever felt like it could actually be a long term thing.

Love- Great. We hit a bit of a slump- I daydream a lot about moving home to be with my family and he's set to live in Redmond forever and a day, but I think we both know we'd be miserable if we were apart. We're almost to the end of our 2nd year together, and we're stronger than ever. It's at the point where it feels like we've known each other forever, not much is awkward but we're still entirely too affectionate.

Summer- I can't believe it's almost over! Phill and Jenn (Val's Father and sis) were up to visit us! And on the last weekend of Val's freedom we're heading up to Victoria with my mum. He's NEVER been outside of the United States. I haven't left the motherland in 2 years myself... it's strange that it has been so long.

Superficial- I bought the coach clutch I was lusting over a few posts back. So divine- it's even better in person. I love the kiss-lock clasp, and the leather is so thick and fantastic. I keep my 2 sets of keys in it and my driver's license in my huge Louis. It makes it a lot easier to find- no more rummaging through my bag to find the things I need.

And that is all. Naptime and Snakes on a Plane!

Ownership

With the price of rent going up in our complex to $1200 in the next month or two, it's becoming very apparent that it's simply too expensive to rent.

I called up my parents today to discuss my options with them, and they're both very excited that I have an appointment with a realtor on Tuesday. I'm also calling various banks to see what kind of mortgages I qualify for. While I can't afford a house in the area, it would be nice to own something. And that my friends, are where condos come in!

I'm hoping and praying that I'll qualify for a loan large enough to get something here in Redmond. It'd be nice to have a place that I can really turn into a residence- no more institutional-ish white walls with the same cabinets that every other apartment has.