WMW – What $24K In Student Loans Got Me

My first 3 years of college, I knew I wanted a Business degree but wasn’t sure what I wanted to specialize in.  Coming in as a Freshman, declaring General Business seemed like a good start.  Then my sophomore year I enjoyed an Accounting class so I thought that would be my calling.  Then I actually started the Accounting course load in my Junior year and I realized that maybe I didn’t enjoy number crunching that much.  Looking back now I don’t remember what prompted me to decide on Marketing.  By that time I had worked a few season for the Lugnuts and I had started dreaming of career in the sports industry.  I imagine I thought Marketing would be a good segway into that area.  Plus, I liked learning how companies decided to make products the way they did, how to present them to consumers and convince them to buy them.  When I left Michigan State, I had Bachelor’s degree in Marketing & Supply Chain Management.

Fast forward 8 years and I in no way use my Marketing degree.  And although I’ve had part time gigs with various sports teams, I haven’t worked my way into sports either.  For the past 5 years I’ve been working in Sales & Account Management for a national health/ancillary insurance carrier.  My job is primarily Administrative in nature but every once in a while I pretend to be a Marketing genius and try to help Keith with ticket promotions for UH.  I think he sometimes wishes I wouldn’t….

What about you?  Are you actually working in a field that utilizes your degree?

25 months of sunshine

My “little” Munch is 25 months old today.  It might be un-cool to still be thinking in terms of months of age once your 2 years old but I’m gonna go with it anyway.

25 months

Some quick Brooke highlights at 25 months old…

She’s SO talkative!!  I can’t believe we had a speech therapy evaluation for this child because she’s become a chatterbox!!  She also loves to sing!!  Around her birthday we sang “Opie cee you” to everyone in the household, including Sheed, close to a gazillion times.  We always sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star at bedtime and thanks to Barney, “If All The Raindrops”, “Mister Sun” and “I Love You” are also favorites.

She’s on a transportation kick.  She loves things that go…we took our first train ride a couple weeks ago and loved it!!  She’s started noticing the buses, both school & METRO, and even tried to catch up to one to ride it one day when we were in Midtown.  Another favorite, “hairplanes” and “heli-cack-cack-ters”.  It can take about 3 times longer to get from the front door to the car if there is one of either in the sky because we have to look up and announce it at every step.

Potty training is…..going.  Brooke either resists actually staying on the potty until she’s done or gets REALLY comfortable and refuses to get up.  Very rarely to we find a middle ground.  When she wants to be, she can be very successful at it and when she’s feeling stubborn, she’s not.  There’s no rush though so we’re just going with the flow.  HA!  No pun intended!

She’s blowing us away with how well she’s picking up shapes, colors, counting, and her ABCs.  And when I say shapes, I’m talking hexagons, ovals, crescents, not just circle and square.  I found a Shape game app for my iPhone and she loves earning stickers by choosing the right shape.  She has a couple Melissa & Doug puzzles, these and this one, and she flies through them.

We still love cooking and baking together.  She makes some awesome scrambled eggs, is an expert at stirring pancake batter, loves creating new recipes with salt & pepper.  Baking bread in the breadmaker is probably the easiest kitchen project we do…its mostly dry ingredients so even if there’s mess its super easy to clean up.

She’s just so much fun.  Sure she makes me want to tear my hair out sometimes but she mostly just warms my heart.  I’m having such a good time watching her grow and just can’t wait to see as she continues developing into her own little person.

WMW – What's in YOUR Bag??

It’s been awhile since I’ve participated in Working Mommy Wednesday but today’s prompt seemed fun so here goes!

I just switched to a smaller purse because my other had gotten crazy cluttered so I didn’t think I would have too much stuff.  Wrong!!

What I found in my purse:

  • Random medical bill
  • Straw from Sonic
  • Sunglasses
  • Car keys
  • Pen
  • iPod
  • Temporary tattoos from Buffalo Wild Wing
  • Sticker of Bullseye from Toy Story from Brooke’s last trip to the doctor
  • iT’z game card
  • Wingstop coupon
  • Wallet
  • 3 chapsticks
  • Avon Glazewear Sparkle in Rave 
  • Bluetooth headset
  • Pack of gum
  • Brooke’s nail clippers
  • Key chain of loyal shopper cards
  • Cough Drops
  • After hours access card for the office
  • “Girlie” Supplies

So now…what are you lugging around in YOUR Bag?