Sold!

Yeah! I finally sold that pool-colored bridesmaid dress that bought for a friend's wedding in August 2006!! I've been posting that on Craig's List for the past 1 1/2 years, but hadn't gotten any serious buyers until yesterday. I was about to just donate it to Goodwill to get it out of my closet, but luckily I found a woman who really needed it for a wedding that she's going to be in and she paid me $40 for it. So, I'm shipping it off her her today and collecting my cash from PayPal. Woo-hoo!

Award Winner!

I was just informed today that my entry ("Installing & Activating the OfficeMate Suite") won an award in the Southern California STC Technical Publications Competition. Yeah for me! I don't know what level of award I won, but at least I won something, which I'm proud of. I'll find out at the banquet on March 1 what level of award I won.

Edited to Add: I found out that I won an Award of Excellence, which is the middle-level award. Woo-hoo!

Edited to Add Again: A picture of me with my award at the banquet:-)

Quitting Escrow

Yeah! A great thing happened yesterday--Wells Fargo cancelled my escrow account and refunded me all of my money that was in it! When I refinanced my house a few months ago, I was forced to create an escrow account for my taxes because I wasn't paying a 20% downpayment. While I was in Colorado I logged into my Wells Fargo checking/savings account and noticed that my newly refinanced mortgage had been sold to them. So, I immediately requested that they close my escrow account. I'm a big girl and can pay my taxes on my own, thank you very much. Well, when I got home last night there was an escrow refund check in my mailbox! Woo-hoo! Another good sidenote: When I called WF to request that they close my escrow account, they upgraded my checking account (for free) so that I earn interest on balances over $500 and I get free online bill pay. Great stuff!

Cowboy Boots

Ha...I'm buying a pair of cowboy boots! How cool is that?! They're totally cute (yeah...no real cowgirl would probably call her cowboy boots "cute," but I'm only a cowgirl by association and relation). I got a great deal on them because I'm buying them from my brother's store. They are the ones in the middle below:

Renting Out My Condo

This is a good financial thing that's already happened in 2008: I was able to rent out my California condo for the week I'm in Colorado for $800, which my pocketbook really appreciates. It's amazing to me to see how God provides for me...

Time with Anna in Colorado

My second week of the new year is being spent in Colorado with my little sister, who I adore and love to pieces. We are spending most of our time in Fort Collins, not doing much of anything, but hanging out and remembering what it was like to live together (which was almost 7 years ago). We're heading to the Rockies this weekend to go skiing at Breckenridge and A-Basin--what could be better than that? The mountains have been pounded with snow and it's going to beautiful and fun. I'm sure we'll play "our" song many times..."Telluride," by Tim McGraw. Gosh, I love my little sister! And so, that's the 2nd great thing about 2008...spending time with Anna.

Time with Family in Ohio

I didn't have a crazy New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, but instead I ushered in a great new year by myself at my Mom's house. And then I spent nearly the first entire week of the new year in Ohio where I got to hang out with my wonderful Mom, Dad, brother, sister, grandmas, Aunt Jane & Uncle Kevin, and my wonderful friends Julie A., Julie B., and Ely. I am so blessed to have these people in my life. And that marks the first "great" thing about 2008.