When I spoke to my Dad, I told him about applying to Grad School and about being in the beginning processes of buying a house... so now let me fill my blog in on those things too....
Grad School - If I get my Masters degree, my pay will increase dramatically... :) While that is a huge plus, it's also a plus that I'd be able to work in ANY state I so chose :) THAT is also a big plus :) After much deliberation, I decided to apply to the University of Northern Colorado. They have a completely online program for my Masters Program. It will take 3 years instead of 2, but in the end it will be OH so worth it for me. I know that after work I would not want to drive into town and go to school until 10pm. I know me. I just wouldn't want to do it. So I searched for online programs and it came down to UNC and UC Northridge. In the end UNC won out for 2 reasons... less externships requiring time off of work, and COST. The application deadline is 3/15 - I got my stuff mailed out Thursday for a Monday delivery. I checked with the department and since 3/15 is a Sunday, Monday delivery is FINE. :) Let's hope all goes well... Keep your fingers crossed for me!
House - Probably about a month ago now, I got 4 (yes FOUR) certified letters sent to my house in the name of the home owner. I was not here to sign for them, so they went to the Post Office. I called the property manager and let them know. These certified letters got me to thinking, "are they foreclosing on this house?". I've been through that once, and I honestly don't care to do it again. I was talking to my friend Nicole and she kept telling me to just look around and see what homes were going for... to see if I would qualify for a mortgage. So I finally did. Houses are going for DIRT CHEAP out here - in my area. So today I scanned in all of the necessary documents (W2's, bank statements, pay stubs, etc) to get the mortgage stuff finalized. I should be able to start physically looking at houses in the next couple of weeks. I'm not getting my hopes too high yet, since the paperwork isn't finalized, but I don't see any thing that would stand in my way, and neither does the Mortgage guy (whose name is Jeremy, by the way... I'm sure I'll be mentioning him and Randy - the real estate guy, a lot in coming months).
The idea of moving again really sucks, but knowing that I'll be moving into a house that I OWN is a big motivator. I can do whatever I want to the house... I can plant a frickin flower garden if I want to without asking permission. :) Ahhh the freedom. And yes, that freedom comes with it's prices - paying out of pocket for things that break, etc, but it'll be nice to be putting money towards something instead of renting, where my money goes nowhere.
So I'm finally getting things done that need to get done... and now that those things are done, I can officially be a couch bum ;-) Oh wait, I've been that lately too ;-) Back to TiVo ;-)
