slowly but surely....

Ah another short update...slowly but surely, I am saving up to pay off a significant portion of my student loans. I have 43.92% saved up (that's aprox 13.1K) toward my goal of paying off 30K in loans by Dec. Like I've said before, I don't know if I will actually make this goal, but I'll come close.

secondly, really looking forward to being in Detroit June 30 - July 4. I will not be taking a computer with me. Will have no access to email and don't plan on being on the internet at all. It will be pure relaxation with a Tigers/Yankees game mixed in between.

third, I've been in Milwauke for 2 weeks in june and got to see Louis (friend,roommate when I was in Rochester,MN) both times. That was cool. He is doing well and has many of the same battles I have with being in a new city and all. We also discussed planning a trip out to San Diego next year which I think would be sweet.

fourth, looking into planning a weekend trip down to phoenix, AZ this summer. Everything should work out. Can already feel a desire to get out of the midwest for a few days again (although Detroit will be a very nice break from the norm!)... :)

fifth, looking forward to Advisory University (AU) in Orlando, FL on Aug 8-12.

sixth, current schedule (as current as I know it to be) --> June 21 - 24 in Detroit on business, June 27 - 29 (Detroit on business), June 30 - July 4 ( Detroit on vacation), July 5 - 8 in Minneapolis, July 28 - Aug 1 (tenative weekend in Phoenix), August 8-12 in Orlando, FL for Advisory University, Aug 12-15 home in Iowa to visit friends and family.


EDIT --> Almost forgot two things...1) I am going to try and get down to Ames this summer for a weekend, just to say hi to a few people down there. 2) Will go down to Rochester,MN for a weekend in July once everyone is settled into their new jobs at IBM would shoot for July 23 or may switch that weekend with tenative phoenix weekend depending on schedules.

Dumping the games.....or (the continued story of what happened)

This post will be a little jumbled and not make much sense (or be very connected)....so I guess I'll seperate it by items.

Item 1) Well I have done it now. I have uninstalled all the PC games I had on my computer. I would like to sell the games I do have (aprox 22 PC games). I don't enjoy PC gaming like I used to and I don't want to play PC games anymore. I will still have my xbox in case I get that gaming urge. Odd as this may seem, its just all part of roller coaster I have been on the past 6 weeks. In fact, I may sell my desktop and go back to laptops (for space reasons, and other considerations). While I can't afford to do this right away, it is something I will be considering.

Item 2) As I think more and more about moving out of the midwest, I do get more excited. (The prospect of having 2-3 more winters to survive is a good one to think about) I have decided that when/if I get to move, I want to drive myself out instead having movers ship my car to whereever I might move.(Plus I would hope to be in a new car...before I moved out of Minneapolis) I do alot of flying as it is, I think if I drive, I would see a whole new experience. It would be my first major road trip on my own (hopefully I wouldnt do this by myself....would be nice to be able to find someone to drive out with me). To give a little background --> when I was younger, my family drove out to California in 1984 and out to Maine and the NE U.S. in 1985. Not that I remember much about the drive, but it was fun, and you really got to see the country from a different prospective.

Item 3) Looking forward to traveling again for work and vacation. I will be in Milwaukee on Monday-Thurs. the week of June 13. The week of June 20, I will be in Detroit. I might even stay the weekend to go visit a friend down in Columbus, OH...---aprox 3.5 hour drive from Detroit. Then from June 27-29, I will be in detroit on business, and from June 30 - July 4, I will be in Detroit visiting family friends. My parents and older brother and his wife will be there as well. We will go see a Tiger's game and just relax.

Item 4) Well I guess there's not an item 4 today. Pretty much all my random thoughts have been put down on "paper" today. Its off to shower, work out, shower again, get my haircut, then to clean my room and do laundery. This is another reason why I can not have my own place, is because I can barely keep my own room clean! Hopefully this will change for the better.

Loan savings update --> 12.6K out of 30K saved. Still a long ways to go... Should be up to 13.2K soon. Once I get those nasty credit card balances paid off , I 'll be able to save more....and really I shouldnt say nasty, because its all 0% right now and its 1 card. Nonetheless, I don't like carrying balances. Also I am in the process of consolidating my federal loans to lock in a low interest rate. (3.125%). This should be completed by the end of June.

New challenges ahead....

In the continuing theme of changes....I think this summer has the potential to rock. I think there are a number of challenges ahead of me that will make the summer exciting and not have a dull moment.

1) The moving challenge. As some people know, I am looking for a different place to live in the cities. I am taking my sweet time trying to find the right place. I feel I will know when I find the right place and it will definitely increase my happiness level.

2) The gym challenge. I am really doing well at this right now. I am trying to build as part of my routine because I want to be able to work out on the road as well. I ran 2 miles tonite and felt pretty good. I want to be able to consistently run that two miles and move up from there. Now if I could find a decent racquetball partner.

3) The mentor challenge. I think this one is the one that sounds most interesting and has the highest upside. The advisory practice is getting two interns from Iowa State University. I have been assigned to be the mentor for both of them. I actually volunteered to a be a mentor for one of them, the other one is an added bonus. I will help and guide them through their internship. I will try to make sure they do well and enjoy their time as interns. It will also help me develop as an associate looking to move to the next level.

4) The unexpected challenges challenge. I think this is the scaresty challenge...dealing with the unknown....but I think this type of stuff makes you a better person...blah blah blah. Seriously, its how you handle the unexpected that makes you a better person and I have always considered myself to be a high performer. I also have very high expectations of myself.

5) The certification challenge. I think this one is actually going to be the hardest because it requires extra time spent studying. Here I thought I was done studying after I graduated! (Let me tell you though -- you are always learning, if not something is wrong) I am going for the CISSP certification and once I get it, I will be extremely happy. Hopefully this year will be my year to pass the test.

6) The vacation challenge. I looked and noticed i have 63 hours of vacation. Holy cow that's alot of vacation...that's almost 8 days. I know I will probably have to go somewhere for vacation...to where I don't know yet. I am sure I will use it somewhere not sure when or where.


If there is one thing that I want people to remember about me is that when I say I that am going to do something, I will not only do it, but do it at the highest level possible.

Alright enough for now.

A Car Update....and more...

Recently, alot of people have been asking me if I had bought my car yet :) The answer is still no...For a long while I have been wanting to buy a new car....and I still do want to buy a new car....however my priorities have changed recently. If you seen the last few posts, you'll see my shift in priorities and in order to make those priorities happen, it will require a shift in resources (eg...money and lots of it...hey who doesnt like more money?!). Basically, I have gone from saving for a new car to saving to pay off loans very quickly. Because I have a finance and technology background, my cash flow situation (after-tax dollars available after expenses et all) sucks because of the loans. This is one of the reasons I am going to pay off early (or at least as much as possible). I do have a goal of reaching 30K this year to pay off. Its going to be very close if I can obtain that goal...(alot will depend on raises and bonuses) but I am going to at least try and even if i don't make 30, I will make 25 or get somewhere around there and 25 is still a huge chunk of change to pay off at one time. I am still going to get a car. I don't think it will happen until 2006 though and late 2006 at that. Also my list of cars keeps changing....I won't go into what has all been on the list, but basically the cars i would consider now are the following in no particular order --> CRV, RAV4, or the Mazda3, and of course if i did make it to california ( a 2005/2006/2007 mustang!).

Overall things are starting to improve...it does take time....and it does suck alot of the time but I have once again started traveling (although more sporadically) ... I will be in Milwaukee the week of June 13 and then in Detroit for 3 weeks (one week is personal travel, two weeks is business travel)... The outlook after the 4th of July looks pretty good as well...i am also thinking about flying down to phoenix for 1 weekend this summer (probably late july) to see a friend who is down there for the summer...I am definitely interested to meet his female roommate and all of her friends...:) Also in early August (8-12), I will be attending the firm wide Advisory U in Orlando, FL. That should be a good time as well.

Also I talked to some people in Minneapolis about moving...and the people who count support me and will try to get it done, whenever I am ready to attempt to move which wont be for another 2+ years (I think at least).

Finally, a thanks to all my friends out there...you know who you are. I don't think I've ever had a more difficult time in my personal life then right now. Its just kind of an odd feeling to go through because I've never been challenged like this before. For the most part, I am a very optimistic person most of the time (although I play by the phrase "expect the worst, hope for the best" as well) and for the most part everything has worked out (job, friends, school, family life, etc) for me.