For your listening pleasure. . . .
There’s just something about the melody and general feel of this song that I really like. Enjoy.
Need vs. Want
Over the last year or so, I have begun to get more structure in my life in one very important place – my personal finances/budget. It’s not to say that I was completely hopeless (they did let me buy a house afterall), but there was room for improvement.
One of the major things I needed to work on was pointless/discretionary spending – you know the cups of coffee, meals out, CDs, random impulse buys, etc – that you could either a) take care of cheaper by making/cooking/doing youself b) could wait to buy when it was on sale c) didn’t really need at all. This does take some discipline and planning ahead, i.e. actually grocery shopping, comparing prices at various places, and took me a while to get used to. One major thing that needed to change was my mindset – learning to better distinguish between the needs and the wants.
I was shopping the other day with a friend and caught my self saying “I need ____.” It is a pretty common phrase for most people, but for some reason, on this day, I stopped and corrected the statement to “I want ____.” It’s interesting to see how changing one word changes your preception of something. No, I didn’t need a new iPhone case. No, I didn’t need a new pair of jeans. Things like bills, food, and *gasp* saving were more important in the long run.
I was oddly proud of myself for this. Seems like a small thing, but to me shows how much I’ve worked on viewing things in a different way. I was taking time to think and plan and have patience – things that historically have not been a strong suit of mine.
Moral of the story – most of the things we think we need are actually wants. Taking the time to realize that helps you make better decisions and prepares you for the future.
I think I’m goin’ to Kathmandu
In October.
My latest travel adventure – two weeks in Nepal – is going to be amazing. It was a random opportunity presented to me by my mom and I am thankful for the chance to see this part of the world.
There are a number of reasons I am looking forward to this trip: my wanderlust has been back as of late, this will be my first trip to Asia, this will be my first trip abroad with a DSLR, and this will be my first trip after a few years of learning and growing and getting settled in my life in Minnesota.
I don’t have all of the details yet, but I do know we will be visiting the Mt. Everest base camp, as well as Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge. I’m sure I’ll be posting about this as I approach my departure date and get more details.
As a part of the preparation for this trip, I will be doing a lot of thinking, a bit of shopping, maybe a few shots, and also reading up on the places we will be visiting. In addition, I am debating growing out my hair and then having it cut & donating it after I return. Why? Right now my hair is pretty short and to be completely honest looks a hot mess when I don’t blow it dry and flat iron it. I don’t want to have to deal with a hair dryer and flat iron on the trip and prefer to keep things a bit easier to manage. Not to mention the fact that I would also be helping others as a result of this plan. I’ve had a number of other friends who have done this, and I’ve always been curious and interested in trying to do it. I had hair well past my waist when I was younger – so long hair is not foreign to me. However, this time it will be red and not light blonde. 🙂
So – here goes nothing. We shall see how this works out for me. Or if I get frustrated and cut it sooner.
Soundtrack of the Day
I have a confession to make – sometimes I briefly sneak music/headphones at my desk. (shhh don’t tell anyone)
Today was one of those days. I am in one of the stretches of time where my job is absolutely hectic, busy, and full of a lot of writing, phonecalls, emails, figuring stuff out and making stuff work. I found myself needing a little bit of a pick-me-up this afternoon to get back into the zone, and thanks to the Twitters I also found some good new music.
Enjoy – I know I did.
“3 More Days” Ray LaMontagne (h/t to Bridget Cusick)
“One Day Like This” Elbow (h/t to ElsieSnuffin)
“You Are The Best Thing” Ray LaMontagne (h/t Pandora)
Fregalicious
If you hold a library card from the Saint Paul Public Libray and you aren’t using Freegal, you are missing out on 1)FREE MUSIC and 2)FREE MUSIC! Long story short, Freegal is a service that provides libraries (and their patrons) access to music in the Sony music catalog.
When I first heard about it (h/t to Marna), I figured my options would be a bunch of polkas, classical music, and things of that nature – basically nothing of interest to me. However, it has tons of music and artists and if you’re patient, you can get CDs for free (you only get 3 downloads a week). What isn’t to love about this?
Go, try it out. You can thank me later.
What if?
More wisdom on the walk into work.
