I'm still here.......I think

Hi everyone! Its been a hectic few days. I've been swamped under at work! Heck, its almost 10 at night and I am still working...took a short breather to say hello! I've been working on my little Frog Princess....her mouth looks like a two year old did it - I need to take it off and try it again! I'll post before and after pictures of her cosmetic surgery to fix her smile as soon as I've finished it....oh probably by next week at the rate that I am moving lately!

I am having great fun with Postcrossing I've sent out now 6 postcards and have received 4 back! I've received one from Austria, Netherlands, Portugal and Brazil! I love seeing the stamps and postmarks from the other countries - they can be so bright and vibrant! Belgium's stamps are a bit plain and boring! The international stamps are basically the same as our Euro coins - a picture of King Albert - yup, Belgium has a royal family for those of you who don't know. They are all older and married.....I asked! :)

Well I rarely really talk about personal moi, but this is too exciting not to share! Some of you may be aware that I attended college at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame Indiana (sister school of the Uni of ND) Being a private school, it was fairly expensive. My parents helped as much as they could (they are awesome and supported me much more than just financially by just being the wonderful parents that they have been to me and my sisters our whole lives) and I qualified for several grants, federal funding and scholarships. I also worked on campus jobs - RA, desk clerk, mail worker, computer lab assistant (I worked in the US post office there - had to fill out all of the postal paperwork etc - careful - I could go postal at any time!!). My last two years I also worked off campus during the school year at Burger King as a manager which was also my summer job where I worked 40 hours there plus another 20-30 hours at a second job (gas station, ice cream / coffee shop, fuel wholesaler....) I took out all of the available federal loans that I could along with a personal loan my senior year since I decided to have an expensive single room with a bathroom on campus.

To stop rambling, I set a goal with myself to try to pay back all of my student loans within 5 years from the repayment start date. I am totally excited that I managed to reach my goal by paying off my loans in 4 years and 8 months!!! Woo Hoo!! I processed the final payment last Thursday and it went through the bank today! I currently owe absolutely ZERO to anyone. The first time in almost 9 years that I have not had to worry about paying back money (the 4 years I was in college I did not have to make any payments, but I knew that I owed the money). What a wonderful feeling! Okay, time to buy that house so I can owe a huge lump of money to a new financial institution! :-)