month 9!!!

month 9 was super abnormal. like, super abnormal. so don't think that i went strolling through life finding $100 bills on the sidewalk every 20 yards :)

i paid off a whopper in january. $2,821.39 to be exact. and i put $6.00 in savings :)
(the $6.00 is because i really took out $50ish and then put $56.00 back in)

so where the hell did i come up with that kind of cash in a generally financially funky month??

welp, i moved. and got free rent the first month. i had to pay a couple hundred to the movers, and a couple hundred for my first month because we got into the space a couple of days early, but it wasn't my entire $815 i would have normally paid in that month.

i got my whole deposit back! $785.00! which went straight to the student loan.

tails job over new years didn't hurt. instead of going out and spending a fortune on a dress, makeup, hair, bar entry, cocktails, etc etc etc, i opted to take a house sitting job to not only save the money i would have spent but also make a couple hundred dollars on top of it.
it wasn't the greatest idea from a stress perspective (with traveling for the holidays, moving, etc) but it paid a good little chunk-that also, went straight onto my loan.

christmas money. i didn't get hundreds of dollars from santa, but i had a few extra bucks to through down on those loans. **correction, santa gave me a $300 mastercard, which i used to buy a bed. i likely would have used some money that i put on the loan to buy the mattress, so...ultimately, that cash from santa could be considered a loan payment.i also got about $150 to target which was KEY for getting the new place! you never realize how many 3M hooks and storage boxes you need until you move!

it was the way the cards fell this month that helped me put all that cash down on the loan! that and my serious dedication not to go crazy buying everything under the sun at the after christmas sales, like i normally do!!

the amazing news...only $2,917.96 left on my student loans! when i started may 1st trying to get that bad boy paid off i had $14,059.09 to pay down. i can't hardly believe that now i am just a couple of months away from it being gone forever!!

hip-hip-hooray!!
xoxo ashleycolean

the big day

{cred}

it's here! the day i've been waiting for! it's moving day.

today, after everything was all packed up in the truck-thanks to the strapping lads i hired-i went back up to my first apartment. i always have a hard time leaving places i've lived. not to say i'm not over the moon excited about the move, being in boulder, my new amazing roommate, cutting my commute from 65 minutes to 6 minutes-because trust me I AM THRILLED. but, moving, for good, always seems so sad to me.

i sat down in the middle of my (now bare) living room and took it in. i thought about all the things that happened in this apartment, and all the things that happened in life during the past 21 months here. i had mostly good times in my little city apartment, some sad but mostly just happy.

i made new friends, and spent time with old ones.i ran my first marathon while i lived here, i started my financial lockdown, and let go of a heart heavying relationship here.  i made plans here-some i followed through on and some i didn't. i had a good talk with my mom about happiness here. i got the phone call that i'd lost my grandpa while i lived in this place. i had one of the most fun weekends with my sister in this apartment-come to think of it i picked out this little place with my sister and that memory is so happy for me. i reconnected with an old friend who now i can't imagine life without, my best friend told me she was having a baby and my niece was born while i lived here. i celebrated engagements, babies, weddings, anniversaries and accomplishments with the people i love. my best cousin had a beautiful baby boy and moved up to her lovely cabin in the woods. my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. my sister got hurt and then got better. i threw parties, i walked to coffee shops, and i went to concerts. i made mistakes. i surprised myself. i dated, i laughed, i cried, i danced, and ran, and traveled, and really got to know a city i always dreamed i would find myself. i grew up here, in my little city apartment.

the funny thing is, until i sat down cross legged on the hardwood floor today and really thought about it, i felt like i was never here. i felt like the past (almost) two years flew by, and nothing had really happened while i was here. so, you see, when you sit quietly in a place, you realize how much life can happen to you in a short time.
it was a good reminder to be an active participant in my life.

be present.

live.

what a great takeaway to start the next chapter.

goodbye leetonia-it's been fun.
all the best to you and yours.
xoxo ashleycolean

on the move

for the past 6 weeks or so i have been slowly packing. packing up all my stuff makes me want to become a minimalist.
all of the cute sitarounds i just HAD TO HAVE are suddenly the things plaguing my life!

i wish half of my stuff would just disappear to make life easier.

i've been craigslisting the hell out of my stuff-trying to remove the 'clutter.' so far i've sold my bed ($40), my bookshelf ($15), my mirror ($40), and my weeds dvds ($20). i still have a dresser, tv, and skis up for sale. so, i've made a little bit of money. not much, but a little. and yes, i have been without a bed almost a month now...so all the money i have made should probably go to the magic hands of a massage specialist.

it's amazing to me how much moving costs! somehow i've managed to only spend $36.00 so far on tape, boxes and packing paper. bbe has been bringing me in boxes each day from her christmas online shopping which has been a big help. my momentary lapse of good judgement in my own online shopping adventures on anthropologie.com have also provided me some decent boxes. i hired movers-against my desire to save-because the last time i moved myself i cried the whole time. this time, three men will come and handle all the lifting in three hours for $222.00. worth-every-penny.

still to go-kitchen (ugh), and all my clothes. funny how hours of clothes packing is the result of 'never having anything to wear.'

with moving day quickly approaching, i couldn't be happier to be done with this place and on to the next. hopefully my deposit will come back to me in full so i can throw that $785 down in one chunky lump on the good ol' student loan.

december 29th baby.
xoxo ashleycolean

pantry takedown

{cred}

i'm clearing out the ol' pantry in preparation for the big move to boulder at the end of the month. i will probably have to go get a few things before the month is out-but the goal is to get rid of everything so i don't have to move it.

the spices can stay. oh, and the booze, because if i tried to tackle the bottle of vodka, gin, and bailey's i would not only be an alcoholic but also perpetually hungover for a month....not conducive for packing.

i have:
2 frozen apple muffins from my grandma
2 frozen chicken breasts
2 fillets of salmon
2 talapia fillets
1 bottle tabasco
1 bag of frozen scallops
3 cans black beans
3 jars of salsa
2 cans pinto beans
1 large tub of quaker oatmeal
1 can artichokes
2 cans green beans
1 bag of pistachios

and about 15 packets of random (astronaut) diet food in various forms from a diet i didn't like. yep, i'm even going to attempt to tackle that nastiness before the big day!

i lost my appetite just writing this.
xoxo ashleycolean

a cleanse

{cred}

i'm moving. well, i'm trying to move. my building isn't making it easy on me. they pushed me back until the end of december-annoying, but manageable since i don't have a place set in stone yet. my move will look nothing like that picture because i will be in man sweat pants, and freezing my ass off in a foot of snow-but, a girl can dream of a happy move-can't she!?? :)

moving always makes me want to get rid of everything. clear it all out. start over. that's WAY too expensive. BUT, i can find some things that i've been putting off getting rid of for a while now.

i put all of these things on craigslist and am hoping for a whopping $300 out of about 6 large items, including my bed.

i've been dying to get a new bed for about a year now, and i think a new apartment calls for a new bed. it's gotta happen. maybe if i make $300 on all my stuff and find a bed for somewhere around $600 i will lose the guilt of the purchase. that is, until i buy all the new bedding and accessories that a new bed calls for.

damn it, i'm doing it again.
xoxo ashleycolean

big moves for a type A girl

i am a type A person. i love lists, plans, schedules, spreadsheets...you get the idea.
i don't think i have ever NOT had a plan...winged it. i wish i could. i envy people that can. the laid back, no worries, go with the flow people. truth is i would love to put caution to the wind, lose all control and just be...

i would.

i am always on the lookout for people that i think would help me be more like that.

so, big news is i am making a giant leap (for me) to the unplanned life. yesterday i gave notice for my denver apartment!!! this means that as of december 1 i am sort of homeless. a couch hopper. a real life person without a plan! exciting right!

i'm moving to boulder!!

{cred}

i met a great girl to be a roommate in boulder-and she needs a job. so, while she looks i will put all my stuff in a storage locker and live couch to couch, aunt to grandpa, etc etc for the month of december.
crazy right!

for me, it's crazy. this just may be the most 'wild' thing i have ever done.

here's to kissing the type A goodbye, at least for 31 days!
xoxo ashleycolean