Oklahoma City

I mentioned in a previous post that I travel a lot for work.  I also travel a lot for fun. I studied abroad in Rome my sophomore year of college and ever since then have had a travel bug.

Recently, I traveled to Oklahoma for two very important reasons:

1. My best friend Clare lives there

2. Notre Dame was playing Oklahoma.

Clare and I both went to St. Mary's (the sister school of Notre Dame) so when we found out that ND was playing Oklahoma in Norman, I figured what better time than to visit her and go to the game. I headed out there and was so excited to see her!!

We did all of the fun tourist things like going to the Oklahoma City bombing memorial, we had lunch with her dad downtown- it was so much fun!

We were also really excited that ESPN College GameDay was in Norman for the game.

We were nervous for the game in the beginning but we won!!

 The day after the game, I was supposed to fly home to Philadelphia but couldn’t because Hurricane Sandy had other plans. So I got “stuck” in Oklahoma with my best friend for 3 extra days. Rough life I know.

It was great! We watched movies and did nothing, we went to the zoo (which was actually really great- very similar to the San Diego Zoo- if you’re ever in OKC check it out) 

The baby elephant as so cute!

We also checked out the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Yes, we took advantage of the children’s exhibits and dressed up as cowboys. We are really 5 at heart.

One of the random highlights of the trip was accidently stumbling across a place called Mama E’s. We Yelped places right near the cowboy museum and this showed up. Needless to say, we were a little unsure when we pulled it but figured we’d go for it. Turns out this restaurant had been featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives!

It was a great trip and I was so happy to be reunited with my best friend. 

Getting out of college debt and saving

When I talk to most of my friends, they say the same thing- I just don't feel like an adult and I agree! It's hard but I'm actually starting to feel like I'm figuring my life out.

One of the things that has been plaguing me recently is why the heck did I wait so long after graduating from college to start acting like an adult? I understand that everyone goes through their “post college” years but sometimes I feel like I almost waited too long. It sounds silly but when I go on Facebook and everyone is getting married and having kids and buying houses I get the urge to yell “Wait for me!! I want that too!” I feel like after 2 years I'm finally ready to start thinking and acting like an adult.

I recently started saving for a house which is exciting!! I get butterflies when I look at my “house” fund and see if slowly going up but at the same time, I want it to go faster!! I think that’s one of the biggest areas where I’ve grown up. In college, I would go out every night and go shopping all the time and not worry about the fact that I didn’t have a ton of money because I could put it on my parent’s credit card—maybe not the best decision! I’m in the process now of paying them back but it is definitely taking me extra long to get started on saving for a house since I’m paying them almost $1000 every month.

Spending thousands and thousands of dollars on going out in college was probably a bad choice but it sure was fun...

In my office, we recently started doing Dave Ramsey’s series. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Dave Ramsey- he’s awesome. Check him out here- www.daveramsey.com He’s all about paying off debt and saving.

Since the only debt I have now is to my parents, I am working hard to budget and save. I give them 2/3 of what I don’t spend and put the rest in a savings account. But I have to tell you- it’s really hard not to overspend sometimes! It’s Thanksgiving Eve this Wednesday and like an idiot, I already spent all of my “going out” money for the month already. I know that in the long run, the $20 - $30 that I would spend probably won’t make that much of a difference but I thought 2 things when that ran through my mind:

1. $20-$30 THIS time wouldn’t be a big difference but when I think that way EVERY time, it’ll definitely add up.

2. I’d rather put that towards my house and see my savings goal thermometer grow (even if it’s only a tiny bit).

So while all of my friends are out partying on Wednesday, I’ll be here, probably curled up in bed watching a movie- which to be honest, doesn’t sound that bad to me. 

The beginning is always the hardest...

I’ve decided to start a blog- not so much so that people read it but more because I know that if I write down what I’m thinking about that I’ll learn more about myself. Hopefully others will learn something, be inspired and excited about their life as well. 

I'm a 2010 grad who moved back home and started working, going out a lot and having a great time. I recently got a promotion at work and now do a lot of traveling- which I'm loving! I'm trying to balance having fun and "being an adult"- Feel free to join my as I try to figure it out...