Monday, March 4, 2013

Good Things

For the most part, the tone of my posts lately has made it pretty apparent that I am a bit down in the dumps.  This is to be expected given the stress of CFA studying and my upcoming move to Charlotte, which I just can't get excited about (at least not yet).  I know I have to trust that I will find things I like when I move there.  My mom sent me a really good "Green Eggs and Ham" analogy last week to remind me that, until you've tried something, you can't say you don't like it.  Granted, since I have been to Charlotte about 8 times, I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what living there will be like, but that analogy was a good reminder that I really have to give Charlotte a chance.

But, despite the heaviness of my life these days, there are some good things happening in my life, so I thought I'd take a moment to focus on those in a post so that I have something to look back on when I am having down days!

- Bye bye undergrad student loans.  Between my tax refund, some money I received from my grandma, and my bonus at work, I will be able to pay off my undergrad loans in full this month!  I am SO happy that these are getting paid off so I can really focus on paying off my massive grad school loans!

- Game night.  I have always loved playing games so it is really nice to date someone who does as well.  On Saturday night, I introduced Phil to a Rack-O, which is a game I haven't played since I was a child.  He must have had beginners luck or something as he beat me 4 games in a row! 

- Landlord relief.  When I sent a tax form to the tenant that lives in the condo I own, he responded and let me know that his girlfriend will be moving in this spring.  This tells me that he is likely going to stay around for awhile as why have someone move in if you are planning to move in the next 6 months or so.  His lease went to a month-to-month after the first year with a 60 day notice, so it's just a relief to feel like it's likely he'll stick around!  Plus he is an awesome awesome tenant who pays his rent early most months!!

- Promoted.  I found out last Friday that I am being promoted to Vice President.  I had a feeling this was coming so I am happy that it is finalized.  Promotions are weird in the financial services industry.  My job doesn't change, there are just higher expectations on me, which I am totally fine with.  I know I have been performing at a VP level since my boss left so I know I can handle the extra expectations. 

- Running.  My local club's spring session started up on Saturday, so I got to do a 'long' run of 8 miles with them (which I totally don't think of as a long run but I guess it counts compared to the 4 milers I've done lately).  I am glad I'll get some runs in with this group before my move.  I am also researching clubs in the Charlotte area.  I haven't found anything comparable to my current club that includes things like coaches, etc, but hopefully I can at least find a group to do long runs with during my marathon training cycle.

- Chicago!  Speaking of marathon training, I got into the Chicago marathon.  I consider this an accomplishment because the registration process was a complete and total disaster - so much so that they had to take their registration site down for over a week (it might still be down?).  There are 4 people from my local club running it, and I am super excited that Amber, Lauren & her fiance, and Anais will all be running it as well!  I can't wait for this blogger get together!

- New digs.  While I am not all that excited about downsizing and moving into a smaller place, I am excited about the kitchen in my new place.  It has granite counter tops, a beautiful back splash, new stainless steel appliances, and an island.  The kitchen is my happy place so I am looking forward to making meals in a beautiful, remodeled kitchen in my new home.

Your turn - tell me something good that is happening in your life these days!

24 comments:

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

Wow, this is a lot of great things!!! Congrats on your undergrad loans being paid off, we've talked about this before and I know you were REALLY looking forward to that. And also Congrats on the promotion! Hopefully this means a pay raise to help you pay off all the flights you will be taking when you move to Charlotte haha.

I'm about to start a week with 19 parent conferences, on top of full time teaching the kids SO I need to think of the positive at the moment. How about, my college roommate who lives in Ohio is coming to visit in a little over 2 weeks?!

J said...

Awesome! All those good things really are good things! Great job paying off the loans! I am sure that is such a relief. And having your tenant stay - Things seem to be looking up! And congrats on the promotion!

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

Congratulations on the promotion! It's always nice to finally get the title after you have been doing the work for so long! And for getting into Chicago! That's awesome! It will also be a good thing for you to have marathon training while in Charlotte -- it keeps you busy, that is for sure!

I did a Looking Forward post today so you will already see my happy things, but one other one is that I joined the gym and have been trying to go once a week and it's been making me feel great and is a nice way to change things up a bit!

missris said...

Congrats on the promotion and on paying off your undergrad loans! That's so awesome!

Unknown said...

Wow! Lots of good things! Vice president!!! Congratulations! We are already discussing going through North Carolina next April with our Airstream. We can cook together in your beautiful kitchen!

Raquelita said...

Congrats on the promotion and on paying off your undergrad loans! When I paid off my loans from undergrad a couple of years ago, it felt amazing. Now if I could just pay off the loans I took out during grad school....

Allison @ With Faith & Grace said...

Congratulations on the promotion! That's awesome.

BTW - I wanted to suggest something for your move to Charlotte. Have you ever checked out city-data.com? It's a relocation website and I use it for Westchester a lot (even though I've lived here for 2 years, plus I like helping others). I checked at their Charlotte board is very active. It might be something worthwhile since the people who use it are there for moving purposes, and not just business travel. I just thought it might help. :)

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

I love the feel of this post, because there are a lot of good things going on in your life that should not be overlooked! BTW, you should definitely be pleased that you got into the Chicago marathon the first time around (despite the massive headache it gave you that day!). I'm not sure why, but they decided to make the last 15,000 spots a lottery (probably so people can apply over the course of a number of days instead of mad-rushing the system like they did the other week), so there's no guarantees you'd get a spot.

San said...

I am so glad you can find good things amid the chaos that you're in with the move and all! Those are some good things to be excited about (oh, and I am already jealous by you just telling me about your new kitchen!).

Good things for me... mmh. Some girl time with a friend last weekend and my birthday coming up?

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

CONGRATULATIONS on your promotion, Lisa! That is awesome. Definitely some good things coming your way. Can't believe what a mess the marathon registration turned into. Glad we all got in.

Linda said...

VP = VIP. :) Congrats.

Carolina John said...

Have you picked a section of charlotte to live in? I can ask the question on facebook as about 200 of my friends are charlotte area runners.

Congrats on the promotion! vp? very cool.

Abby said...

Your new place sounds gorgeous! You will have to send me pics!!! I am glad about the news with your tenant - what an amazing relief! You never know what you're going to get with renting out your property! Ryan wants us to Rent out our house next time we move - and it makes me so nervous !

The Chicago marathon sounds awesome. I am dying to do another marathon. Actually, I'm dying to just run and try out my new GPS ! Hate not being able to do the activities I want to do :(

Good things in my life are that I get to see Ryan in 2 days! I am so excited!!! It will be a fast week though :(

Stephany said...

You have a lot of great, great things happening in your life. I should do a post like this because it’s so easy to forget the good parts when the bad weighs so heavy on our minds.

Rack-O is a favorite game in my family! My mom is a beast at the game, somehow. And we’re always like, “You BETTER not say Rack-O!” Haha. I love, love, love board games so I definitely need a guy who likes them as well!

Amber said...

All very very good things! Vice President is such a fancy job title, so happy that promotion came through, you TOTALLY deserved it more than anyone I know has deserved one!

I am already counting down till October!!

Alli said...

Congrats on the promotion and paying off the undergrad loans!! I'm super jealous of the new kitchen!

Nora said...

Way to go on the undergrad loans! That must be feel incredibly awesome to be done with those!

I never talked about it but I received a small raise in February (it had been a long time since my last one) so that was a really great surprise and I'm so thankful for it!

Becky said...

Promoted AND paying off your undergrad loans?! That's HUGE! I hope you bought yourself an extra latte to celebrate!

Something good in my life right now: my new business - I really want to go far with it and I love feeling excited about something I'm doing! (P.S. I had a really hard day and a thankful you got me to think about this. :)

Dourgi @ Vocational Courses said...

Oh, that sounds good. It's really good to be free from all loans and other debts.

Dourgi

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Wow - what a great month this will be for you! Congratulations on the promotion, and being able to pay off your student loans this month!

This month should shape up to be the best month EVER. I have two vacations planned with my sweetheart ... we're heading to Mexico and then a week later to New Orleans. Can't wait!

marybeth said...

Lisa, Congrats on the promotion, you deserve it. We were up to Orlando visiting friends this week, while at Epcot we ran into some people we knew from our teaching days, their daughter lives in Charlotte, has for awhile, she is Mike's age, not married, works at the university there and loves Charlotte. Her parents shared that they feel good about her living there, as it is such a clean, vibrant city. Just thought I would share this, as it was such a positive comment. Their other daughter lives in Mpls, was hurt badly in Jan. while crossing Hennepin Ave by the Y, and still has a long recovery ahead. It was such a fluke to run into them, but it happens often, it seems. Keep us posted on your move.

Jeanie said...

Happy to see some smiles and especially sending big congratulations on the promotion! Four star and well deserved. There is some good going on -- I so admire the marathon and paying off those loans is huge! Just think what all you will be able to save in your move with a VP salary and no loans! I'm glad you like the kitchen -- that's definitely a big deal for you. I'd say you turned over the page and found some fun shiny stuff on the other side!

Shoshanah said...

So many awesome things to comment on, I'm not sure where to start! I guess, first congrats on the promotion. Even though we'll still feeling the same job, it must feel nice to have the title to go with it, and hopefully it makes you feel a little more appreciated.

And I'm definitely jealous that you paid off your undergraduate loans. I still have a ways to go on mine. And while I do have less undergrad than graduate loans, my graduate loans have the higher interest rate, so those are the ones I'd love to pay off first. Although unfortunately, it's still probably several years away for me.

Anonymous said...

I totally grew up playing Rack-O! Most people don't know what it is, so I'm happy to hear you play it too :)