Left Behind?

I feel a little behind.  What can I say?  Maybe I should just be happy that I'm gaining experience, but I can't shake this feeling that I should be doing something more.  I think part of it is that I've been thinking about my friends from the graduate program at MSU.

One is just starting a PhD program, one is starting to wind his down, one is in the middle of another MA, and yet another just finished a second MA in Business Administration (I think).

Where does this leave me?  Wondering what to do next.  What path to choose? Long-term is it worth investing more money when about 5% of PhDs find works in Academia (no citation).

Ugh

Ashlinn and the Animals

Our friend Haley just moved back to Bozeman.  Anyway, she really wanted to meet Ashlinn so we went out Veteran's day to introduce her and let her see Haley's 2 horses, 10 chickens, and 1 dog.  She took some quick pictures that turned out incredibly.  I'm not posting the slideshow on our site, but you should check them out here: http://www.haleypoulosblog.com/2010/11/ashlinn.html  Haley's main site is here http://haleypoulos.com/.  If you know anyone that needs some professional photos, send them her way.

Thanks again Haley!

This Year

We have a ton to be thankful for this year.  Ashlinn has been great (she is an amazing little girl), we had a wonderful vacation (minus the camera loss...although that didn't ruin things), we both have jobs, we love our house, we have our health, and of course while we were at our jobs we've had great day care.

That said, this year has been one Money Suck.  The car is still having issues and we are trying to pay down the loan enough so we can use our insurance money (hail damage) to pay off the rest of the loan for the engine.  The company we bought the engine from did send new parts to get things working again, but it sounds like we'll have to come up with another 300-350.  I keep telling myself that this is just a rough year and next year will be better, but I'm pretty frustrated.  

Susan has been fabulous with Ashlinn this last year.  She, Mike, and Nathan have been a fixture for much of the time we've had her. I've said this many times, but we don't worry.  The great news is they are having another baby!  The bad news is that, at least for awhile, we need to find an alternative (not complaining).  Jen and I have been mulling things over and trying to figure out our options.  The sad thing is that we feel like anything option is going to be such a huge step down from what we have.  We have a great person watching our little girl.  How do you replace that?  I don't know.

Two months left in the year...ugh.   

Still taking suggestions for an awesome daycare alternative.

Follow-up

Turns out or CC company isn't that great. Total cost for repair $333. What they covered $165. Turns out they won't cover 'time lost' unless the car company turns over fleet information. This is unlikely because the car company doesn't see it as relevant. The car company suggested we use Visa next time because they tend to be more reasonable. I'll post a few more thoughts soon. I'm ready for this year to be over...it has been a HUGE money suck for us.