Announcements, announcements, announcements (read it in that sing-songy camp voice)

I started this on Saturday, rushed off to run some errands, and am now finishing it during some dead time at work ... I am just so out of the blog groove! I have so many updates I don't know where to start! First of all, the glorious day has come ..... my thesis advisor signed and accepted the final draft of my thesis. I am done! Life without school may now commence! Dominic is still in the trenches of school. He had a team meeting this morning for one of his last few classes which left me with a morning all to myself! I ventured out into the beautiful, pouring rain of the Northwest to the Vancouver Mall. May I just say, NORDSTROM IS THE MOST AMAZING STORE EVER! They are the epitomy of customer service and if I were a millionnaire I would spend quite a bit of moola there just to support them. All of this excitement because they exchanged Dominic's cologne which exploded and leaked while we were traveling home from Cancun. The bottle was half gone and the spritzer wouldn't work and boom, the Nordstrom gal said, "Would you prefer a credit or an exchange?" WONFERFUL! A little bit of customer service goes a long way ... I was already a devoted Nordstrom girl, but this experience just solidified my life long commitment (not to mention my life-long dissatisfaction for Macy's, but that is a completely different story). I started to clean and organize the office/craft room this afternoon, but we left mid-project to crash at Panera for an early dinner so Dominic could work on some homework.

Basic updates include ...

• Getting out of debt - we are still following Dave Ramesy's baby steps to financial peace. Some months are better than others. October was not good, November is better. We do our best to stick to our cash budget. Usually we fall short in the eating out category, but I am doing better at cooking more at home. For some reason I have found it difficult to come home between 7 and 8 pm from work and muster up enough courage to create something edible from our kitchen. I already have two menu items selected for this week "Ziti Paremesan" and "Chili". Obviously I am not Rachael Ray, but just the same neither Dominic or I are starving. Debt-wise, all we have left is our student loans which we anticipate will be GONE in about 24-36 months. Keep your fingers crossed. To encourage us on our escapade of debt freedom we went to see Dave Ramesy live when he was in Portland last Saturday.
• Killer Bunnies - our friends, Brandon and Karrie, introduced us to this card game last week and we are officially addicted. All I want to do is collect carrots, earn Kaballa Dollas, and sick weapons on other bunnies.
• Gettin' crafty - with the end of school I have been dreaming up new craft projects, mostly scrapbooking. I've started collecting Michaels coupons and have made a few super paper purchases at Craft Warehouse (which, might I add, is within walking distance of our duplex). I just finished making all of my sister's baby shower invitations which was a fun mini-project, and when Katie gets back from Italy in January I am going to make her a scrapbook of her trip.
• Golf - no, I am not taking up golf, but Dominic has returned to this high school sport with avengance. He was on the team back at good ol' David Douglas, grew out his clubs, and stopped playing. But, thanks to a little inheritance money from Grammy he has been blessed with a new set. They are no Tiger's, but he managed to beat both my dad and his brother with them, so they must be working just fine!

That's all I've got for now. I hope everyone is doing well ... I am loving the winter weather and can't wait to see many friends and family over the coming holidays! We'll be in Olympia over Thanksgiving weekend and again on Christmas Eve.