New Car

I've been wanting to buy a new car for a while now, but I kept telling myself I needed to wait until I was through with school. But the other day, I decided to just look around and see what was out there. My cousin has owned a few RAV 4's, and loved them, so I decided to look for one. 

I started talking to a dealership, and I decided I was serious enough, that I needed to visit with my cousin, who works at my credit union, to start getting approved for a loan. I decided once I had that in place, I could find a car. When I told him I was looking for a car similar to his, he mentioned that theirs was for sale! A few hours later, I had my loan approved. I had to wait a few days so they could finalize the purchase of their new vehicle. 

I have loved my new car. It has auto start and heated seats, which have been so nice with this colder weather. It was also exciting to take out my first loan as a single person. I knew I could, but it was still a huge step for me. I'm grateful that I have a job that provides for my needs so I can live comfortably. 

Home Improvements

Last month, I decided to celebrate the anniversary mark of being on my own for a year by splurging on myself. On Amazon Prime Day, I bought an Echo for half off! 

I also decided to upgrade my couch. It was a hard decision to make. My leather love seat meant a lot to me. It was the first big purchase I made, on my own. I felt like it was God telling me I could do this. But the cats had pretty much destroyed the leather and I was also ready for a full size couch. In the end, I even decided to splurge and get one with electric reclining seats. 

I had to get help with the last two items on my list. Years ago, the doorbell broke. It only made a quite buzzing sound, but you pretty much had to be standing under the bell to hear it. My brother looked at it a few months ago, but the cover was painted to the wall and he didn't want to mess it up. So I had Vince look at it a few weeks ago. He was able to get the cover off and then messed with the wires inside it and it started working again. 

The other thing I did was I've been wanting a ceiling fan in my bedroom for years. When I mentioned this to Vince, he offered to install it for me. He made it look so easy, I wish I had done it years ago. My bedroom has stayed so much cooler!

We installed the fan on a Sunday after church. The next morning, when I was getting ready, Blue was downstairs crying. So much so, that I finally went down, checked the food bowl (which was half full) and then checked him for injuries. I couldn't find any, so I didn't worry about it. But then he did the same thing on Tuesday morning. Again, I checked him for injuries, but he seemed fine. Tuesday night, it occurred to me, he hadn't slept with me that week; in fact, I hadn't even seen him upstairs since installing the fan. So I gently carried him upstairs, and sure enough, he freaked out when I went into the bedroom. 

I decided to leave it off for a few days to help him adjust. Each night, I would carry him to bed and calmly pet him while he stared at the fan. But he finally seemed to adjust by Thursday night. So on Friday, I turned it on low and spent the next two nights calming him again. He is back to sleeping with me, but I've noticed he still enters the bedroom slowly while staring at the ceiling fan every time he comes in. 

Orlando - Day 5 - Paycon Day 3

Thursday morning started off a little rough. I had taken my small blender with me so I could make my Isagenix shake for breakfast each morning. Its better cold, so each day, I would go get some ice from the machine by the vending machine to mix in with it. But this morning, I grabbed the key sleeve, without realizing the key wasn't in it. I had to walk to the lobby, in my pj pants, bathrobe, hair turban, with a lip scrub on and let them know I had locked myself out of my room. To which the lady responded, "do you have ID on you?" I looked down at my bathrobe and said no, I was just trying to get some ice real quick and locked myself out. She called security and they met me at my room. Or course, I passed a dozen people between my room and the lobby, dressed like this. 

I have to post this picture to prove I didn't look like that the rest of the day. 

At the expo, I got my picture with Elvis. 

The night was the Congress Payroll Palooza Party. This year, the theme was rocker. I found a cute shirt on Amazon and then my sister let me borrow her cute gloves to go with it. 

Hanging with my friends at the party. Adriann, JoAnn, Mary and Lisa. These ladies are awesome and I'm glad I was able to meet them. 

Mary helped me add several glow stick rings to my outfit throughout the night. That night, I took off like 26 when I got back to my room. 

My new friend Lisa. 

Orlando - Day 2 - Rain Forest Cafe

While at Disney Springs, I decided to eat dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. I hadn't ever been to one and thought it was pretty cool.

I was given the option to sit by the elephants or the gorillas. I ended up next to this big guy. 

I am getting more comfortable eating out by myself. I always feel so awkward. But I decided to just enjoy the good food and have a good time. 

I loved it and would go again. 

Orlando - Day 2 - Gatorland

My original plan had been to rent a car and then make the 1 hour and 15 minute drive to the beach. But that morning, the rental place at the hotel was out of cars. I had been nervous to travel that far alone, so I decided that was a sign I needed to stay closer to the hotel. 

Plan B was to go to Gatorland. I took a taxi there, but after that, I download the Uber app and used it each time I wanted to go somewhere. It worked wonderfully. I even thought about using it to go to the beach, but even that was out of my price range. So hopefully some day I'll be able to go that way again and see the ocean. 

Gatorland was pretty cool. I ended up spending most of the day there. I'm getting better about doing things by myself and being able to relax and enjoy it. 

They had a few shows that go on during the day. The first one I went to was Gator Wrestling. It was my favorite.

After the show, they give you the chance to sit on a real gator and have your picture taken. The line was huge! I wasn't going to do it. But later in the day, I happen to walk by after another show had ended and the line was much smaller. So I decided to do it. 

After the first show, I had some time to wonder around before the next show started.

Of course the turtle was my favorite thing to see. 

The next show was the Jumperoo. They did a few different things with chicken and the gators would jump out to get it. It was pretty cool, but also very crowded, so it was hard to get a good view. 

There was a ton of birds. Some were more friendly than others. 

I got to watch this bird catch a fish. 

They had a bobcat area. The first time by, I was able to find one behind this tree. 

Later in the day, when I walked by again, I found these two laying out in the sun. 

They had a pond where you could feed turkey hot dogs to the gators.

Of course there was a crowd of birds lined up to try and steal the hot dog bits. I thought it was cool how they were all lined up right here. At first I thought they were statues until I saw a few of them move. 

Checking out the white gators. 

The last show was with a few different creatures. Nothing I would want to hold!

I loved this ladies look on her face when she opened her eyes to see what she was holding. 

The biggest part of the day was that I held a small gator and a snake. I was just going to hold the gator, but after watching a little girl insist she hold the snake, I decided to suck it up and do it also. I was freaking out the entire time and that is the fakest smile I have ever made. Its probably something I'll never do again, but now I have picture proof that I willing held a snake and lived to tell about it.