This is what I want for christmas/hanukkah/birthday/anniversary/arbor day!

No, I don't want a shamwow or the newest thing from the mall. And if you don't ever surprise me a house filled with apples I'll be okay. Because if you get me this, I'll forget about all those times you got me something I'd never wear, use or decorate my home with. If you got me this I might just love you forever, if I don't already. If you got me this, I would even consider having kids just to please you. Or not have kids, just to please you. I'd give up peanut butter AND gum at the same time. I'd be excited about baseball AND the Dolphins. I'd do whatever you want because that's how much this gift would rule.

The Big Idea

I know I come up with ridiculous ideas, like opening a vintage furniture coffee yarn store, or writing a graphic novel with no illustrator to help me. But this idea is sticking and I swear to Peanut Butter and Husky’s Ice Cream that it will. Why? Because like these other ideas, this has been a dream of mine. But unlike the other ideas, I have an actual plan!

And here it goes.

I’m paying off ALL my loans (which, as of right now is down to about $33,000 give or take a few grand, and while that might not seem like much or seems like a lot, to me it’s $44,000 less than I had 5 years ago).

I’m paying off ALL my loans in 5 years time.

I’m paying off ALL my loans by adding an additional $400-500 a month on those 2 loans (that I can’t consolidate since they are private loans). And making sure that this money only applies to the principal (for anyone who is paying off loans, I hope you know that this step is the most important one, otherwise you will be paying these people UNTIL YOU DIE).

And then, when I’m all done, I’m doing this for about half of a year.

I haven’t decided quite where yet, but I figure I have time to think about that. At first, I thought the simpliest option would be right here in Washington, but then I got into crazy mode and started looking into Hawaii and Australia.

So, why would I have to pay off my loans to do this one little dream? Well, because this apprenticeship doesn’t pay. Or it does in some places, but about $400 a month. I’d have a place to live for free and as much fresh food I can take so I'm not worried about that. But I’d have no money coming in, and I’d probably be using some of my savings. So I need to pay off those loans, you see. It's apart of the plan. The only downside would be if I had kids. That would just fuck everything up. So, cross your fingers the Nuva Ring stays put!

Now, that it’s on the internettingwebcycleoflife, I feel as if this is a contract to myself to really, truly commit to this plan.

Like I told Dominic yesterday, as much as I’d like to have my very own farm one day, I know I won’t really do it. I like vacations too much. I like randomly taking a day off of work and going to the movies. And when you have a farm you just can’t do these things (believe me, I’ve done my research). But, this apprenticeship isn’t really about that for me. It’s about learning something new, experiencing something different and doing something I’ve always wanted to do but in a much smaller scale. A scale I can handle so I can still go to Europe every year.

Advice?

My queues are running low these days. So, how about you tell me what you're into these days so I can copy you and judge if I should really be your friend based on if I liked what you liked. Here we go!

Books: I just finished The Gathering and hated it. I'm currently reading The Glass Castle and even 40 pages in, I can tell it's gonna be a good book. What else though? What are your top 3 faves? What are you reading now or just read that was a book you'd recommend? Tell me for fuck's sake!

Music: I'm not sure how old The Raincoats are but I can't stop listening to this chick group. Also, I just bought tix for the Ratatat show and am so damn pumped to dance my booty this way and that. What are you into? Whatever it is, I can most likely get it from the library, so let me know.

Movie rentals: I keep going to Blockbuster cause I have this stupid free movie pass, and yet I can't seem to find anything new that looks half way decent. I got Atonement from the library and that was good (not great). I almost got Persepolis, but I've seen that already and I know it's good (and great). I also almost got An Affair to Remember, and now I'm thinking I should've, but I was drunk yesterday and knew I'd immediately pass out once I got home. Which I did, so tonight's the night. Give me a movie rental suggestion fast!

Movies: I've heard Wall-E is getting great reviews, and I just sent in my SASE for a chance to win The Dark Knight tickets, but what else? Is Hancock any good? Are there any indie movies worth seeing lately? The last real good one I saw was Young @ Heart, but I feel like I've been in a movie slump lately. Tell me there's hope out there. Tell me there's something worth paying for.

Recipes: Ever since I started getting my local produce sent to me, I cook a lot more and love it! Now I just need more recipes. Healthy ones please. I'm already obsessed with www.101cookbooks.com smittenkitchen.com and chocolateandzucchini.com but where do you guys go? To get an idea of what I'm looking for, I'm not a fan of foodnetwork.com. I like the food blogs, rather than just spewing out recipes.

Blogs: I basically have OCD where I constantly look at the same 5 blogs over and over again. What do you like? What do you read? Give me something funny or interesting or educational or awesome or weird. I need something new.

Travel: I'm always going somewhere. So have at it. Have you been somewhere amazing lately? Camping? Hiking? Beach? Somewhere unknown? Tell me.

$10,642.70

I PAID OFF A STUDENT LOAN TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!