She Rewards Herself

Morning peeps!  I've got over an hour before church and it really doesn't take me that long to get ready, so thought I'd do a blog post.  Except for the situation with my daughter (she's a drug addict, if you're new to my blog) I'm doing well in my life these days.  So well, that I decided to do this:

My first brand new car!

It's a 2017 Fiat 500 and only 113 miles on her.

Can't even begin to tell you how much I'm enjoying this new car!

So if you've been around long enough, you might remember that in 2014, I bought a Dodge Dart.  It was not my dream car.  It was the car I needed at the time because I had three teens living at home and needed a full size back seat, but still I needed good gas mileage.  It was a mom car for sure.  And it did the trick for four years!  Well, my oldest son moved out, my daughter is in and out of either jail or rehab, and it's really only me and my youngest kiddo.  I drive 300 miles per week just going back and forth to work, and my Dart was leaving me stranded.  The AC would cut in and out (not in Florida in the summer...oh hell no), I was replacing parts every month plus still making a car payment, and the gas mileage wasn't as good as it used to be.  I was fed up, frustrated, and after a 2 hour drive home in traffic one day when the AC went out again and I nearly fainted from the heat, I had had enough.  I traded the Dart in (got a much better price than I expected, about 3000 more than Kelley Blue Book), and ended up with a payment only 100 more per month.  I know, I know.  I hate payments too.  But with my husband being a trucker and gone a lot, I needed a dependable car with a warranty.  For the extra 100 per month, I'd say that's worth it.  Not only that, but because of my amazing job as a coder, I did it all without my husband.  The car is in MY NAME, I used MY PAY STUBS, and I handled all of the paperwork MYSELF without him.  I got a little emotional over it.  My husband and I, we are a team and I love him to pieces.  But knowing that I was able to afford this little car on my own, independently, made my heart swell with pride.  I think when you grow up so stinking poor, on food stamps and Medicaid and all the government stuff, you don't ever forget how quickly things can go to hell.  Knowing that I managed, with the help of God, my mother who raised me without my father giving a damn about me, and my own hard work, that I can take care of myself now, made me tear up.  I will never, ever, EVER, forget where I came from.  I know it's just a little car, and not an expensive one at that, but I can't stop grinning when I look out my windows and see her sitting there, waiting on me.  I get up in the mornings excited to get on the interstate (who the hell am I?!?) so I can drive her.  Oh, she doesn't have a name yet, I've only had her for a week although I'm leaning towards Valentina.  Why Valentina?  Because I love her and she's red.


One other thing I get to share, is that I was able to pick up a second job, and I am in love with this job.  I wasn't even actively looking, as I'd applied to Publix, Pizza Hut, and a  Mexican joint near my job, and heard back from none of them.  I knew I couldn't be fast enough to do fast food.  So I just figured that I wasn't going to get anything, and I was fine with it.  A friend of mine from the AAPC meetings messaged me out of the blue to ask me if I'd considered teaching.  Now, I tried this before and never got a response from the college which tried to recruit me before, and I gave up on it after 9 months or so.   This was a different school, so I forwarded my resume and didn't expect anything.  I was right: it took 6 months for them to call me back, but I finally got an interview and was hired on the spot as an online adjunct instructor for medical coding and billing.  Yes, that's right.  I'M A COLLEGE PROFESSOR!!!   Now, it's only part time, and I'm only teaching one class right now because I'm new and trying to get the hang of it.  But I love it so much.  I get to do it from home, I'm able to show my love of this field to newcomers, and the pay is decent.  Every single penny is going towards debt (it's not very funny, but all of my credit card debt is due to my daughter; rehab bills and her car) and I get to do it while I'm doing a load of laundry in my pajamas.  God is good, peeps.  I struggled quite a bit financially and professionally from 2014 to 2016, but it has turned around and I am so geeked over it!

Now my prayers are centered over the health of my daughter (mentally and physically) and my husband, who is definitely over long distance trucking.  I hope you'll be praying for the health of my family, and I'll be praying for yours.  God is good, all the time.  All the time, God is good.

Six Months of Sarah Selfies

So I spent nearly six months not blogging, which is definitely weird for me.  I was still taking selfies the entire time, mostly because I am straight up fascinated with hair and I'm forever taking pictures to make sure it looks good.

Completely unsure about this top.  I got it on sale from Lane Bryant, it was under $10, it's a size 14.  The sleeves are floofy and weird.  It's literally the only white shirt I own.  I get compliments but it's just not a shirt I wear often.  I've had it for a year, I think I've worn it twice.  And of course, I spilled coffee on it, because that's who I am as a person.

I love this photo of me.  My eyebrows look great, I like my cute bird scarf (got at Goodwill for $2, peeps!), my skin is clear and my hair looks great.  I like this photo so much that I use it for my LinkedIn profile.  Do you use LinkedIn?  I like it more than Facebook.  

I'm not crazy about the color of my hair here, but this...this is my favorite cut.  I can never recreate the cuts, either!  Then my sister reminded me that my stylist always straightens my hair, and that I don't own a straightener.  Oh.  That must be it.  I'm definitely an inverted lob hair girl.  

And here is the inverted lob without a straightener.  Still cute, but I do like it straighter.  This posting of pictures is really helping me figure out the hair situation!

This had to have been a chilly day.  I'm wearing my chunky gray sweater (instead of my usual thinner gray cardigan) again with a scarf (this one is from Target from probably 5 to 10 years ago!) and if my hair is pulled back,  that means I'm unhappy with it or it needs to be washed. 

Blue is a great color on me.  Unfortunately, I need to see my stylist,, stat.  This is awful!

Roots.  Oh my.  Younique makeup too, which is seriously the bees knees and does amazing stuff for my skin!

Another sweet top I scored at the Goodwill, probably for around $3.  

My eyes match the color of this top.  It's a cheapie Walmart $5 tee. 

I liked this shirt, but I ended up donating to Goodwill because it kept riding up and exposing my gut.  This royal blue color is the world, amirite?

Me and the girl, during one of the times she was out of rehab or jail.

Hair time needed again.  And I'm wearing one of my daughter's tops from City Chic which I bought her when she was a freshman in high school.  Hey, if she's in jail, I get to wear her clothes, right?

Bangs and purple hair.  Super cute!

Close up of the purple in the sunlight.

Yeah.  Digging the bangs.  I've got a teeny tiny forehead so I think this is cute.  

A gorgeous spring day in Florida means I get to ride home with the moon roof open.

This was after I got the rose gold on my birthday in May.  Still don't own a straightener.

My necklace is the NYC skyline!

And there you have it.  6 months of me obsessing about my hair and makeup.  All the makeup is Younique (except maybe some of the eyeshadow, I still do have some of my older palettes) and most of my clothes are Goodwill.  Ain't that something.

Rose Gold

My 43rd birthday was a few weeks ago, and my tradition is to get "mah hair did" for my birthday.  As a youngster, my hair was so dark brown it was nearly black, with no highlights at all.  But as I'm getting older, the grays are coming in quickly and that super dark color washes me out.  I'm probably about 30% gray at this point, so I brainstormed with my stylist to find a color that will blend those grays nicely.

I walked into the salon like this.  This is my actual 43rd birthday, May 15.

And came out looking like this!  It's birthday magic!

This subtle rose gold color is everything!

My birthday was a rainy, windy day, as you can see here.  This made me laugh.

I normally change my hair color every six to eight weeks, but this time, I'm keeping it.  I love how the gray and the rose color blend so prettily, mixed in with a bit of gold.  Because it contrasts with my blue eyes, my eyes seem even bluer and it seemed to perk up my skin tone.  As you can see, my pixie cut is long gone and I'm back to this shoulder length hair.  I'm in the process of growing it out a bit so I can do a chic inverted bob.  

So, I'm 43 now.  So far, I'm really enjoying my 40s except for dealing with my daughter's drug issues.  My boys are doing pretty good.  My oldest son, Tiger, moved out recently with friends, and he's 21 now.  21!!!  My youngest, Bucket, will be 20 in July.  My 24th wedding anniversary is coming up in August, and my husband is back at work.  I am praying that the crisis mode that I've been living in the past couple of years will calm down and this will be a time of growth and happiness.  I wish the same for you!