Making a Difference with My Windows

I did not realize how much the look of a window could be different. When I started to shop around for ways to update my home, my design consultant suggested that I start with some structural changes. Structural changes can include changes to the flooring, wall coverings, and even the windows. Changing the look of your windows from casement windows, which are windows that open with a crank, to a bay window, which is a large shaped window can make a huge difference. It was to the windows that I opted to make my difference.

I had a large picture window that looked out over our wooded back yard. It was there that I decided that I wanted to put in casement windows. The consultant talked me through it and I was able to really make a great decision in the look and feel of the window replacement. I could not be happier with how it changed the whole look and feel of the house! Just having the breeze come in off of the crisp wooded backyard and hearing the beautiful wildlife noises me so happy that I made this decision. It really makes me feel positive about the decision I made.

I Am Just Going to Pay Them Off

I am so tired of paying off all these different kinds of loans that I seem to have managed to accrue over the past few years. It just feels as though I have a loan for every single part of my life. I have to pay off car loans, student loans, house loans, and who even knows what else because I can not seem to stay on top of them.

So what I have decided that I am going to do this year is simply work very hard and earn enough money to pay all of the darned things off at once. I am tired of having to worry about making all these different kinds of monthly payments and trying so hard to stay on top of my bills so I do not end up with any kind of ding on my credit report. I am not quite there right now but I do know that someday I will want to own a new house other than the one I am in right now and I will need good credit for that. It seems to me as though this is going to be the best plan of action for me right now.

Who Would Not Get a Tree in Colorado?

I live in Colorado, and I thought that for sure when I moved here I would get a real Christmas tree. We’d had a fake one for years—my husband thought real ones were too messy—but it was looking a little dog-eared.

Well, the first time we got a real one here, we didn’t manage it right for the ultra-dry humidity. The next year was a drought year, so it was weak and fragile. On top of that, real trees here in Colorado are enormously more expensive than in California, mainly because we’re farther away from Oregon. (Our native Colorado trees are not Christmas trees.)

So I’m tired of them! I want an artificial Christmas tree. My sister has a gorgeous one. And what’s more, they support the Christmas decorations so much better. I’m so tired of my tree sagging down over the course of days from the weight of the bulbs.

My old fake tree had color coded stems that had to be fed into color-coded holes and they had to be turned a certain way. I am so looking forward to a grand new tree! Though it won’t have that great smell, I actually get to smell pine everyday where I live here in Larkspur.

Service Industry History

I was never particularly interested in history when I was a student. I felt that the past was the past and I wanted to learn about what was going on in the world today. However, what I discovered over time is that I'm actually really interested in the past when it comes to certain areas of study. I didn't really enjoy history in school because I'm not really interested in politics and most of what you study in school is political history. However, I'm totally interested in the history of arts, inventions and technology. This type of history captures my attention and seems like it truly influences life today.

The service industry is filled with really interesting history. I can get really interested in this type of stuff. For example, I was recently reading about the history of pawn shops and how the way that people sell scrap gold to pawn shops today is related to the way that people would sell gold during the Gold Rush. Now that's interesting stuff! The more that the history relates to creativity and innovation and the interesting characters of the past the more I can get into studying it. What about you? Does history of any kind get your attention?