Happy Summer! I'm Making Some Changes

Ahh, one of my favorite reasons for being a teacher is here....summer vacation!  It officially began yesterday, and I have been celebrating by sleeping in (FYI-for a teacher "sleeping in" means getting up no later than 9am) doing Pilates followed by eating Cheetos, utilizing our new apartment's outdoor grills and enjoying domesticity with my man.

Since becoming a teacher, I've found that summer is also a natural time for me to reflect on my life and personal goals.  It's a low-stress time to make changes and establish routines that are easier to stick with once the hectic school year begins.  This summer, I have a goal of walking at least 10,000 steps a day (keeping track with an Omron pedometer) and alternating between running and Pilates/Yoga.  I will also devote at least one hour a day towards planning, reading, researching and/or creating something that will help me become a better teacher for the next school year.  And I will write at least two new blog entries per week.

Which brings me to the next change: the focus of my blog.  I started this blog in January to chronicle my journey in paying off consumer and student loan debt.  I imagined a life of noble sacrifices, eating rice and beans for weeks on end, and obliterating at least a thousand dollars of debt each month.  But through the course of this journey dear readers, I have learned a couple of things.  1) I enjoy reading about personal finance more than I like writing solely about it  2) though I am still committed to getting out of debt and securing a financially stable future for myself and my partner, it's going to be a long, slow and steady process.  And my concept of financial well-being now includes building up a more robust emergency fund and actively saving for retirement.

I thoroughly enjoy blogging, but I am expanding my scope to include personal style, interior decorating, education, travel and/or pretty much anything else that's on my mind.  Dear readers, if you are looking for personal finance inspiration, thank you for reading my previous posts and no hard feelings if you do not stick around.  But you are more than welcome to tag along with me as this blog changes and evolves throughout the summer.