One Year Ago Today...

I was defending my capstone project. This was the large project that served as the culmination to my Master's program. I spent 4 months surveying and then analyzing 3 neighborhoods about educational issues. This was followed by a report for my professors, a report for the sponsoring organization, and a report for the school board. The final bit was explaining my work and defending my conclusions to two professors and my representative at the sponsoring organization.

I remember being nervous and excited. It was an accelerated program, 2 years worth of classes in 2 average semesters. Life revolved around studying and trying to stay afloat financially. I was so excited to be finished, start looking for work, and preparing for an international trip.

In this year we've made much progress. We think about what we're spending, but how we'll pay the monthly expenses isn't really a worry. We both have jobs that we like. We are saving for retirement. Our wedding is planned. We bought a house.

We still have a lot to do, plenty of room to grow. Lots of debt (especially after the house) to pay off. Ambitious savings goals. But overall, looking at what we've accomplished in the past year I'm happy.

Picture credit: 【Jaz Q6r】Bرb