I know it's been awhile since I've posted an update, so I thought I was about due. I'm almost exactly halfway into my spring semester. I'm on spring break, to be precise, and next week are midterms. I am still debating on whether to continue taking summer classes at MCC, and start my Justice program at SNHU in September, or if I'd rather move along to SNHU in June. The crazy thing is that one way or another I'll be moving at the very end of August. Either way I'll be in the midst of classes, so maybe it doesn't matter a whole lot. I was dreading saving up for moving costs (again), and I was putting off doing my taxes because I knew that despite my best efforts, there was a good chance I would have to pay in this year, if only just a little. It turns out that I was unaware of the options to get tax credits for tuition. I just thought I would be able to write it off as a deduction. Imagine my surprise when I entered it and my number changed from a small payment to a pretty impressive refund! So now my moving costs are more than covered, and I'll have another small chunk of savings. I'm so relieved. God is good and he keeps those blessings around the corner, just when we think we might be out of options.
I've mostly decided that as much as I really want to move to Philly, it makes the most sense to move back to SC in the fall. I can't move to Philly without a job in place, for one, and experience tells me it is very, very difficult (at best) to land a job in a place where you do not yet live. Also, my mom is really close to having her house paid off, so if I could live at home and give her the money I would otherwise spend on rent, she would be paid off in about 2 years, which will be how long I have until graduation, once I move home. Then I'll be off to the DC area, God willing. I picked my program for the summer of 2014: University of Haifa's International School, Ulpan (Hebrew) and Intensive Arabic. It's gonna be crazy!
The weener dogs and I are doing okay for the most part. I work from home a lot, which is nice, I'm just more productive here. The weener dogs love having their mom around, and they instinctively seem to know to leave me alone during my working hours. When I sit down to study though, all bets are off, haha! They have calmed down significantly now that we are almost a week mouse-free! We went to visit my Auntie Carla and the family last weekend (what fun!), and the exterminator set out traps the morning that I left. There have been no mice caught (praise the Lord) and no droppings in sight. So grateful for that. I'd credit the nice weather, but we are still getting snow days here and there, and the nights are usually pretty cold.
I suppose that's all for now. Heading back to Charleston in a couple of weeks for Easter (hooray!)
