Biking Trip 2012?!?

So I got invited by a good friend to go biking for 6 months across North America.. mostly in the USA.  I'm more than excited about the possibility of adventuring around by bike.

The plan (for now) is south through Ontario to Michigan.  West to Montana, south to Utah, east to Colorado.  Possibly south to Texas then west to California.

I've always wanted to travel through the States and also go on a bike tour.  So this trip combines the two.  Now to figure out the food, the accommodations and most importantly the money.  As things progress I'll be sure to post more.  For now, I've been trying on expensive Lululemon bras and dreaming of how sexy my legs will be after 7000 kms of biking!

Excited for the adventures to come :D

The life of the rich and famous..

So not my life, not my life at all..

As I sit here in front of the fire at my dad's place, drinking a lovely glass of wine, I'm playing with the idea of being rich and famous.

I'm (almost) a teacher.  And I'm very excited about my future  career.  It's fairly unlikely I'll every be on T.V. and its even less likely I'll ever make over a million dollars a year.  But how do you really measure richness?

As a teacher I will:

• educate children to read and write
• instruct students about history and geography
• conduct science experiments
• play/coach basketball, soccer, volleyball and who knows what else.

More importantly, I will:

• help students make the right choices
• teacher children the difference between right and wrong
• encourage students to be positive, caring and empathetic people
• encourage young people to be themselves and to grow 

Every day during my practicum I feel extremely blessed to be a part of the lives of these students.  To, hopefully, be a positive role model.  To be that person that believed in them when no one else did!  Sometimes all it take is one person and if I am that one person to just one student, then my life will be more satisfying and fulfilling then richness or fame could ever bring.

What would you consider the key element to satisfaction in your life to be?

Jenny~Z

LLP

Lifelong Learner Plan...

So I did it!

I withdrew $3000 from my RRSP.

It sucks.  My balance went from $5500 to $2500.

I have 5 years to repay.  I plan on doing it in 1 year.

Borrowing money sucks.  Especially from yourself because you're loosing interest.

At least I'm not paying interest or getting slammed with taxes for early withdrawal!

Overall, it was an extremely easy process though.  I walked into the bank with a copy of my university timetable.  Asked the mutual funds lady to withdraw $3000 for school.  Filled out two forms (one for the bank and one for the government).  Waited patiently for the lady to call for approval.  And it was done.  This all took less than 30 minutes.  And the lady wasn't the most competent banker.  [I say this because my old banker, who is now the branch manager, was AMAZING so I have high standards].


That was Friday, by Monday I had my money.  It could have been sooner but I make a habit of not checking my accounts on the weekends.  No need to stress about money on Saturday and Funday (I could pretend that's a typo.. but it isn't).

So now I have about $4500 to my disposal for the next three months, which is perfect.  I probably won't need it all but I much rather have the cushion there until I start working again.

Oh to be working again!

That's all my friends,
Saving my pennies. :D
Jenny~Z