just a little news in my world you might want to be aware of...
on july 19th, i asked renata to marry me! some of you who read this know her; some of you do not, so i will give you a little background...
we met back in 2005 while we both were in spain. it was basically my last full week in spain after my two year stay, and i was in the southern city of malaga helping translate for a group of students who had come down from northern europe to do some community outreach in the area. most of the people were from norway, sweden, denmark, germany and the like, so they spoke english rather well, but very little spanish. i noticed one of the leaders from their group, however, speaking spanish, so i asked around where she was from. i was told she was a brazilian that had been raised in miami.
i was stunned! having so little time left in spain, i had been planning for months what i would be doing upon returning to the USA. i decided (some months in advance) to finish my schooling at florida international university in miami. i then debated with myself about approaching her and talking to her about miami, what it was like, about churches and other opportunities in the area... we were both encouraged and exchanged email addresses. she was also in her last week in europe after working and touring with the norway-based organization "jesus revolution." she was going to be on vacation in brazil for a few months after leaving spain, and then would be continuing her collegiate education in miami in january, 2006.
so fate (?) would have it that i arrived to miami the 3rd of january, while she arrived the 2nd. we had exchanged a few emails while i was in tampa and she was in rio, beginning to get to know a little bit about each other. needless to say, after a couple of weeks of hanging out and getting to know each other, we decided to take the plunge and begin a relationship on january 19, 2006.
fast forward a year and a half later, after a nice night in miami beach, we stopped at a lifeguard station and listened to the waves, just as we had done on our very first night together as an "official" item. i pulled out the little box, showing her the ring as i opened it up and asked her to marry me. and of course, she said yes! so now we're very happily engaged, with a wedding and a life together in the works.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
a penny saved is a penny earned
i've never been a monetary genius.
i work, earn money, spend some and save some. i don't buy much on credit and pay all my bills on time. i would imagine i'm in the same category as many people when it comes to my money handling skills, only possibly slightly more on the conservative side.
but living here in miami, i've begun to notice something that i don't recall noticing before. it has been about 18 months since i came to reside in the magic city, and starting about 3 months ago, i noticed that not every cashier gives me back my correct change.
example:
place: taco bell
items: cheesy bean and rice burrito and a crunchwrap supreme
total cost: $2.99
paid: $10.00
change owed: $7.01
*here's the kicker*
change received: $7.00
a discrepancy of one cent.
normally, being shorted a penny wouldn't bother me. people make mistakes, , a nickel is mistaken for a penny, incorrect change is handed out, yadda yadda yadda...
but the problem is that it has happened at least four times recently. maybe i wouldn't have ever noticed it if i hadn't had gotten off on the wrong foot with a cashier at the local snack shop at my university. she owed me a penny after i bought some chips, and as i was there waiting for her to give me my receipt and penny, she looked at me with a snide look and said, "do you really want your penny?"
"yes, of course" i calmly replied.
she looked at me as if i had lived in some parallel universe where i had missed the memo that actually wanting the change that was rightly owed to me was some sort of prerequisite for hospitalization.
then a couple of days later it happened again. i was in a local pharmacy getting some supplies when i just happened to have one cent over my total. i handed over the money and was given in return only my reciept. no penny...
second time same as first, only this time no option.
the third and fourth times were at local eating establishments where, in the same way as before, i gave exactly one cent over my total and was given nothing in return. i had the full intention of putting the penny in the ronald mcdonald fund, but even that chance of a small contribution was denied to me.
why all the fuss over four cents? i've thought of at least two lessons i've learned...
1) no matter what the value, one must be respectful of others' belongings. give people what they are owed, in the name of integrity and fairness. faithfulness in the little things is a must before being entrusted with bigger things. which leads me to my second thought...
2) perceptions of importance are not universal. just because a penny is worthless to you doesn't mean that it's worthless to everyone else... i'm sure benjamin franklin would have been more vocal than i was, demanding his four unreturned pennies back under the mantra of "a penny saved is a penny earned."
i work, earn money, spend some and save some. i don't buy much on credit and pay all my bills on time. i would imagine i'm in the same category as many people when it comes to my money handling skills, only possibly slightly more on the conservative side.
but living here in miami, i've begun to notice something that i don't recall noticing before. it has been about 18 months since i came to reside in the magic city, and starting about 3 months ago, i noticed that not every cashier gives me back my correct change.
example:
place: taco bell
items: cheesy bean and rice burrito and a crunchwrap supreme
total cost: $2.99
paid: $10.00
change owed: $7.01
*here's the kicker*
change received: $7.00
a discrepancy of one cent.
normally, being shorted a penny wouldn't bother me. people make mistakes, , a nickel is mistaken for a penny, incorrect change is handed out, yadda yadda yadda...
but the problem is that it has happened at least four times recently. maybe i wouldn't have ever noticed it if i hadn't had gotten off on the wrong foot with a cashier at the local snack shop at my university. she owed me a penny after i bought some chips, and as i was there waiting for her to give me my receipt and penny, she looked at me with a snide look and said, "do you really want your penny?"
"yes, of course" i calmly replied.
she looked at me as if i had lived in some parallel universe where i had missed the memo that actually wanting the change that was rightly owed to me was some sort of prerequisite for hospitalization.
then a couple of days later it happened again. i was in a local pharmacy getting some supplies when i just happened to have one cent over my total. i handed over the money and was given in return only my reciept. no penny...
second time same as first, only this time no option.
the third and fourth times were at local eating establishments where, in the same way as before, i gave exactly one cent over my total and was given nothing in return. i had the full intention of putting the penny in the ronald mcdonald fund, but even that chance of a small contribution was denied to me.
why all the fuss over four cents? i've thought of at least two lessons i've learned...
1) no matter what the value, one must be respectful of others' belongings. give people what they are owed, in the name of integrity and fairness. faithfulness in the little things is a must before being entrusted with bigger things. which leads me to my second thought...
2) perceptions of importance are not universal. just because a penny is worthless to you doesn't mean that it's worthless to everyone else... i'm sure benjamin franklin would have been more vocal than i was, demanding his four unreturned pennies back under the mantra of "a penny saved is a penny earned."
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