$$$ computers $$$

Happy New Year! Hope everyone's was wonderful. :) Nothing crazy going on in our lives right now...it's just back to the grind after the holidays. This is the first full 5-day work week we've had in a while. What a bummer. Yesterday we left about an hour early to miss the storms, but it ended up missing Huntsville anyway. It was cozy being at home, anyway. I spent a few hours tearing up old magazines for my collages. I spent one of my Christmas Hobby Lobby gift cards on a bunch of thin paper storage boxes -- I like to organize all my paper scraps by colors to make it easier when I want to dig into a collage. I'm working on one for Brittain and Josh as a wedding gift (it's not a surprise)...hopefully with Christmas over I'll have time to finish it soon!!

I got a new work computer. It is amazing. Like one of my coworkers said, you can tell "a man designed the case." Ha. It is ridiculous -- you should see the size of the fans on this thing. And there are bright blue LED lights behind each of them. There is one on the side behind a clear acrylic side wall that is literally about 15 inches! It has 2 Intel Duo Processors, 3GHz, and I have double 22-inch SonicView monitors. It's so much faster than my old machine and makes working kinda fun. :) Plus, all the computer guys in my office have computer envy. love it!

Speaking of computers, I'm in a little bit of a predicament as far as my operating system and some software I intend to upgrade or buy. I have a new computer that has Vista on it (my Dad said it was his only option when he bought it, and I can't complain when it's a beautiful free machine!!) I also have a copy of Adobe Creative Suite that I got in 2003. As most of you know, I do a lot of freelancing and design outside of my "regular job" for which it's great/necessary to have my own software on my own machine. My new machine is wonderful for this -- my dad sort of bought it as an "investment" for me..it will be much more capable of the processing power I need when working in these kinds of graphics and design programs.

My problem is this...it is time to upgrade. Creative Suite is now on version 3, and I can no longer really legally use an Educational version (cheaper) that I had before since I intend to make money off of it. Nor can I use company software -- for the same reason. Nor will I participate in buying/using illegal copies of software, like many people have suggested. I want to run my business in the right way, asinine as that may seem to many, because I'm looking out for my future in a number of ways..plus, I'm just a goody goody. Whatever. I'm out to prove it can be done and should be done the right way. If you don't agree, keep it to yourself.

So anyway, I need to upgrade. The most obvious option is to install my current software on my new machine, and buy an upgrade version of the software for a few hundred bucks. (Adobe sells these as a cheaper option for people who keep up with their latest software versions.) However, I've been reading up on how CS works with the Vista operating system, and it's not pretty, to say the least. Not to mention that the rumor is, uninstall programs don't work -- which is a major problem. So that leaves me with 2 options: pay to downgrade to Windows XP and then install and upgrade my software; or buy the software I want outright and install that on my machine fresh. I don't like either option. :( But what I think we have settled on is that after we finish paying off Nathan's student loans and land payments (just a couple months) we'll bank enough money to buy me the new software outright. Have I mentioned it runs about $1900? yeah. But we don't believe in buying things like that on credit if we don't have the money, so we're going to have the money first...it's a lot of cash. Wow.

But, I'm very excited. :) I have a few freelance projects that I have leads on, and I'm hoping that with schools back in session for the spring, my independent contracts that I have with a couple University of Alabama programs will generate some work. (Mostly research posters and powerpoints, nothing big, but money is money no matter how small the check...) I'm also trying to edge in on some pro bono projects, things I either feel strongly about or things that I hope will build my portfolio...and I'd like to buy and design a website soon. Very exciting!! But also a little scary -- I wonder if I'll ever get anywhere with this. :/ How I would love to work from home someday...but I get very worried that I'll never, ever make what I "could" be making out in the field. I'm dreaming that my attitude and personality will help me out, but who knows. That is all in the future....

Well, back to my Friday. Hooray for the weekend!!!