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1988-fiend · 4 years

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A Very Vincent Christmas

A/N: Fluff piece of Vincent and Cat for the holidays; I know it’s fluff, but be kind and enjoy :) Also artwork is not mine, but found in my archives of many BatB close ups. <3

There are those that swear that there’s no place like New York City during the Holidays--and they would be right. While most of the natives and tourists hoarded in droves through the glitzy shops, or waited in line at Rockefeller Center to gaze upon the what was the Christmas tree of Christmas trees, servants of the public such as Catherine Chandler had the other half of the season to dive into; overtime. All the overtime. Though not nearly as glamorous or festive, for people living in the city it was a common necessity around the season if only to afford both the end of year expenses and bills. Sure she may have two other people to help with those nowadays, however it never hurt to lend out a hand to other people wishing to spend time with their families, especially when her own were unavailable. Heather had long ago decided to book an R and R retreat to LA for the last two weeks and Vincent...well, Catherine knew she wasn’t the only one working extra hours. Especially since with the way their lives worked, tomorrow could arise some catastrophe anew to where all the long shifts and favors for fellow co-workers in their time of need would paid off. Fighting Beasts may be their Destiny, but she doubted her Building Supervisor would be so understanding if it came in the way of paying rent.

So while the streets were lined up with men in beards and red suits, with Tiny Tots and their eyes all aglow, the only glow Catherine could muster was the exhaustion of a double shift.

Glittering wreaths adorning to the streetlights washed over her windshield in a steady rhythm, and much to the city’s delight, tufts of snow had begun to fall making her feel like she was in a car shaped snow globe as she inched from red light to red light on her way home.

Catherine desparetely needed coffee. Scratch that, she needed wine. She needed a shower. She needed sleep. She needed Vincent…

Catherine shook her head to distract from the ache in her heart, instead focusing on the ache in her feet as she parked and muscled her way to the elevator and pressed ‘5’. While the money helped with their conjoined nest egg, these days she and Vincent were like ships in the night. The best thing she looked forward to for warmth these days was a scented candle and a goodnight kiss emoji from Vincent that he’d have to sneak into the breakroom to send.

She checked her phone out of curousity. No luck, yet. Then she saw the date. December 24.

Catherine let out a frustrated cry in time with the arrival bell. Another thing she didn’t have time for. Then as if to mock her, practically every door she passed tickled her nose with the scent of pine needles wrapped around the peepholes. Well, almost every door, except hers that is…

Her’s had a note.

A hesitant smile tugged at the corner of her lips at the sight of the familiar yellow scratch paper. Better than any text message, Vincent had been here.

Expecting something simple such as ‘Miss You’ or ‘Love You’ underneath the crease, Catherine��s brow furrowed with what was written in his sharpie scrawl.

Close your eyes. Knock twice.

As much as her heart swelled with joy, the tiredness swept over her in terms of waiting to get into her own apartment, so instead of going by the whole note Catherine unlocked the deadbolt and closed her eyes-- promptly knocking her head into the door as it recoiled from the chain lock still in place.

“Hey, hey, hey,” She heard a deep male voice call out from across the room and then right next to her. Vincent didn’t need his beast-like reflexes to cross the space, but surely the sound of a plan backfiring onto his lover’s skull brought him over faster.

Catherine groaned but diligently kept her eyes shut, albeit she squeezed them more so now out of pain while the sound of the door closed and fully unlocked itself. Immediately the cold of the snow outside and draft of the wind inside was replaced by Vincent’s familiar warmth.

“Hi,” She winced, still not being able to see him as she felt his hands cup her face.

“Yeah, hello.” Vincent’s thumbs skimmed over the potential bruise on her forehead, then down the bridge of her nose in case she hurt that to. “You couldn’t knock twice?”

“I tried with my head apparently.” Cat sighed. She squeaked a peek at Vincent who gave the all clear. “What are you doing home so early?”

“Not saving you from bodily harm apparently.” Then he smiled until his dimples appeared. “I pulled a couple strings and I’ll be heading in a little after midnight instead. Thought I might surprise you.” He shrugged.

Catherine more or less schlumped into his arms. “That is such a wonderful surprise, thank you.”

Instantly she was enveloped, and if she wasn’t already standing, she may have fallen asleep then and there, happy and content.

“Yeah, well, as flattering as it is that you think I’m the surprise, I actually had something else in store for us.”

Catherine leaned back to look at him through a glance hooded with intrigue.

“Thing is,” He murmured conspiratorially. “You’re going to have to close your eyes again.”

“Do I have to?” She was already so tired. Really him being there was special enough, and already Catherine was trying to quell having zilch done for him in return. Did Chinese restaurants in the city give complimentary mistletoe? Because that was about all she was good for at the moment.

“Mmmhmm.” Vincent leaned in and kissed her cheek, his evening scruff tickling the at the corner of her mouth. “I promise it won’t hurt this time. I got you.”

With a trusting breath Catherine closed her eyes once more, and taking her hand in his Vincent lead her back into what she could already tell was a pitch black apartment. Even so he left her only to relock the door and then pull her to face the french doors in their living room.

“Keep them closed.” He teased, to which Catherine could only smirk.

“So, so closed right now.”

“And no, this isn’t like the time you tried to make me a birthday cake. I didn’t set anything on fire.”

Catherine held up a hand in defense. “I might not be Martha Stewart okay, but even with the sudden visit from Firefighter Keller, there were no losses.”

“Other than my favorite T-shirt.” Vincent sparred.

“Eh, you looked better without it. Besides, I don’t believe the end result of that experience caused any complaints.”

“Not at all. In fact, I still think about it whenever I look at the counter top.”

With the intimate memory suddenly making Catherine blush, she felt Vincent’s hands over her eyes despite them still being honorably closed.

“Ready, and..Viola.”

Catherine had to blink once or twice, but instantly she felt the aches and pains of the day melt away only to be replaced with a genuine grin.

There, in the middle of their apartment, in the middle of their home, was a six foot Christmas tree, lit to the nines with a star on top.

“Wow… Vincent.”

A bit shy, Vincent tentatively wrapped his arms around her. “I know it isn’t much, but I thought since neither of us really seem to have time for the holidays these days...okay, any days...that it might be nice to have a little tradition set up. For us.”

“We didn’t even have a tree in storage.” Catherine wasn’t under any illusion that the one in front of her was real. If there was one thing any of them had less time for than decorating, it was surely cleaning up after the fact.

“We didn’t. That one is thanks to JT before he and Tess took off for the weekend.”

“Remind me to thank him later.” She said, Vincent nodding in agreement.

The two of them stood silent within the glow of the lights as Vincent cradled Catherine’s head against him, their heartbeats syncing to one another’s, but there was still one thing Catherine had to get off her mind.

“You know Vincent, If I’d have known we were celebrating tonight I would at least have made an attempt at shopping for something to give you. After all, it is our first Christmas actually together and not in hiding or on the run. Just…busy.”

With a few extra trimmings still on the coffee table Vincent leaned over and grabbed a ruby red bow and made a popping noise as he placed it on her head. “No tags required Catherine. Just you. You’re all i want for Christmas.” He leaned in for a kiss, which Catherine received, only to lean back a moment later.

“Did you practice that?” She asked.

“Uhhhh, maybe.” He pinched the air. “A little bit.” He watched her smile so hard that her nose crinkled, a sight he adored every time he saw it.

“Smooth.” She went in for another kiss. “So, what did you get me for Christmas then?”

Vincent was silent until she felt the whiskers of his goatee tickle her ear. “You’ll just have to wait and see.” He murmured, sending chills down her spine that had nothing to do with the snow as her jacket fell off her shoulders.

#batb #jay ryan #vincent keller #Catherine Chandler #Kristin Kreuk #fanfic #mine #1988-fiend #short but sweet #a very vincent christmas #jt forbes #austin basis #Tess Vargas #nina lisandrello #nicole gale anderson #heather chandler #MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!

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heather-in-heels · 5 years

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getting the hell out of student loan debt

I lost my job at the tail end of 2014. I always remember, in vivid detail, spending the week after New Year’s at the airport waiting for a 7 AM flight. Happy 2015 to me! I didn’t have a job. I didn’t have an income. I was on my way to moving back in with my parents. Days prior, I had sold off most of my possessions and gave away the rest to a local Goodwill. And I was returning home saddled with student loans totaling then at $56k.

It felt like I had single-handedly destroyed my life. In retrospect, I think losing that job was the best thing that could have happened to me.

I was home, sheltered and surrounded by loved ones. I was able to mentally regroup again. In between submitting resumes and job applications, I started writing in the advertising space which later ballooned into a big column. Later that year, I went back to work again full-time.

I had more or less resigned myself in 2015 to the idea that my student loan debt would kind of be there forever. That changed in 2016, once I was working again and back on my feet. I started thinking critically about how I wanted to repay my loans. The minimum monthly payments, stretched across seven loans, totaled $653 a month. It was like a drop of water in a bucket. The account stagnated at $56k and didn’t move.

The only way out of this debt was to work, the hardest in my life, and to sacrifice everything. And I did it, to pay off $56k in under a year in full.

Let me share an important disclaimer now: I’m not rich. I believe money is a fluid object, I’m willing to work hard, and I love a good investment. Education is an example of a great investment. Since I first shared this story, I’ve noticed former colleagues examining my LinkedIn profile like hawks. I know it’s because of the dollar sign attached to an extremely tight timeline. I suppose it’s understandable. When you do a great thing, a successful thing, people want to know how you did it. But most don’t want to put in the work. They want the cheat codes.

The answer I made readily visible on social media the entire time! I was working. I worked nonstop. Working allowed me to create a series of nest eggs for myself. I lined them up in a row, knowing I needed each and every egg to go all in with my loan attack plan. I didn’t have much time, either. In mid-2016, I knew I wanted to stop making minimum payments and start full repayments in 2018.

I had two thoughts going in:

1) I was convinced I could repay everything under the 10-year loan timeframe.

2) I would later set a bet for myself, inspired by a conversation with a late friend in 2018, that I could do this, all of it, in under a year.

So, I had less than two years to prepare. Fun!

Rather than run through the laundry list of all the financial mistakes I made prior to hitting reset on my life (you name it, I did it), I’d like to share the best and worst things that happened to me during my repayment period.

BEST

I received an incredible bonus from my side hustle last year. It was for an event I worked myself brittle to the bone for months on top of my full-time job. I remembered being so nervous, thinking the event would be a bust. We sold out. It was a huge success. The bonus wasn’t something I asked for, just a thank you from my boss. I cried when I got it because it cleared one of my loans in full. It changed my life.

How quickly I shifted gears into thinking, believing, knowing I could do this. Once I got into the head space and knew what I had to do, I was ready to go all in.

The ever-present daily support, encouragement, and love from my friends and family. I don’t know how I would have done it without them. I really don’t. The core family unit was there for the good, bad, and ugly. My Mom encouraging me to pay off the largest loan first and my three brothers telling me not to give up. And the crazy pep talk my Dad gave me in late April that convinced me I could run up to my remaining loans like an unhinged, insane person and blow them up to smithereens.

He called me his champion after I was done. That made my year.

WORST

Deferring and defaulting on my loans when I didn’t have a job. (AKA the “all is lost” moment.)

Repaying the private loan of $26k. It was the biggest loan with the largest interest rate. My Mount Everest. You had to scale it bit by bit. I have likened the memory of it to chipping at a block of ice to create a sculpture. Every month, I threw a few grand at that loan while I tried to take out the little guys around it. It gradually decreased to around $12k and I paid it off in full then. This was not a fast process.

The massive wildfire I lived through during the bulk of repayments. That was like watching the “hold my beer” meme come to life. I joke about it now, but the Woolsey Fire was an absolute catastrophe. I had no way of knowing when I got into the thick of my loan repayments that I would be confronted with a natural disaster that came dangerously close to burning down my home. It was extremely scary to evacuate and watch your world hang in the balance for nearly a week. During the Woolsey Fire, I had no choice but to return to minimum repayments. I needed an emergency fund just in case — and this was the greatest emergency.

Doing it alone. Somewhere in the back of my mind I think I always knew I would be alone for this. I didn’t have cosigners. A white knight spouse was not going to save me. I had to do it for “her.” I had to rely on myself for everything, harder than anything I’ve ever done in my life. And even though I went in as prepared as I possibly could have, I did not get out of this without being mentally and physically impacted.

The sheer amount of discipline involved was far too intense. You had to be determined, disciplined, optimistic, and driven at all times. There wasn’t time to rest. I was frantically trying to kill an impossible enemy and keep up the pacing all the time. The physical toll on my health was bad. Very bad. I developed anxiety that impacted my gastrointestinal health and had to take medication to calm my stomach down. I think it will be some time yet before everything gets better internally.

The mental toll was perhaps worse. Everything about my day to day life was a series of dollar signs. I was perpetually at war in my mind where I fantasized about stopping to rest in the snow, but every bit of me screamed “DON’T DO IT GET UP!!!” Because, y’know, when you nap in the snow, you can die there.

I had all of these brain cells telling me to keep pushing ahead coupled with an insane range of emotions running through my head. The stress I was under was crippling. I cried during dinner with a friend last month. Straight up sobbing in public for over 30 minutes, unable to turn it off. It overpowered me.

I was so exhausted, on edge, and full of emotions. I couldn’t do anything about it — like get therapy or sign up for a yoga class — because that costs money. I wasn’t about to incur a credit card balance of any kind in my quest for financial freedom.

So yeah, it was a real mess upstairs. All alone... with my loans.

Would it ever end?

Paying My Loans Alone Might Have Been The Best Thing To Happen To Me

Yeah, you read that right.

I kept reminding myself about the why. Constantly. Asking myself little questions when the going was the roughest.

Why are you doing this? Because I don’t want to celebrate my 32nd birthday with a student loan statement.

Why are you doing this? Because I want my credit score to improve.

Why are you doing this? Because you can’t tell me I made the wrong decision to get an education.

Why are you doing this? Because I am in love with myself and will not let that girl get hurt.

Why are you doing this? Because I am losing my future to debt and I know it.

The more I kept doing this, asking questions and answering them, the more I realized that the answers contained really important granular details.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to grow old with student loans (although let’s be real — I didn’t). I was, and still am, changing on the inside. I knew it. This was an entire chapter of my life that needed to come to a close because keeping it going was preventing every other chapter from beginning. Sitting around with it was, essentially, my long death in the snow. On a less serious note, I’m fond of the pop culture tie-in. Game of Thrones is ending this month... and so did my loan payments.

I’d say it’s bittersweet, but it’s not. I’m not going to miss this part of my life. It’s time for the next chapter to start. If anything, I cannot wait for this part! This chapter will contain more journeys and adventures, unlike any other narrative I had before.

I want to write a book, something non-fiction that has multiple drafts on my desktop and has been a work in progress for years.

i want to get a ton of dental work. Priority number one.

I want to travel. I forgot how much I like to go to places! Italy and Monte Carlo, please. Miami for Ultra 2020. Travel will beget another kind of movement, too.

I plan to aggressively pursue true love to the extent I did with my loan repayments. In terms of personal goals, this one is going to be huge. After 10 years of dating, it’s time to get out of this single person clown car. I’m enlisting the help of my girlfriends, paying for eHarmony, and deleting the free dating apps for the real thing. Calling all soulmates — I’m debt free now and did it all on my own. That’s hot! (Serious inquiries only.)

Paying off my loan allowed me to return to my dreams. Now that I know what I’m capable of, I feel confident I can reach each one. I really do.

Living starts when you get the hell out of student debt. Do whatever it takes now, remember to keep asking yourself about the “why,” and do not give up until you’re running past the finish line.

Be your own champion!

#personal #student loans

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josephkitchen0 · 6 years

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Chicken Tractor Designs to Inspire Your Creativity

By Bill Dreger, Ohio – Chicken tractor designs are becoming more popular as more and more homesteaders and folks who keep backyard chickens are looking for flexibility and the ability to move their flock around the backyard or the homestead. Here are three great chicken tractor designs that you can build at home for your flock.

Chicken Tractor Designs

Movable Chicken Tractor Coop #1 Once the decision was made to keep a small flock of hens I began researching for a few chicken tractor designs that would meet both the chickens’ needs and mine. It had to be a compact and secure structure that gave adequate space for 10-12 hens. At the same time, I wanted to give my hens safe access to the outdoors without having them roosting on my porch railing. h railing.

A movable “chicken tractor” type coop seemed the best route to follow in my design. So I endeavored to take the best aspects of various portable designs to incorporate into a coop that would best fill the bill.

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My chicken tractor design features a 6′ x 4′ enclosed coop mounted 2′ above ground. It has an enclosed pen under the coop protected in galvanized poultry netting and extended an additional 6′ in front of the structure. Chickens are fully protected top and sides while in the outdoors. A hinged coop door that drops to form a handy ramp gives the birds quick access in or out of the coop. Total outdoor ground space is 6′ x 10′. This allows birds plenty of fresh air and sunshine with the ability to get under the coop to get some shade or escape the rain.

Coop construction is mainly exterior plywood on a 2 x 3 framework using galvanized nails and screws. Outside pen area frame is from 1x and 2x pressure treated lumber. A large, homemade awning style window and several generous vent openings ensure good light and cross ventilation. The insulated metal roof is front hinged to swing upward for easy coop cleaning and additional ventilation when needed. A side hatch door puts water and feed receptacles within easy reach. To save interior space, the nesting boxes hang off the coop’s rear wall, allowing fast and convenient egg collection from outside.

The chicken run is completely enclosed in poultry net. The door drops to form a ramp and awning window gives light and ventilation.

With a host of predators in the area, particular effort was made to protect the flock. All window and vent openings are covered with a double thickness of galvanized steel mesh. This same wire mesh is employed single thickness under the tongue-in-groove wood floor of the coop. Doors and awning window are equipped with double latches to thwart even the cleverest raccoon.

Every few days the coop complex gets moved 10 feet or so forward on a pair of rear wheels. This continually gives the hens fresh ground to traverse and keeps the area tidy. All in all, this small chicken coop keeps my nine hens healthy, happy, and safe.

The hinged roof gives full access to the coop interior for cleaning and extra ventilation.

Originally published in the February/March 2007 issue of Backyard Poultry and regularly vetted for accuracy.

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Moveable Chicken Tractor Coop #2

By Link Dellinger, North Carolina – I recently designed and built this portable chicken pen, or “chicken tractor” as some call them. I’ve seen many nice pen designs but this one is unique in many ways.

Here are a few of the chicken tractor design features:

The roost is in the house sheltered from the draft, yet it extends out away from the floor. Chicken waste is recycled into the yard instead of heaping up inside.

The roost is high enough off the ground and the floor to reduce the risk of carnivore attack.

Chickens can scratch in the yard during rain or shine.

Built of solid construction yet can be moved on level ground by one person.

Link Dellinger built this portable chicken pen with extra features in mind, including an overhang so birds can scratch in rain or shine and welded wire mesh to allow manure to drop from roosting area directly onto the ground.

Originally published in the February/March 2007 issue of Backyard Poultry and regularly vetted for accuracy.

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Using a Chicken Tractor in Winter

By Jeanne Larson, Wisconsin

I have attached a few pictures of our chicken tractor. We were looking for a few chicken coop ideas, and we got the design idea from one of your back issues. My husband did a little modifying to it. It has served us for two full seasons already and is very easy to clean and to move around.

The first picture is from April 2007 when we got our first chickens and the tractor was just finished. As you can see, our dog was mesmerized by the chickens at first.

During the winter we moved the tractor to a sheltered spot next to my husband’s shop (former milkhouse), protected by the barn. Our concerns were what to do during the coldest temps and when the wind was blowing. My husband built a walkway that goes from the tractor into his workshop. He then built two boxes that hold nest boxes in one and their water and food in the other. They are connected by a tunnel.

The boxes are built up high enough so that they are out of my husband’s way when he is in the shop working. This allows the chickens to get out of the wind and cold.

We can either block them from going outside when it is really cold (like today -10°F with 25 mph winds), or we can open the walkway up and the birds can go in and out at will.

When spring returns, we disconnect everything and put a piece of plexiglass over the tunnel opening and the chickens are back out in the field!

I love your magazine and have gotten many ideas and helpful advice from it.

Originally published in the December/January 2010 issue of Backyard Poultry and regularly vetted for accuracy.

Chicken Tractor Designs to Inspire Your Creativity was originally posted by All About Chickens

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