Well not ALWAYS but I have wanted this for so long that I don't remember the first time the thought came to my mind. I was like most little girls dreaming of weddings, marriages and children at a young age.
Now reality is sinking in, any day in the month of September I will finally meet this little boy that God has been knitting together. The change of it all brought me to tears last night, my poor husband had no clue what to say or do. He tried to listen but it doesn't make much sense and he tried to give advice but I really didn't want any. Sometimes you just need to cry, sometimes you just need to fall asleep not understanding what is going on inside and sometimes you wake up at 3am hungry for cereal and needing to just write.
I struggle in today's social network society where everyone is "perfect", well that is at least the only things they share and make well known. I am not perfect! I have fear and anxiety that I know I need God to help me with. I have good days, bad days, struggle with anger and have a less than attractive relationship with my mother. I'm messy......my life is messy.
I start with that to say the change that is getting ready to happen in my life freaks me out. I cleaned my desk out at work to prepare for those who will do my job in my absence. I have worked there just shy of 7 years and I have no clue how my "extended vacation" (as my boss likes to call it) will change me. I fear sleepless nights and not knowing how to help a tired crying child. This tiny little human is going to rock my world and that is change I don't understand. I struggle with the change of learning to be a mother and a good wife. With the changes my body will continue to go through and the unknown of it all.
I know I will make mistakes, I know I will mess up, I know I will have victories and I know I have God on my side. I also know I am not the first person to go through this and I have wonderful examples all around me.
But that doesn't make the unknown known.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Spending Diet Update
So we have been going strong for a little over 2 months now and as of today we have paid off $3,543.95 in debt! While that is only a little of what we have it is still progress. To think before we were only incurring debt.
Some things we have learned.
1. It is much easier for me to save my allowance than for D to. And much easier for D to spend his allowance than it is for me to spend mine! Remember our allowance is to spend.
2. We had to start to see momentum to continue on the plan. At first I had all our debt organized in order of higher APR, but that meant some of our bigger balances were 1st. We would still be working on paying off our 1st one right now, whereas we have paid off 3 different debts already. And snowballed the other amounts we were paying to take out more faster. Man seeing success makes you want to tackle more. Since I see our finance stuff daily and D doesn't I have tried really hard to share the excitement with him by telling him how far we have gotten.
3. Tithing.........we still do it, every paycheck that is the 1st thing that happens. I have seen God handing us other things (knowledge, growth, sources of income) as we have been obedient in doing this. And I feel that without this we really won't be where we are in our spending diet. The obedience to give 1st makes all the other stuff so much easier. This money is a gift from Him and I can't wait until we get out of this hole so we can start giving above!
4. If you think you are both going to understand it the 1st day you start you are WRONG! You both look at $ different. D is much more of a reward person, he sees the chance to get something new and works toward it. I have a hard time with that I would rather stick the $ in my pocket.....but then one day blow it all with little to show.
5. You really can stick to a grocery budget! I mean it is possible to even spend less than you budget. Yes I clip coupons but that is only a few bucks. The main thing is making a menu, a list and using our emeals menu. I will be honest I don't get generic if we don't like it, some stuff we like and that is fine. But why should we eat something we don't like b/c it's 10 cents cheaper?
I really think anyone can do this, if you feel like your life is out of control grab ahold of it and change.
Some things we have learned.
1. It is much easier for me to save my allowance than for D to. And much easier for D to spend his allowance than it is for me to spend mine! Remember our allowance is to spend.
2. We had to start to see momentum to continue on the plan. At first I had all our debt organized in order of higher APR, but that meant some of our bigger balances were 1st. We would still be working on paying off our 1st one right now, whereas we have paid off 3 different debts already. And snowballed the other amounts we were paying to take out more faster. Man seeing success makes you want to tackle more. Since I see our finance stuff daily and D doesn't I have tried really hard to share the excitement with him by telling him how far we have gotten.
3. Tithing.........we still do it, every paycheck that is the 1st thing that happens. I have seen God handing us other things (knowledge, growth, sources of income) as we have been obedient in doing this. And I feel that without this we really won't be where we are in our spending diet. The obedience to give 1st makes all the other stuff so much easier. This money is a gift from Him and I can't wait until we get out of this hole so we can start giving above!
4. If you think you are both going to understand it the 1st day you start you are WRONG! You both look at $ different. D is much more of a reward person, he sees the chance to get something new and works toward it. I have a hard time with that I would rather stick the $ in my pocket.....but then one day blow it all with little to show.
5. You really can stick to a grocery budget! I mean it is possible to even spend less than you budget. Yes I clip coupons but that is only a few bucks. The main thing is making a menu, a list and using our emeals menu. I will be honest I don't get generic if we don't like it, some stuff we like and that is fine. But why should we eat something we don't like b/c it's 10 cents cheaper?
I really think anyone can do this, if you feel like your life is out of control grab ahold of it and change.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Our 2013 Spending Diet
One amazing thing about marriage is that you now have to combine the way 2 people spend into 1 lifestyle. And you also have to combine the debt of 2 people into 1. Which in our case doubled our debit, for D and I our main debt is my house and his school. Surprisingly we both brought in almost equal amounts of debt. But to be honest to look at the number on the excel sheet I have made makes me want to puke! So after a few months of living life the way we usually do and seeing only small amounts drop off the bottom line I purposed to D that we go on a spending diet for 2013. He totally agreed!
As all of this is in my head I wanted to put it out for the world to see. Here are things we are doing.
1. We want to pay off as much debt as we can this year.
2. We have given each other a $100 allowance each month, this $ can be spent on anything or saved up. We are both gift givers and social people so this is where this money will come into play the most.
3. We will not eat out, go to coffee or the movies unless we have a gift card to use, are using some of our monthly allowance or someone else is paying. We have talked through some strategies for this since we enjoying going out and having fun with friends, for example we might share a meal, have water instead of soda and bring a coupon!
4. We won't be buying new clothes unless we NEED them, which means we need a smaller size, we have a gift card or use our allowance. Here is a great read on weather or not to justify the expense.
5. We also will live this year with a WANT/NEED motto.
6. We will continue to tithe to our church, when times get though in the past this has seemed like the easiest thing to cut. But in all honesty everything we have is God's and he has given us so much. So to give back 10% really isn't much. It's the first thing we will do each paycheck, and we are excited to continue giving.
I'm excited to see where this will put us at the beginning of 2014, I really feel like now is the time to do it. Compared to wanting until kids are in the picture and we have no savings to send them to school or pay for a wedding. We both feel strongly that we want to provide for our kids and not have to work until we die. We both want to travel and enjoy the things around us, but we both know we can't do it without $ and being in debt is no way to move forward.
So here is to a future of debt free living and as Dave Ramsey says...“Live like no one else now so later you can live like no one else.”
As all of this is in my head I wanted to put it out for the world to see. Here are things we are doing.
1. We want to pay off as much debt as we can this year.
2. We have given each other a $100 allowance each month, this $ can be spent on anything or saved up. We are both gift givers and social people so this is where this money will come into play the most.
3. We will not eat out, go to coffee or the movies unless we have a gift card to use, are using some of our monthly allowance or someone else is paying. We have talked through some strategies for this since we enjoying going out and having fun with friends, for example we might share a meal, have water instead of soda and bring a coupon!
4. We won't be buying new clothes unless we NEED them, which means we need a smaller size, we have a gift card or use our allowance. Here is a great read on weather or not to justify the expense.
5. We also will live this year with a WANT/NEED motto.
6. We will continue to tithe to our church, when times get though in the past this has seemed like the easiest thing to cut. But in all honesty everything we have is God's and he has given us so much. So to give back 10% really isn't much. It's the first thing we will do each paycheck, and we are excited to continue giving.
I'm excited to see where this will put us at the beginning of 2014, I really feel like now is the time to do it. Compared to wanting until kids are in the picture and we have no savings to send them to school or pay for a wedding. We both feel strongly that we want to provide for our kids and not have to work until we die. We both want to travel and enjoy the things around us, but we both know we can't do it without $ and being in debt is no way to move forward.
So here is to a future of debt free living and as Dave Ramsey says...“Live like no one else now so later you can live like no one else.”
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Our Highlight Video
Years ago I met 2 lovely people, Ben and Annie. I had the privilege of photographing their wedding. So I knew when I was going to get married that Ben and his video company would be the one to video my wedding. I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out, I absolutely love it!
Please enjoy!
Highlight Video
Dance Video
Please enjoy!
Highlight Video
Dance Video
Thursday, October 11, 2012
How Pinterest inspired our wedding!
I was so inspired by so many people and ideas, I knew that I wanted a DIY wedding and since D and I are creative people DIY was the only way to go.
We planned every element and had an amazing crew of people that helped us make it all happen.
First it started with the hunt for our wedding site. I had wanted to get married on a farm and have the reception in a barn. He wanted me to have what I wanted. We were on an low budget so the hunt was on. We spent hours looking online and driving all around Indiana. We found places and they were either too expensive, too dirty, too far away or the date was booked. All I can say is that I left many places broken hearted. Then the day came when my honey sent me this link. I looked at this place online and sent an e-mail to see if they even did events. Within moments I got an email back and planned a visit. As soon as we met the Dull's and saw the site we knew this was where we were going to get married.
First it started with the hunt for our wedding site. I had wanted to get married on a farm and have the reception in a barn. He wanted me to have what I wanted. We were on an low budget so the hunt was on. We spent hours looking online and driving all around Indiana. We found places and they were either too expensive, too dirty, too far away or the date was booked. All I can say is that I left many places broken hearted. Then the day came when my honey sent me this link. I looked at this place online and sent an e-mail to see if they even did events. Within moments I got an email back and planned a visit. As soon as we met the Dull's and saw the site we knew this was where we were going to get married.
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| The Logo |
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| The coffee favors |
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| The table numbers & coffee favors |
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| The coffee favors |
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| Our plasticware stamp on the envelopes they were in |
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| The program |
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| My dress and the belt |
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| My dress |
Then I gathered the troops. I shared with a friend my idea for flowers and she stepped up and made it all happen. His mom and Grandma made the guys bow ties. Everyone gathered blue ball jars and another friend took all the random burlap and fabric and made the table runners. A whole bunch of friends made the dessert table happen. My bridesmaid and friend Amy was our AMAZING dj. And another friend Jose ran our photo booth.
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| My lovely flowers |
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| Seeing them for the 1st time |
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| More awesome flowers and on of the bow ties |
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| More flowers. |
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| Guys with their bow ties |
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| Desserts made by many and our cake made by my bridesmaid Arin |
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| Amy dreamcatcher my bridesmaid and dj, also recently in the Oprah magazine for an Organization she runs |
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| Jose our photo booth photog |
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
New wife.....it's a new life!
I've wanted to write this post for a while, to start this new blog but I tend to get busy forget about it. But now I'm here and get to begin blogging again!
So here it goes!
My husband and I were married on 9/1/12, we met a mere 8 months earlier but within weeks knew that God had planned for us to be together forever. So much of our dating relationship was a whirlwind of wedding plans, meeting family, meeting friends and marriage counseling. I'm very glad we spent that time doing all those things, but I do feel like I missed out on the dating side a little. I mean he doesn't have to plan outings for us now and try to sweep me off my feet. And everyone will tell you that you still need to date your spouse, but since we didn't really date I truly don't think we know how.
Now that's not to say that I don't think my husband is amazing or even doubt that he loves me. Because love isn't about dating anyway.
One thing I am learning big time is that it is so hard for me to truly serve my husband as if I'm serving Christ (Eph 5:22, "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord."). I see almost every second how I let my emotions rule me and that I keep track of wrongs. I often wonder if it were Jesus who loaded the dishwasher not how I like it if I would get upset with him and tell him he doesn't listen to me. I'm missing out on being thankful that I'm not doing life alone, but have someone who wants to walk by my side. There is a lot I need to change about me to make this marriage work. I need to learn how to remove the log from my own eye first!
Part of learning to serve my husband the way I would serve Christ is to learn to do it selflessly. I thought that I had the whole love Jesus and serve thing down, until it started to affect how I ran my house. And rule my sleep and evenings. When those parts of my life started to get interrupted I realized that I really only served Jesus when it was convenient for me, or when I was happy and not in a bad mood. Well HELLO to my selfish life being interrupted! Leave it to the Big Guy to bring an amazing man into my life to teach me how to serve Him better!
So that is where this blog starts...the birth of Works in progress.
You will see everything on this blog from our stories before we became one, to who we are now. And even how I am learning to serve Christ through serving my husband. Which currently means cooking, so be prepared to see lots of posts about what we are eating!!
So here it goes!
My husband and I were married on 9/1/12, we met a mere 8 months earlier but within weeks knew that God had planned for us to be together forever. So much of our dating relationship was a whirlwind of wedding plans, meeting family, meeting friends and marriage counseling. I'm very glad we spent that time doing all those things, but I do feel like I missed out on the dating side a little. I mean he doesn't have to plan outings for us now and try to sweep me off my feet. And everyone will tell you that you still need to date your spouse, but since we didn't really date I truly don't think we know how.
Now that's not to say that I don't think my husband is amazing or even doubt that he loves me. Because love isn't about dating anyway.
One thing I am learning big time is that it is so hard for me to truly serve my husband as if I'm serving Christ (Eph 5:22, "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord."). I see almost every second how I let my emotions rule me and that I keep track of wrongs. I often wonder if it were Jesus who loaded the dishwasher not how I like it if I would get upset with him and tell him he doesn't listen to me. I'm missing out on being thankful that I'm not doing life alone, but have someone who wants to walk by my side. There is a lot I need to change about me to make this marriage work. I need to learn how to remove the log from my own eye first!
Part of learning to serve my husband the way I would serve Christ is to learn to do it selflessly. I thought that I had the whole love Jesus and serve thing down, until it started to affect how I ran my house. And rule my sleep and evenings. When those parts of my life started to get interrupted I realized that I really only served Jesus when it was convenient for me, or when I was happy and not in a bad mood. Well HELLO to my selfish life being interrupted! Leave it to the Big Guy to bring an amazing man into my life to teach me how to serve Him better!
So that is where this blog starts...the birth of Works in progress.
You will see everything on this blog from our stories before we became one, to who we are now. And even how I am learning to serve Christ through serving my husband. Which currently means cooking, so be prepared to see lots of posts about what we are eating!!
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