Some New Year's Goals

So this is the time of year when everybody is thinking about goals -- or at least they were two weeks ago, haha! Well Bryan and I are no different. We believe goals are important because they are how we measure progress and hold ourselves accountable for working towards them. We also think it's very powerful to write things down and put them in a place where you can see them. Since we've been married, we've tried to do this, and have felt like we were making progress in some ways, but in other ways we have felt stuck in a rut at times.

Our main goal when we were first married was to become debt-free and stay that way. We determined that we would not buy anything more on credit or payment plans, and that if we didn't have the cash for something, we didn't really need it. We began to try to fully embrace the old pioneer adage, "Use it up; wear it out; make it do- or do without!" so often quoted by President Gordon B. Hinckley (one of my heroes!) This has been difficult at times, but we've reminded each other of our main goal whenever one of us was feeling weak, (and I confess, I'm most often the weaker party...I like pretty, shiny stuff.)

This effort is probably obvious to anyone that's ever visited our home and watched a movie on our 15-year-old monster-box television set with the microscopic screen. A new TV has been a temptation to both of us -- especially during the "crazy deal days" of three-day-holiday weekends. But we've resisted. We've also had major obstacles in the form of medical expenses not covered by insurance, but we've also seen major blessings from Heavenly Father as we've done our best and tried to live by true principles.

Happily, once in awhile amidst all the struggles and challenges of life, we get a payday - a moment or event where you're finally able to realize some of the progress you've made. We had one of those earlier this week as we sat down and looked at our full financial picture and were delighted to discover that we will be completely debt-free (except for our mortgage, but more on that later) by the end of this year! Obviously, over the next six or seven months there's still a lot of work and sacrifice required to reach our goal, and we're not there yet-- but it's finally materializing as something attainable and within reach! And, we're to the point where our assets are finally greater than our liabilities -- that is if you're not factoring in our mortgage...but I feel like if we can continue down this path, we're doing really well for where we are in life.

We got bit by this bug when someone gave us a copy of Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover as a wedding gift. Check out my post from October 2009 as proof! I read through it in a couple of days and then wanted to read it with Bryan. We read through it together on a road trip one weekend after being married for one month. We felt like it had an incredibly powerful message that was so different than everything else we're told in society, and that Dave's plan, based on Bible principles of honesty, personal finance, hard work, thrift, and ultimate freedom-- spiritual and otherwise, was something that we wanted to use as the base of our financial life together. While we haven't always been great at following the plan, it has helped us to be aware of WHAT WE WANT MOST, when we are bombarded with the thoughts and feelings of WHAT WE WANT NOW.

As for our house, well, we feel blessed that we are in a better place than a lot of people considering today's economic climate. We were able to take advantage of refinancing into a lower interest rate on a 30-year fixed loan, and have considered even going to a 15-year, but we've got to see what the future holds for us as far as school. If we get accepted to the program Bryan wants, we will probably sell the house. This means that we will most likely take a hit, but in comparison to a lot of our friends, we feel blessed that the hit will be relatively manageable. Also, as much as both of us have loved living in Utah, it's not the place where we want to be long-term (GASP!) So we are looking at our options for getting back to our beloved Northwest!! We would love to settle down and start building a life in Oregon, Washington or Idaho, so selling the house will eventually be a necessity anyway. We'll see how everything pans out, but that's what we're working towards.

Over the last 12 years in my own life I have had moments where things have just not gone well, in spite of my best efforts. This includes the area of finances, so Bryan and I realize that while we have been working hard towards our goals, we have also been abundantly blessed by Heavenly Father, without whom we could not be successful. In sharing all our excitement on this, we realize that there are many people out there who are working just as hard, but still feeling buried. There is hope! I would recommend Dave's book to anyone-- no matter where you are with money. As we move forward into the new year, we have a renewed commitment to the plan -- and actually ending the year DEBT FREE!! And dang it, after all this hard work and sacrifice, if the world ends in December I'm gonna be ticked!

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe it's 2012. I've been reminded lately that I haven't blogged in quite sometime, and it's probably true. I think Kylie, (who will be six months next week) was two weeks old the last time I posted anything...so I guess it has been awhile. Our family has been happily busy with the extraordinary and mundane tasks of daily life over these past six months. We absolutely love being parents and have settled into a really great routine with baby Kylie. I think she is a really good baby, and that we've been lucky with sleeping habits and colic, etc. Things couldn't be better. She is into such a phase of discovery and development that new things are happening almost everyday and Mom & Dad are having a hard time keeping her challenged. She wants to be standing up almost constantly when she is awake, and really hates having to lie down (even on her floor gym) for more than a few minutes at a time. Thank goodness for all the cool developmental toys out there!

Kylie playing in her Bumbo chair

As for Mommy and Daddy, we're doing great and moving forward with our lives. New Year's is always a great time for introspection and self-inventory, so we've been doing that lately. We realized the other day how far we had come together when we took a look at our financial picture and how it has improved since we got married. Turns out two-and-a-half years can make quite a difference when you've got goals and you're busy working towards them. I'm grateful that Bryan is such a hard worker, too. He's been working two full-time jobs almost the entire time we've been married, but we've always tried to keep our goals as a couple at the forefront and we realize that with the sacrifices we've been making individually and as a couple, we've made significant progress. We're so excited about this new year and the opportunity it holds!

I Try to Avoid Corny Food

Actually, I love corn -- especially popcorn, corn chips, tacos, and the like. Unfortunately while on Lyme treatment about a year and a half ago, I began to develop a corn allergy that has progressed to the point where I have to avoid it all in it's entirety. Sad, sad tale! Luckily, I have a wonderful husband who loves to cook, and he has taken to developing all sorts of recipes substituting other ingredients in place of corn syrup, corn starch or corn meal. It's been an adventure, but we've discovered that I can eat almost anything, as long as we make it ourselves. Aren't I such a lucky girl to have a husband like that?

The breaded sweet & sour Bryan made me for New Year's Eve

Mother's Day 2011

I was excited about this Mother's Day, because it's the first that I actually officially get to celebrate as a mother (or mom-to-be!) Bryan got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a wonderful card. I'm not going to share the card, because it's personal, but I will say that I'm one of the luckiest girls in the world when it comes to having a husband that writes the sweetest notes and always picks out cards that make me cry! Ok, I'll admit, making me cry right now is really not that hard! But it was a wonderfully sweet card and I loved every word of the card and his hand-written message.

I also got a card from the dogs, which basically talked all about how I meet their needs when they're hungry, in need of affection, etc. Inside it basically said that we make a great team. It was really cute, and also included a hand-written message reading something like, "arf, bark bark, woof grrrr, woof woof." It was signed Tailor & Quincy. It was really fun.

Here are my beautiful Mother's Day flowers, which included the same gorgeous orange lilies we had at our wedding, two beautiful red roses and some other wonderful spring flowers. Ahhh, I love my husband!!

The Nursery Project

Ok, so we've been really busy putting the nursery together. I've waited a long time to be a mom and I've been thoroughly enjoying every minute of all of the process of building a baby and getting outfitted with baby gear. Of course, having a cute nursery is no exception! Gratefully the hubs agrees with me, (and sometimes is sweet enough to just humor me) in my enthusiasm!

The baby's room is going in one of our two extra bedrooms, so we were excited to make some updates. Among the updates were new paint, carpet, closet doors, light fixture, electrical outlets & covers and a bunch of other little details. We've also added crown molding for a finished look. We plan to do this to every room, but one thing at a time...and baby takes precedence right now!

I have always wanted to do a nursery in frogs & castles, (I think it's just such a fun fairytale theme) and I've always had a thing for frogs. Over the years I've collected little frogs here and there, so that has come in handy and provided a fun selection of nursery decor. Here are a few pictures of our projects and nursery items:

Our Big Announcement!

After the festivities of Christmas morning were over, we had some phone calls to make. We had to share our big news with our family, and even though we were only seven weeks along, we really wanted to be able to share the news on Christmas day!

Bryan wrote a poem for the occasion, which we decided we would read to everybody as we called. So of course, we pulled out the video camera, and got on the phone!

Here's the poem, another Bryan original:

First Anniversary Cake

We got the top tier of our wedding cake from Bryan's parents just a little bit late for our first anniversary, but we still had fun eating it! It was surprisingly tasty after a year and two months in the freezer.

Bryan took the opportunity to smear the cake in my face...an urge he had resisted more than a year before, when he promised me that he wouldn't do it at our wedding. Good man. Here are a few pics from the occasion.