Tuesday Thoughts

I'm feeling a little sad today. To be honest, the miscarriage hardly even enters my thoughts anymore. I am staying busy and active, but there are still days when that sadness returns. It's that time again when many of my friends who are expecting are finding out the gender of their babies (most due in the fall), and my heart always feels a little sad when another announcement of another baby is made (and boy do I know a lot of pregnant women right now). I'm not jealous, just sad that I'm not experiencing pregnancy with them, and sad that I'm not preparing for another baby to come into our family. (But, I am glad that I don't have to go through the hot summer! :) 

This weekend was really, really great. Mike was home most of the weekend (although he had to prepare a talk for Sunday--which went really well). Mother's Day was wonderful. Mike and Curtis made me breakfast in bed and we had a great day with both sides of our family. The weather was perfect, and I don't think anything could have been better. I'm so blessed to be a mother! I know everyone says it, but I honestly wouldn't trade this life for anything. Curtis is the best thing that has happened to Mike and me! Our marriage is better because of him. Life is better because of him!

This weekend we also got a lot of good cleaning done around the house. I'm feeling ready to move! Our closets are de-cluttered, and I've Simplespaced almost every space.

On that note, we are 95% sure that we are moving in July. One night Mike and I were having a rather heated discussion about our budget. I had unintentionally spent too much on grocery, which was the instigator of the discussion. We have been very dedicated budget-ers, and as a result we have very little money issues in our marriage. But, with school loans (which are our only debt) it is rare that we have any extra (besides the minimum payments) to put towards them at the end of the month. For those who know of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover plan, we are following his Baby Steps, which means we won't buy a house until 1. all of our school loans are paid off, 2. we have a 3-6 month emergency fund, and 3. we have saved for a down-payment 4. we buy a house with a 15-year mortgage. At the rate we are going it will take us several more years to be ready to buy a home. 

***I definitely need to add that Mike has an excellent job and we are very blessed! We have incredible health insurance and many other benefits. But, being grown-up means there are a lot of bills to pay, and we have both felt that it has been important for me to be home with Curtis full-time. 

Anyways...the discussion ended with us both feeling frustrated that there's just not much we can do to speed things up. We've talked about doing something "drastic" like selling a lot of stuff, moving into some old lady's basement, me getting a job, or Mike getting a pizza-delivery job at nights. But I guess we just weren't ready to do those things---especially because we are making it just fine. But, the morning after our discussion I had the very clear impression that we need to move . . . and we need to move in with my family. At first I dismissed it, obviously because it's not the ideal situation. But after thinking and praying about it we both agreed that it would be a very smart move.

So, after a lot of discussion and playing with the numbers, we have decided (due to their generosity and willingness) to move in with my parents. I really feel like it is what we need to do! This is kind of a big deal, and it's not going to be easy. Mike and I have always said we would never move in with our folks unless it was absolutely necessary, or very temporary. Well, it's not absolutely necessary but it is absolutely a good financial move for us (and it will be temporary). 

We will be able to put more than 50% of our income towards "killing" our student loans. Then we will be able to save that 50% income for our 3-6 month emergency fund. And then we'll be able to save that 50% income for a down-payment. There will also be quarterly bonuses, tax-returns, and my (possible) income on top of that. We will also get our rent deposit back and we will sell most of our furniture to help kick-start the plan! Yeah baby! 

Will it be hard? YOU BET! But, it will sure as heck be worth it. Living with my parents is obviously not ideal, nor will it be easy. I love my parents, but no matter how much you love someone it doesn't mean it's always easy to live with them. We figure if we stayed in our apartment it would take us probably 4-5 more years to be ready to buy a house. If we move home it will be around 12-18 months. I don't know about you, but that is definitely worth it to us.

I am actually kind of excited about it. My mom and I are great friends. I hang out with her several times a week anyways, and Curtis loves being over there. He'll have lots more room to play, a backyard, and a puppy to keep him company.  Mike also works in the same business complex as my step-dad, which means they can carpool, and we would possibly even sell our second car ("kill the debt!"). We'll also be able to help my parents out a little bit too. Hopefully it will be a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Anyways. I wanted to write down all of our thoughts about this decision. I suppose there is still a 5% chance we'll change our minds, but for now that is our plan. 

As Dave Ramsey always says . . ."Live like no one else, so that later you can live like no one else!"