The start of our journey to being debt free!

We actually started this journey in March of 2010. We did well our first year of eliminating debt (mostly school loans, a car loan, a couple credit cards), but not as well as we could have. We bought a house a few months ago, and in the long run that will save us money on rent (and it is much cheaper than renting in this area!), but it set us back a few months. Recently, we haven't been doing well paying on our school loans (meaning we haven't paid any extra!) because we were saving up for a down payment since December 2010 and then we were buying things for our house. Well that is over! We have recently become sick and tired of living paycheck to paycheck and we want financial freedom. We started doing Financial Peace University, the at home study, with Dave Ramsey. We are finally getting on the same page and are going to commit to being debt free as soon as we can.

It's not fun to sacrifice our wants, but it's important to "Live like no one else so that later you can live like no one else."

It's been a bit discouraging lately because at times we will get made fun of for how we are living and people look at us funny, because it is not the normal thing to do. People are so used to using credit cards and taking out loans, etc. But we have decided that we are sticking to a strictly cash budget - and that budget will not be broken (unless emergencies come up). Even though people around us may not understand, it is very important for us to have a plan and it will allow us to one day start a family. I don't want to go through life being financially unwise, I want to have a plan.

So here's to our start of our completely committed debt free journey. I think it will be good for me to write it out and keep track of how well we are doing. I'm sort of ashamed at how much student loan debt we had and wish we had been advised better. But we take full responsibility and we WILL pay off these loans asap!

To date - we are $72,000 in student loan debt and 54,000 in debt with our mortgage. I'm excited to have this to look back on, showing that this is POSSIBLE! Lord help us so that we can give more freely with our money!!

Leaving for the first time...

I'm starting on a sad note tonight ... but only because it's been on my mind. Tomorrow evening I have to leave Paul for the first time (over night that is) since getting married. My work has an annual training conference Thursday and Friday, so they're flying all of the "At-Home" Reps in for the training. When I found out a few weeks back, I was crushed ... having to leave your husband of only 1 month? So sad :( But it's only for 2 nights ... or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

On the bright side, I get the privilege of staying with my in-laws and to spend time with everyone down in Virginia Beach. I've missed everyone so much. Phil is coming home for fall break as well so everyone will be there, except Paul. The poor guy, he was feeling sad last night as he didn't realize that Phil would be home as well. I so wish that I could bring him with me in my suitcase!

My sister in law is pregnant with their 2nd child ... a girl this time! I'm very much looking forward to her being born in December... the 7th. Unfortunately we probably won't be able to make it down when she's born, but we'll be there a few weeks later for Christmas. I can't wait to meet her. I get SO excited to see good sales on baby clothes. I'm a sucker for little girl outfits. I went to Old Navy tonight and bought some adorable outfits ... although some of the outfits I am making myself wait to give them to her! :)

I love little dresses! Pink and brown is so pretty :)

Aw, she's going to be so fashionable!

Seriously... little pink capris? Who could resist??

AND my favorite... a little sweater dress ... and pink boots! I need to find matching brown and pink stockings still!

So that's all that's happening lately ... I need to go pack ... more to come when I get back from this little trip ...

Married Life Thus Far

I can't believe how long it's been since i've written. I need to make a regular habit of writing though because I thoroughly enjoy getting my thoughts out into the open.

Well, Paul and I have been married 4 weeks today and it has been the most wonderful 4 weeks of our lives. We've been so blessed with wonderful friends and family who helped us celebrate such a precious day on September 5th. The day flew by as we were enjoying being married and celebrating with friends! Honestly the best day of my life... i'm so blessed.




We moved back up to Scranton, PA right before we got married. Paul got offered a Management job at Panera Bread and so we felt the Lord telling us to move. On top of that, we both know people up here, my family is only 1 hour away, we're excited to get involved in a smaller church, and the cost of living is cheaper. On the sad side, we had to move farther away from all of Pauls family and we already miss them SO much, it's so hard! We know God has a purpose and a reason for everything...

So while Paul is gone all day at work, I get the privilege of working from home ... which in itself is a blessing, but it is also lonely. I used to work right across from Paul's brother Joel... which was amazing, my best friend in the office. But now I work from home from the same company. It's hard because we just moved, we're still trying to make friends, etc. But it's even harder for me because I have absolutely no interaction with anyone besides church. I have a few friends who still go to Baptist Bible College so I get together with them some, and I will be going to a few soccer games, which will be fun. The Lord has a reason for the silent and quiet times and I want to learn to embrace them. The quiet times is when I can learn and be still ... finding ways to minister to others instead of finding ways to help myself. But I do pray that God will not only bring others into my life for encouragement but also bring people into my life that I can encourage...which is much more satisfying!

I'm so thankful for my husband. We're very much enjoying getting to be together every night. And what a blessing it is to welcome him home every night from work! I love making meals for him and cleaning the house making it smell good for him to come home to. And I also love experimenting with cooking and baking. I haven't really gotten to do it before. Recently i've made banana bread, coffee cake, carmel corn, crock pot meals, pizza, cheese and fruit dip. It's so much fun for me!!

"The joy of the Lord is my strength!"

Just some wedding pics :)

My Mommy :)

Aw he looks excited!

Paul's dad married us ... and he kept making us laugh!

I'll remember that prayer for the rest of my life.

My new nephew, Matthew

Cake!

This picture explains our life today ... simply joyous!

5 Months!

I'm so thankful for a God who loves and cares about me more than I can fathom! I have such a wonderful family, that I am extremely blessed to be a part of. I'm also really looking forward to being a part of my new family that i'm marrying into in 5 MONTHS from yesterday! I can't believe how times flies. Wedding planning is SO much fun. I have my dress, the bridesmaid dresses, my colors, my church back home and reception set, the honeymoon booked :-) and so much more to come. It's so hard being away from my mom through all of this, but we are cherishing the times we have together through these months.

You know what i've realized lately? I am SO lost without the presence of God in my life. Going just a few days without picking up my Bible can drastically alter my days. I have no energry, no renewed hope, no promises throughout the day fresh in my mind. I honestly don't know how I can survive a day without bowing my head to my Father each and every morning and diving into His marvelous Word full of hope and promises! He teaches me so much. I don't EVER want to get to a point in my life that I am satisfied with where I am at...never! I want to continuously be striving to be who God wants me to be and who my future husband needs me to be as a wife. I thank God each and everyday for the reminders He gives us to encourage us and to help us strive toward being more like Him! That's always the goal!

We're engaged!!! I can't believe it's taken me SO long to post this. You can imagine the excitement of it all, and with work, school and starting to plan a wedding...not a lot of free time!

The story:

Paul asked me to be his wife on February 21st! It was absolutely perfect. Paul took me to a harbor around here (Freemasons Harbor...BEAUTIFUL!) with a restaurant on the harbor. The restaurant hadn't opened yet so we were walking around by the garden and the harbor for a little bit. He had given me a rose right after we got out of the car and I had been carrying it with me. We were standing staring at each other and just laughing when all of a sudden he asked me, "Are you sure you want to be with me forever?" Me: "Of course I do!"Paul then took my ring out of the rose (I couldn't believe I was carrying it around the entire time!!!) and said: "I have a question for you..."Then he got down on his knee and said, "Becky, will you marry me?"Obviously I said yes and he put the GORGEOUS ring on my finger and we were both really happy!!! Little did I know, he had another surprise for me when we got back to his house that evening. He pulled out his laptop and a slide show of our engagement was on there!! He had his brother be our secret photographer take pictures of the whole thing for us without me knowing! It was perfect!!! I love having those memories captured with pictures! So yay!! It's official! Just wanted to let everyone know! :-)

The picture of Paul and I is from right after I said YES and the others are of my BEAUTIFUL ring!! :-) Wedding planning is fun....only 5 months left...we're getting married September 5th and we can't wait! More details on the wedding to come....sooner this time, I promise!

February brings new things!

Can you believe it's February already? Things couldn't be any busier right now with work and school (3 papers due this weekend!!!) but i'm thankful things are going well despite that. I thought that it would be too overwhelming, and so far, it has been bearable, so that's been a blessing.

I'd love to write on here more, but I really don't have a lot to write about these days. The superbowl party we had last night at the DePriest's was so fun. It was awesome getting to know new people from church and have fun, food and fellowship...my favorite things! :-)

I'm going to France at the end of February to visit my bestest friend from my growing up years, Pam! She's a missionary at a Chateau there and has been there on her second term now for 13 months. It's been that long since i've seen her and I can't believe it. So I've decided that during my break from school, i'm taking off of work. I randomly bought a ticket one day and will be headed to Franace February 27th! You can imagine the excitement there! :-)

Something funny....I have a feeling this month will be filled with many exciting things. Well, when Paul and I talked about getting engaged and rings, etc. back in November...I had mentioned that he could propose NO later than April because I need a good 6 months to plan! But I told him that Ferbruary would be perfectly ideal because that'll give me 8 months...and i need 8 months to plan if i'm working full time and taking 18 credits at school. So off and on we'll quickly mention it and I just have this feeling it could be any day now. I've already seen my ring actually. Back in November was the last time I saw it. Paul and I went to this "Mom and Pop" shop near where he works and found the perfect ring. The guy in the store was so personal and told us that these rings were one of a kinds. They do not mass produce them, so any ring I chose, no one else would have...which i REALLY liked. So I remember telling Paul that it was probably way too expensive (because from what I remember...it was GORGEOUS!!! Unlike anything I've seen before!), and that we should just look elsewhere. But he assured me it wasn't too expensive and made sure it was the one I wanted. From then on out, I've tried not to think about it much. I obviously know what ring I'm getting but what is really exciting is that I can't remember exactly what it looks like...because there were so many details on it! I just remember really liking it a lot. So needless to day, it's not one of those traditional stories where the girl is completely surprised haha. And both him and I are okay with that because #1 - He wanted me to really love the ring i'll have the rest of my life and #2 - We needed to plan a little when engagement would happen so that I can figure out what is going on with school. So I guess we'll see what happens soon :-)

I'll be in touch!

Life is busy...

Oh life is so busy right now. I just started classes up again here at Regent University. I'm taking 3 different business classes and i'm still working full time (40 hours!). I think i'm insane. It definitely is challenging, but I keep telling myself that it will be worth it later on down the road.

I have been SO blessed. I love living here in Va Beach, near my best friend (aka my boyfriend...and hopefully soon to be fiance *smiling!!!*...should be any day now haha). Today I had a breakdown....literally. Both emotionally and physically. I was sitting at a huge intersection waiting at the redlight, when all of a sudden my car turned off. I freaked out. I tried starting it back up again but it wouldn't. Because i'm somewhat clueless, I had to call my Paul (the bf) up and ask him (crying hysterically the entire time!) where my foreway flashers would be! It was insane. It finally started again and it stopped again before I could make the greenlight. I was so scared to finally cross the intersection when it started again. It slowly and jerkily moved across the intersection. I was so hysterical the whole time. It was one of my scarier moments in life. I thanked God tremendously for keeping me so safe. What an amazing Friend we have in Jesus! I could have been so hurt but He had His hand of protection on me!

It reminded me of Grace. God's amazing grace that I don't deserve. I was saved by the grace of God, both when I was 6 years old and daily, constantly. And situation and circumstances like today remind me of what I was saved from. What an amazing Father we have to have such a hand of protection over us, providing us with a grace we don't deserve!

Needless to say, I'm incredibly thankful for my loving Father after such a scary moment in life! And i'm thankful for those reminders He brings!