I was going to post another chapter to our love story, but instead I wanted to go a different direction today.
Terence and I were married really young. We were barely 20. I mean we couldn’t even rent a hotel room alone or drink an alcoholic beverage when we got married! ha! We’ve been through some tough times over the years and things have not always been easy.
I know a lot of people who don’t own a home and still live in a one bedroom apartment. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. Our generation is so eager to live the American dream. What is the American Dream? Is it worth putting yourself under so much financial stress you don’t have the ability to do anything else in life?
Terence and I have always been goal setters. We set goals and do the best we can to reach them. In our early years of marriage we had friends who had really nice homes and I was jealous. I wanted that too….I wanted the American dream. It seemed like some had it handed to them with a silver spoon. Life is not always going to be fair, but if you set reasonable goals then you can attain the things your heart desires.
It’s hard for me to read blogs sometimes because I still have that jealousy. I don’t know why??? I have a wonderful life and I’m proud of our accomplishments. But it’s still there.
When I desired a child I was jealous of all the Mom bloggers out there. Now that I am a Mom I am jealous of all the stay at home Moms who spend their days getting pedis, having play dates, staying in their jammies all day, and meal planning. (Yes, I know that’s not all you do!) But some blogs out there portray that lifestyle. I don’t have time for these things & I constantly feel like I’m missing out on moments with my son. (cue Mom guilt here)
I think dang…wonder what their husbands do for a living because they can afford to stay at home in their fancy house and carry a Louis Vuitton purse??? Must be nice. Sigh.
I’m just trying to be real here. That is what I feel…and I am not ashamed of what I have, I just feel so much competitiveness…not only in my life, but in the blog world too. I’m tired of it effecting me or make me feel less sufficient as a wife, mom, or woman.
If you feel like you don’t have it all right now it’s okay. You can get there with goals and hard work & I keep reminding myself that!
I thought I would share how Terence and I started out 10 years ago…..
This is our very first kitchen. We lived in a duplex on the Air Force Base. I remember thinking this is so OLD. How am I going to live here? It was definitely a kitchen from the 70’s and it had been well lived in from prior tenants. I was not thrilled about moving into this house at first…..
But you know what? I made that kitchen my own and it was great for 5 years and served us well 🙂
Then we moved into a tiny one bedroom apartment in Arkansas after Terence got out of the service. I then thought “A one bedroom” ??? How are we going to live here???
Again, we made it work and it was a wonderful home for about two years while Terence finished school and I worked 2 jobs. Truth be told we were so busy we just slept there anyway!
Fast forward to 2007
We moved to Texas and lived with my in-laws for what was supposed to be a few months….and actually turned into two years! It saved us a ton of money because he was in an accelerated MBA program where he couldn’t work for a year. We are forever grateful for that time they let us live with them.
When Terence graduated and got a job we moved into another 1 bdrm apartment, again not my ideal home….I thought at this point in life we would already have a home, but it was a step up from previous residences! It was the nicest kitchen I’d had so far and I was beyond excited about having an extra pantry cabinet in particular 🙂
July 2009 – SURPRISE! We have a baby on the way!!! We looked at bigger apartments, but ultimately started looking at homes closer to where Terence’s family lives & my job is. Terence would always be happy living in an apartment and it really is a much more economical decision…but I finally convinced him to start looking at homes! I was so excited! We had never owned a home before and after several searches we found our house…..
This is not my dream kitchen, but it is my DREAM kitchen for now & I am beyond thrilled we have it!
It’s better than anything we’ve had before….and I feel like after all our hard work we have a home of our own and a place to raise our son. God is good. Life is good. Goals are good.