Living the Dream

It's been a long journey for me and my husband. 12 years this year actually. Today, we come to the close of another chapter in our lives, and readily await the exciting new path we are about to embark on. Today is the last day for my husband at his job of three years (profession of 8.) Tomorrow he starts anew in a similar but yet so very different line of work. Words can not even describe to you how proud I am of him, and how proud I am of us.

We have worked so hard to get to this fabulous place in life where we stand so proudly now. We did things the "right way," scrimped and saved and struggled and went with out. My husband worked very hard to provide for me, and works very hard now to provide for his family. It's very easy to feel like we are living that classic "American Dream." 

These are the moments I used to dream about at my so very young age after meeting Bryan (age 12.) I would fall asleep dreaming about the one day we would have our perfect little house, and a bouncing baby in our arms and I would be staying home taking care of the house and the baby. Funny how reality burst that dream bubble. It's not a picture perfect world, but it is a million times better than I had ever imagined it being. What my dreams lacked was the amount of love and pride that has filled our hearts. You can never fully comprehend in a dream the extreme amount of emotion your going to have when you have finally realized all your dreams have come true. You know what's better than actually having all your dreams come true? Knowing that you made them come true.

Yep, we accomplished everything we ever wanted, and we did it by the sweat of our own brows. We didn't get married straight out of high school, have a baby in  high school, have to move back in with family, or depend on anyone but each other over the years. We moved out together, and never looked back. We got married and paid for the wedding ourselves (as well as very expensive vet bills.) We moved into a tiny 500 square foot studio to save money for a house, which we bought only what we could afford with no down payment assistance. We had the most amazing little bundle of joy, my little firecracker. I am certainly lucky to be able to afford to stay home with him 5 days a week and still put money into the savings. Blessed for sure.

So I guess all of this is stemming from the fact that as this chapter is closing in our lives I find myself reminiscing on what all we have accomplished so far. It's really a lot now that I write it all down. Now it's time to reevaluate and determine our next set of goals, since we seem to have accomplished all our goals from the last 12 years. Ummmm, that's going to be a tough one because right now I feel like I have accomplished everything I have ever wanted. I guess it's only up hill from here!

"This is no
Yellow brick road
We've been travelin' on

A river of tears
Washed us here
We're right where we belong

We rode it out
No we didn't drown
And look at what we've found"

Martina McBride "City of Love"