Friday, June 27, 2014

Spring turns to Summer

In my grandparents' basement, they have an entire wall papered in a map of the world. They and their four sons (my dad and 3 uncles) have color designated dots, and those are placed in every city they've visited or been stationed at. Since most of my family has served and/or flies planes, the entire wall is pretty much covered in dots. 

Since I was little, I've always felt cabin fever; either from moving every two years or just always wanting to be someplace more exciting. Maybe it's because of the wall, but I've always wanted to be everywhere. 

We've now been in our house for 10 months. Closing and starting this big project was a turning point for the two of us, not only in our relationship but in our lives. Troy turned 30 this past January, and I will turn 30 at the end of next August. We are both out of the growing stages and into the "Summer" of our lives. 

With that in mind, we had two big things happen in the last week. First, after a lot of talk and negotiation, we decided to take an extended vacation next spring. This very much changes our mindset on spending, as well as the future plans for this house.

Second, Troy will now be working full-time remote. So both of us will be working at home, every day, just the two of us, all the time…

One decision requires us to save money and cut back on recreational spending. The other calls for required fun time out of the house, just to say sane.

Everything now has to be prioritized; including getting married, remodeling, our social schedule and commitments, future vacations, etc. So while there won't be any big projects near the caliber of what we did upon moving in, I can swing little nips and tucks here and there: frames, cleaning and replanting flower beds, hanging curtains.

Any tips on juggling the two without feeling like poor college students living off of Ramen?