Three Years...

This past Tuesday, Uriah and I had our Third Anniversary.....

To many, three years does not seem like that much of an accomplishment. However, I feel very blessed and I am so proud of our marriage. In three years, we have had many obstacles and challenges. I am sure many people wondered if we would really make it. But I can see now that God truly does work all things for good, for those who love Him - especially when it gives Him the glory. And our marriage is truly a testiment to His grace and love.

Our marriage was a challenge from a beginning. Some of our choices lead to us getting pregnant outside of marriage... But God blessed us with Addison and through her, showed us His grace and mercy. Our lives were changed forever. Being newly married with a new baby is challenging in itself, but around this same time, my parents' marriage fell apart. I went through a dark time of anger and hurt, but most of all fear for my own marriage. In this time, God taught me how to be a better wife and mother. Financial strain is a stress that contributes to most divorces in our country. Being newly married, with a young child, a fixer-upper house, being in school and having very little of a financial blanket has been a stress to say the least. However, through this, God has taught us to trust Him with our finances, be faithful to Him and He will provide. I have also learned about how we should view money and material things. Nursing school has been a challenge too, but through it I have come to appreciate my husband so much more. On top of all of these lessons and blessings, God blessed us with wonderful friends - an amazing support system.

Uriah and I are so very happy. Our life is not perfect or without challenges, but I am thankful that we are in it together. I am blessed to be married to a loving, humble, hard-working man. Uriah - I love you baby

Until next time...

Two more months...

Two more months and I will no longer have to endure three or four hour lectures. I will no longer fight the anxiety that over takes me when studying for a test and the anticiaption of my grade. No longer will I have to neglect my child by putting a movie on instead of playing with her so I can try to complete the 100 pages of reading requried for the next day. Two months - I am done!

God has completely carried us through the past (almost) 3 years of our marriage from financial, school, and familial stress. I am so thankful that I serve a God who is a sustainer, because, I know I could not have done this on my own and I am pretty sure I could not put myself through this again.

The end of nursing schol marks the beginning of our future. Uriah and I talk a lot about future goals. We took a Dave Ramsey financial planning class last fall and it helped us make some decisions on how we want to live our life. Our goal is to be debt free except a small 15 year morgage within the next 3 years. Over all, there will be less pressure on our family and we will be more free to serve the Lord with our time and finances. We have set some goals for this year:
 - get a job
 - finish our fixer upper:
      - kitchen
      - guest bathroom
      - paint the exterior of the house
      - finish putting up the crown molding throughout the house
      - fence in the yard
      - pave the driveway and put a walkway up to the front steps
 - sell our house next spring and pay off all debt

In the meantime, there is so much to do and so little time - May 5th be here before I know it and that will be a good day...

Until next time...