We Did It!!!

After a few years of planning, hard work, and careful budgeting, it's official!

Jason bought the house in late 2002. A few months later, he was laid off, and worked odd jobs for 3 years. When we married in 2006, the plan was that we would live off Jason's income, and use mine to pay down the mortgage. Which would have been fairly easy, except that a few months after we got married I quit my job as an engineer at Raytheon and starting working part-time at H&R Block and Accountemps, with a significantly reduced annual income.

But our goal was to pay off the mortgage by the end of 2008, so we did what it took and got it done.

Wednesday I went over to our Credit Union to send the wire transfer to pay it off. While I was there, I got out 2 $100 bills so we could pay for our celebration dinner with cash. Jason invited me to buy a new dress for our celebration, so I went shopping afterwards. =)

Thursday night we put debt free bumper stickers on our vehicles.

Friday, we took the Fairlane downtown to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. We got valet parking. The food and service was terrific. The steaks were mmmm... so delicious!

We told our server what we were celebrating, so he brought this at the end of our meal:

Then we went to Hilbert Circle Theatre for Yuletide Celebration! We met up with Ken and Kristy, and Adam and Jenn. Yuletide Celebration is a lot of fun for the young and the young at heart.

I've been smiling for three days straight - I definitely recommend being debt free for a mood booster! =)

Thoughts on the Season

Today at lunch, a lady was ranting about how horrible Christmas was going to be this year, because everyone in her family had decided to cut back on how much they're spending on gifts. "My parents are giving me 50 cents!" she said, which I assume was an exaggeration. She went on and on about how people are choosing to be cheap for the sake of being cheap, not because they don't have the money.

Oh, how she doesn't get it.

While I hope people are making wiser financial decisions in today's troubled economy, that really shouldn't impact Christmas - because Christmas is not about the gifts we exchange. It's about the Gift God gave us for Christmas so many years ago. Beyond that, it's about what you can give, not what you can get.

Which leads me to the book I'm reading during lunch, "Ordering Your Private World" by Gordon MacDonald. It's been teaching me quite a bit about the importance of having Christ first in your life, even going so far as to schedule on your calendar the time that you're going to have listening to what God has to say to you (not just talking to Him). The part I read today discussed that General George Patton would frequently stop his soldiers to ask if they knew what their mission was - that the mission was the most important thing they could know.

So I started thinking about it - what is my mission? What is my mission today? What is my mission for this week? For this season? For the year? For my life? I must be a bit off track, because I'm having trouble answering these questions. I have goals, things I want to (or need to) accomplish. But are they my mission? Probably not.

The context of this discussion is the importance of Sabbath rest. Not just "taking time off" to relax, but really spending a day enjoying God's presence (and presents). Looking at the past, the present and the future, in terms of what God has in mind for you. It's been a long time since I've done that.

How about you? What's your mission? Are you spending time in Sabbath rest? Can you answer these questions quickly, or, like me, do they make you pause?

Tax Classes

This week marks the last of my tax classes. I have really enjoyed them this year. I've learned a lot about depreciation and Schedules C and E. I learned enough to know that I have to go back and redo Jason's Schedule C for last year, but we should get some money back from that.

For those who don't know (and are interested), H&R Block has a really good training program. They require Tax Professionals to take 24 hours of training to get rehired each year, and if you take 30 hours, you can move up a certification level. And if you take 60 hours, you can move up two certification levels. I've taken over 80 hours this summer/fall. Like I said, I enjoy the classes. So, come January, I'll be a Tax Specialist 3 (I think - I might have too many credits).

Anyhow, I like knowing a lot about how to prepare taxes (no one can know everything though), and I like being able to help people. I missed out on helping people for several years, so I've got some catching up to do, and this is a good way for me to use my skills to help people. So I like it.

Big Black (um)Brella

So, as I was walking into work yesterday in the pouring rain, it occurred to me as being one of those days when I'm extremely thankful that my mom bought a ginormous umbrella while visiting me several years ago, and conveniently "accidentally" left it with me. Thanks, Mom!

Oscar's Fourth Birthday (Observed)

Today we celebrate Oscar's 4th Birthday! Happy Birthday Oscar!

A Good(will) Find

So, I've put on a few pounds since I bought my winter coat in 2000. Last time I had it on, I couldn't zip it, but could still button it. But I've put on a few more pounds since then. So I talked with Jason about my need for a new winter coat. He said, "That's fine, but do you mind looking at Goodwill first instead of just going out and buying a NEW coat?" I was a little reluctant, since I have a hard time finding good clothes in my size there, but I agreed.

So, on Saturday morning I headed out to hit the two closest Goodwill stores, and much to my surprise, I got a fantastic grey pea coat... for $10! I may have to look at Goodwill more often!

I finished the series... finally

So, sometime late last year I started reading a really good, but long, series. The House of Winslow, by Gilbert Morris, has 40 books. It covers the history of the United States, following the same family from the Mayflower through WW2. So, I've been reading it pretty much non-stop until Friday night, when I finally finished the last book. =) I highly recommend the series, but it may take you a while to get through them all. Check your local library. =)

I did take a break in the late-middle of the series to read Mistaken Identity, which is the story of two families affected by an accident involving Taylor University students in 2006. It is a very moving book, especially since you already know the outcome, but you have to watch them struggle through everything to get there.

New Niece!

On Thursday, Jason and I went to visit our new niece, Mary, who was born on Monday. I held her for about an hour. She didn't wake up while we were there. She's very soft.

Remodeled Guest Bathroom

Well, we finally finished remodeling the guest bathroom, just in time for Aunt Sue's visit with us. We put in the toilet on the day she arrived...

Here's a before picture - well, not truly before, but pretty close to the beginning of the project.

And here's a picture in the middle, when everything was gutted.

And here's the finished product!

It took a little longer than expected to get everything done, because we had to do an emergency shower overhaul in the other bathroom when we were just getting started in the guest bathroom. =( Here's how that turned out.

Jon Elrod likes our walkway

So, we try not to be too political, but we got a postcard from Jon Elrod, our state representative, that we thought was really neat, and we wanted to share it with you. We like Jon because he supports our right to bear arms.

We were sorry to miss him, too. We would have loved to sit down and chat with him. Check Jon out at JonElrod.com

Christmas 2007

It was our turn to host Christmas festivities, so Oscar had lots of fun. He had a staring contest with Dad:

And he got dressed up in ribbons:

And he got to play in wrapping paper and string!

We had Jason's parents over for dinner the day after Christmas, with us, my parents, and my sister. This is what the table looked like before we started eating...

And we also went over to Ohio to visit with my grandma in her nursing home. She was really glad to see us all. She really likes Jason.

It was indeed a Merry Messiah-mas!

This one's for Deb aka Thanksgiving 2007

Well, last night Debra called me out for not updating the Blog in a very long time, so Deb, this one's for you!

After Thanksgiving at Jason's aunt and uncle's place, we drove the rest of the way up into Michigan and went to the Henry Ford Museum. We had 5 hrs, but it wasn't nearly enough time.

There are quotes on the walls throughout, and this one was my favorite:

We saw the chair that Lincoln was assassinated in, and the bus that made Rosa Parks famous:

Then we went over to Greenfield Village where we chatted with the lady in the weaving house, checked out the pottery in the pottery house, saw them making blown-glass snowmen, saw Edison's workshop, and the Wright's house and bicycle shop.

When we were kicked out (because they were closing, not because we misbehaved), we drove on over to Jason's aunt and uncle who were celebrating their 25th anniversary. We always have a good time visiting with them.

But we were glad to come home and hug our kitty: