Back to the Mountains

So the paint work got done and Nicole is digging up another project I am sure. Of course there is still more painting to do but, for now Cole has been busy setting up her new office. She's setting up her office in our spare bedroom upstairs and she has very graciously given me the downstairs office we used to share as my new man cave. I've never had a man cave before.

Cole had an epiphany as she was painting. That is to say she realized that a woman decorated our entire house. There were no visible signs of a male presence anywhere. While she is a very gifted decorator especially when you consider the budget she is working with, I had to admit she was right. And with the Camaro out of the garage and replaced with a Yaris the garage was no longer a manly escape for me. She has really been having a great time not only setting up her new office but helping me set up mine. We are saving up right now to purchase a leather recliner, a must have for any man cave right?

Of course this is all a ploy to bring about a pregnancy. We figure if we take the 2nd bedroom and set it up as an office then we'll get pregnant and have to make it a nursery! Think it works that way??

With that all said I am now back in the mountains of NC with some good friends and we are all relaxing. Did I mention that my good friends also have a plane and flew us here in 3 hours. Sure beats driving 12 hours in the Yaris dodging hail stones! Cole stayed home and I am sure she is neck deep in rearranging something. I know she had already started cleaning up the house before I left. So I guess there was a male presence after all. And as before this is a cash only vacation. Sure helps to have a friend with a plane!! Couldn't have done it without him.

We continue to press on in the Dave Ramsey Baby steps. It can be a bit of a grind but we have almost finished our 6 month emergency fund and just made our first extra principle payment on our mortgage. We gotta get back right side up on it. We've stayed current and are not in any sort of danger with it but, we are trapped in this house until we can pay the mortgage down or until values start to rise. So we are kind of taking some liberties with the baby steps but it is working for us.

Sitting on the porch of my Aunt and Uncles place I am reminded of why we are doing this. The concept of delayed gratification is hitting home for me. Cole and I are putting off things that we would really like to have in order to be able to have a stronger more secure financial position in the future. So that maybe someday I can have a log home on the top of a mountain with a great view! To all the baby steppers out there. . . KEEP GOING!!! WE WILL MAKE IT!!

Money for Stress Management

I'd like to share a more personal benefit of debt free living if I may. It is no longer a secret that Cole and I have been trying to start a family. We are continuing to build our emergency fund and with that comes a certain level of peace at least about the financial end of this decision to start a family. While we do not know when God will choose to grant us this blessing, we continue to prepare our home for it. In addition to attempting to educate ourselves on parenthood we are also preparing our finances for raising a child. While I feel we'll not be nearly prepared enough on either front, I am some what comforted by the fact that I had wonderful parents whose example we can follow and that we will at least bring our child into a debt free home.

Also, in our struggle with being unable to conceive, at the very least we now have the available cash to see the doctors we want to see. It also frees up our cash to be able to pursue any treatments we may want to seek out. Of course our heath insurance plays a major role in this as well. So far they have covered almost everything. Thanks Blue Cross!

In the meantime, we continue to trust God's timing for this child. It certainly is not easy. Both Cole and I have had some frustrations with our Heavenly Father about His delays, but we trust Him to be in control of our family plans. Cole often quotes an anonymous person who said, "Write your plans in pencil and give God the eraser."

One of the treatments that insurance does not cover is stress management. Cole likes to relieve stress and frustration by painting the interior of the house. This weekend she has painted several walls in the house and is "feeling" much better. It was wonderful as a husband to be able to tell her this week that she could knock herself out and paint her little heart out. Don't worry about the money for paint and supplies. Get what you need and go at it. She did. It looks great and she didn't ask me to help! Perhaps I should call Blue Cross and see if they cover the paint as a stress management aid.

Maybe they would pay for my new netbook that I use for writing as well. That's how I like to manage my stress. I write. Sometimes it's this blog. Sometimes it is journaling or writing something else. Anyhow, I say it makes me healthier. Call it a preventative measure against heart attacks. What do you say Blue Cross?

I won't hold my breath on my alternative medicines. I just wanted to share this in order to illustrate how money management effects so many areas of our lives. Poor money management ends marriages, lives, and souls. On the other hand, good money management practices opens up communication in a marriage, blesses lives, and can contribute to saving souls as well. Right now our good money management is keeping money from being another stresser in our lives.

Truthfully, I sometimes wonder how much stress plays a role in disease, infertility, depression, and anger. Don't let money run your life. Be in charge of your money no matter how much or how little you have. It's not about the amount it is about the discipline of being a good steward with what God has given us to manage on His behalf.