Trying to better yourself

This post doesn't only apply to young married couples, but really to anyone with a busy schedule. Our first year of being married, we really had to step up our game in our finances. We were hit with bills we didnt even knew existed. Trying to get our first apartment together, deposits for utilities, car maintenance, School. It was definitely something that caused arguements often. At the time, I was working 40 hours a week at a job I hated, taking 19 credit hours in school (mostly online classes), she was working part time at a job that treated her bad, and going to school full time as well. We got into the routine of going to work, doing school, worrying about bills, worrying about homework, will it always be like this?

 My mom gave me some advice that I will continue to use as long as I live. "Do not be afraid to spend money on fun stuff every now and then. If you spend all your time working and never do anything fun, you will be miserable." Now, this can be hard to do at times. When you are in school, you are always scared of falling behind by going out. When you are trying to save money to move into a little bigger apartment, you are scared that spending a little money will set you far behind in bills and your goals. Especially for married people, this advice is important. It helps you stay connected on a deeper level with your spouse and create good memories in a time of stress. You can still achieve your goals while occasionally having fun. Not only this, but if you are unhappy with a situation, always be on the lookout for opportunites that will make you happier, not just money. When we first got married we moved into a really tiny 500 sqft apartment paying $570 a month. With making around $9/hour we never thought we would get out of that apartment. Luckily a couple of months before our lease was up, my wife found a 2 bedroom town home for $35 cheaper than what we were paying and nearly twice the size. This settle change made us so much happier. Once my wife finished dental assistant school, she found a job as a dental assistant and instantly became happier.

 At the time, when you are dealing with bills, and school, and marriage, you start to think about your dreams and what you are letting go and how you are running out of time and I talked to my wife about it. She doesn't know what her real dreams are but I do. I have always wanted to be a nascar driver. Now that is a bit unrealistic, but I can race at local dirt tracks like my family used to. When we finally upgraded to a new car, She gave me permission to tear up my old car and turn it into a race car. This project relieves so much stress off my shoulders. When i am angry, sad, or just plain bored, I will go work on my racecar and it instantly makes me happier knowing that I am one step closer to doing something I love. So that is the second bit of advice from this post "Never stop achieving your dreams. If it something out of reach, start small, and learn to love every step of your progress."
We also found that we were not happy with the area we were living, so we began looking for new jobs in my hometown 2 hours away. After almost 2 months of searching, I got a job offer at a hotel as a front desk representative. This was a huge step in my carreer because I am in school for business and needed some type of clerical experience. My wife knew that this was important and packed up her whole life to move with me back to my hometown. A month later she found a job at a pediatric dentist and found out she loves working with the kids and has never been happier in a job. I am also extremely happy with my job, the pay is the same that I was making, but I come home in a better mood every day. So the last bit of advice I have for you guys today is "Don't be afraid to take risks in order to better yourself and achieve happiness."

This was a result of one of those "lets do something fun and new today" days. We Rode a camel. Still to this day, this is my wife's favorite picture of us.

Thanks for reading and hopefully you take something away from this post to help you with your life, because we all know "The Struggle is Real".