2012 was a wonderful year where Brady and I really got settled into our marriage and learned what it means to "do life" together. Some of the 2012 highlights include...
-an awesome trip to Arizona for our 1 year anniversary
-getting a young marrieds small group off the ground
-spending many fun weekends at the lake
-2 weekends in Batesville visiting Ertel Cellars
-feeling much less green and much more confident in my job as a crop insurance agent
-getting some new blood into the Tipton County Young Farmers Group
-becoming members of Rock Prairie
-even with the horrible drought, the farm had one of its most successful years ever
-a fun trip to the Smoky Mountains with some great friends
-watching JR and Dustin get baptized
-remodeling our guest bathroom
-being a guest at the Great Banquet
-joining 'The Best Book Club Ever'
2012 wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though, and this is something that I struggle with when it comes to social media. Whether it is Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or on Blogs...it just seems like everyone has this perfect life, when in fact that just isn't true. I am guility of painting the perfect picture on the internet also, because who wants to share the bad stuff? That is also my number one reason for not blogging as much as I would like to...I don't want my blog to be a "brag rag", but I also don't want it to be "Debbie Downer Down on the Farm". It is tough finding a good balance. Some of the harder parts of 2012 have been...staying strong in my faith no matter what the circumstance, shining the love of Christ towards the boys even when I just want to give up on them, some days of our marriage definitely aren't ideal, and our dogs are constantly destroying things.
I made some resolutions in 2012 that I blogged about here. Overall, I did a really good job keeping them. Brady and I did read the Bible in a year, we followed a Chronological reading plan and it worked really well for us. We would read together in bed every evening, sometimes out loud, sometimes to ourselves, or sometimes we would listen it together. I did mail at least two cards a month...I love getting mail, therefore I like to share the love! (and I got some really cute Vera Bradley greeting cards that just begged me to mail them). I did not blog twice a week...so many excuses, but they are all excuses...and excuses are like buttholes...we all have them and they all stink. I also did not research one topic a month, I feel like I was constantly learning in 2012, but it wasn't in an organized fashion.
I do have one main goal for 2013...get more organized in our personal finances! Ever since we have been married, Brady and I have tried lived on one income. Right now we are DINKS (double income no kids) but it is not going to stay that way forever. In the future when I am a stay at home mama we will have 3+ people and half the money. We have always tried to live well below our two incomes in preparation for that day. We did an okay job at this in 2012...there were definitely times when we were poor planners and we had to dip into our second income. We also majorly flopped when it came to our budget. We spent hours setting up our budget, but then we just tracked our spending and never became disciplined about it. Things are going to be different in 2013...I have revamped the budget and we are going to stick to it! We operate on a "zero" budget, meaning that all the money that comes in, has a designated place to go. The first thing that happens with our paychecks is tithe, 401k, and taxes...and after that we use the money for our monthly expenses, having allocated amounts designated for things such as; mortgage, groceries, pet supplies, clothes, entertainment, etc. I used to have our budget on an excel spreadsheet..today I converted it onto my Google Drive so that Brady and I can both access it from any computer.
1 goal this year...that's it. Pray for us =)
-an awesome trip to Arizona for our 1 year anniversary
-getting a young marrieds small group off the ground
-spending many fun weekends at the lake
-2 weekends in Batesville visiting Ertel Cellars
-feeling much less green and much more confident in my job as a crop insurance agent
-getting some new blood into the Tipton County Young Farmers Group
-becoming members of Rock Prairie
-even with the horrible drought, the farm had one of its most successful years ever
-a fun trip to the Smoky Mountains with some great friends
-watching JR and Dustin get baptized
-remodeling our guest bathroom
-being a guest at the Great Banquet
-joining 'The Best Book Club Ever'
2012 wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though, and this is something that I struggle with when it comes to social media. Whether it is Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or on Blogs...it just seems like everyone has this perfect life, when in fact that just isn't true. I am guility of painting the perfect picture on the internet also, because who wants to share the bad stuff? That is also my number one reason for not blogging as much as I would like to...I don't want my blog to be a "brag rag", but I also don't want it to be "Debbie Downer Down on the Farm". It is tough finding a good balance. Some of the harder parts of 2012 have been...staying strong in my faith no matter what the circumstance, shining the love of Christ towards the boys even when I just want to give up on them, some days of our marriage definitely aren't ideal, and our dogs are constantly destroying things.
I made some resolutions in 2012 that I blogged about here. Overall, I did a really good job keeping them. Brady and I did read the Bible in a year, we followed a Chronological reading plan and it worked really well for us. We would read together in bed every evening, sometimes out loud, sometimes to ourselves, or sometimes we would listen it together. I did mail at least two cards a month...I love getting mail, therefore I like to share the love! (and I got some really cute Vera Bradley greeting cards that just begged me to mail them). I did not blog twice a week...so many excuses, but they are all excuses...and excuses are like buttholes...we all have them and they all stink. I also did not research one topic a month, I feel like I was constantly learning in 2012, but it wasn't in an organized fashion.
I do have one main goal for 2013...get more organized in our personal finances! Ever since we have been married, Brady and I have tried lived on one income. Right now we are DINKS (double income no kids) but it is not going to stay that way forever. In the future when I am a stay at home mama we will have 3+ people and half the money. We have always tried to live well below our two incomes in preparation for that day. We did an okay job at this in 2012...there were definitely times when we were poor planners and we had to dip into our second income. We also majorly flopped when it came to our budget. We spent hours setting up our budget, but then we just tracked our spending and never became disciplined about it. Things are going to be different in 2013...I have revamped the budget and we are going to stick to it! We operate on a "zero" budget, meaning that all the money that comes in, has a designated place to go. The first thing that happens with our paychecks is tithe, 401k, and taxes...and after that we use the money for our monthly expenses, having allocated amounts designated for things such as; mortgage, groceries, pet supplies, clothes, entertainment, etc. I used to have our budget on an excel spreadsheet..today I converted it onto my Google Drive so that Brady and I can both access it from any computer.
1 goal this year...that's it. Pray for us =)
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