Life Lived Normal

In the past few days, I've examined the life I live and realized just how good it is right now. The economic issues plaguing the world right now scares me a little, but the more I think about it, the luckier I feel.

Jeremy and I made some decisions awhile back that we've tried to live up to, and those decisions, while difficult, are turning out to be very beneficial for our lives. When I moved to Memphis 7 years ago to go to school and seriously work on our relationship, we made the decision that once I finished school, we would move wherever my career would take me. That agreement led to the urgency of Jeremy completely at least his bachelor's degree. When we got engaged, both our families counseled us to buy a house and settle down. We decided that we weren't ready to buy because we weren't going to stay in Memphis after we graduated. We didn't want to buy until we found a place where we would stay for at least 5 years. We decided then that if we were to ever have kids, we wouldn't consider that until we were ready to buy a house. We agreed not to take on a car note until we were both done with school and making significant money. Upon graduation, we decided to move regardless of Jeremy's job situation.

All these decisions take us to where we are today. While our decisions certainly weren't met with a lot of enthusiasm, by sticking by what we decided as a couple, we have built a life that is fairly stable and enjoyable. By finishing school, Jeremy has the ability to pick and choose what he wants to do and where he wants to work. By not buying a house in Memphis, we had the opportunity to move wherever opportunities presented itself. We didn't have to worry about selling a house in this market. We are still choosing not to buy because there's no telling how long we're here, and there's not guarantee that the market will be on an upswing when we're ready to sell. We have a car note now, but we're also lucky to be able to afford to keep the car. We're still not ready for kids, but we also have the pleasure of staying in bed on weekends when it's cold outside.

Life is good right now, and I'm thankful for everything we have. I'm also glad that no matter what, we made these decisions together, and neither one of us has any regrets about the life we're building.