Thankful Thursday: Amazing wife, family and AC

Hey it's Thankful Thursday time again! I really enjoy doing these. I always look forward to Thanksgiving every year, so I can tell people all the things I'm thankful for. Honestly, there is a lot one can be thankful for! This is a brilliant way to share those things all year round! So here's our list of what we're thankful for! What are you thankful for?! I know I ask this every time, but it's not just a rhetorical question, we would love to hear from you!

Jeremy's list:

I'm thankful for a hard-working dedicated wife! Monica and I both work full time. She is considered part time but requests to work full time hours. I wanted her to switch to part time, while she was taking a few classes and because we were doing fine financially with her only working part time. She however wants to work full time! For now anyways. We are hoping to do IVF soon, which costs a cool $19K. She has been working so hard at work, and doing cakes on the side to help us save the money to do IVF. Out of the total $19,000 we only need $8,500 more to have saved up all the money we'll need!!! We can't take complete credit for that however. We have some amazing people in our lives and received 2 gifts from some incredible people totalling $3,500! In the process of saving for IVF, we also have been trying to get completely out of debt, minus our house. In the past 2 years we have paid off $15,100 of debt, which included a few hundred on credit cards, both of our cars, and 2 of our 4 student loans! We are extremely proud of this feat, but more so I'm amazed at my wife! She has not wavered from our goal. We have taken one extravagant trip as a reward for doing so well, but other than that, she has not wanted to buy anything. She's used to nice stuff (she's spoiled) but she's not high maintenance and has been so humble and goal-oriented when it has come to our finances. I'm really impressed and amazed. When I first found out about The Total Money Makeover from a friend, I thought "Oh man, don't know if Monica will go for this." She jumped on board and it has been awesome what we've accomplished, through the many blessings from God of course! :)

That leads me to my next point. I'm thankful for Mike Romero and Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover! Mike is a high school buddy that lives in Denver, CO. He introduced me to the Total Money Makeover about 4 months after we were married. There are all kinds of finance books out there, but the Total Money Makeover works for us. We love it! It has helped us establish a written budget we write and stick to every month and has been the reason behind being able to save for IVF and get rid of so much debt! A big thanks to Mike and his wife Katie, who are expecting YAY, for helping us get started with the makeover! I highly recommend the book to all who would like to take control of their finances but need a little help. That's my thankful list! And now..... heeeeeeeeeeeerrreeee's Monica's!!!!

Monica's List:

I'm thankful for such a Great church family! The support system that we have really helps Jeremy and I to keep our positive attitudes. I never have to wonder if there is someone praying for Jeremy and I. We have many prayer warriors at our church who take the time to let us know they care and are praying. And I KNOW that when they ask, "How is Jeremy doing? I've been praying for him." they REALLY GENUINELY care and are in fact going to God on his behalf. That is so humbling! I couldn't ask for a better church family, and that's exactly what they are to us, our family! Part of that family are our great pastors Arlie and Treva! These are two of the most wonderful people you will ever meet! I could get chocked up just thinking about how much they mean to us! They are always there to encourage and teach us in our faith, visit when Jeremy is in the hospital, fellowship with us, and simply be a listening ear when needed. We love you Arlie, Treva, and our church family at Friendship Assembly of God! You are all AWESOME!!

I am thankful for warm weather! Jeremy and I LOVE summer! We love being outside and for the most part don't mind the extreme heat! Some of the things we look forward to in the summer: vacations, canoe trips, six flags/hurricane harbor, swimming, barbecues, going to the lake, evening bonfires, being tan ;) and so much more.... I could just keep going! I'm just so happy it's summer! (Can you tell?!) ;) On that note, we are off to Six Flags now......... YEAH!!! Enjoy your summer everybody!!! I know we're going to!

I am also thankful for AC! HAHA! While I love the heat, there are definitely times where I enjoy walking into my nice cold house... like right after I just ran my 5 mile trail in 90 degree weather..... yeah, the AC is pretty awesome then! We are a very spoiled nation and I am thankful that I was born an American with all of our modern conveniences! I am so blessed!! Thank you God!