Cover Your Ears....

Holy Shit.


Sorry. Had to get that out. Today has been the best day ever, and that is NOT an exaggeration.

1. We got our taxes done and we are getting a good amount back.

2. I cleared all the graduation requirements and will OFFICIALLY be graduating in MAY! Hallelujah! I will have more degrees and minors and focuses than any human will ever need, but I worked so hard for all of them and am SO proud of myself right now.

3. I GET TO ENROLL IN BIRTH TO THREE! THAT is the big news. This is my dream job, what I have been working towards and what I love. I will work with families to make a true difference in their child's life. I am numb. I can't believe this. I prayed for this and God answered my prayers and for that, I am thankful.

So, 2009 is off to an amazing start. I have some pretty amazing people upstairs working with God to make sure I am taken care of and I appreciate it so, so much.

Ben and I are so excited about what a change this is going to make in our lives.

It will obviously increase our income substantially, which is such a blessing. Ben makes more than enough for the two of us, and my current paychecks provide our "fun money" but now we will be able to give back to groups and charities that we love and support and start to travel like we have always talked about doing. Adding to the nest egg is also on the priority list.

We will finally have time to spend together when I am not thinking about assessments I have to do or papers I have to write or clinical time I need to complete. We will have time for us. We talked about this today in the car and both agreed that we are so thankful we have had so much time to spend together- just us.

While it is no secret we want children, we are also so glad we have had the time to get to learn more about each other and fall in love deeper and appreciate each other more. It is so important to have that time and we have really benefited from it. Looking back, maybe our journey has been a blessing in disguise. We have been able to take nice vacations sans strollers. We have gone on many last minute dates without having to scramble for a babysitter. We have bought our dream home (for right now) and decorated it to suit our needs and our style without having to work around pack-n-plays and high chairs. Would we have like to have a baby by now? Sure. But we also know that we have been given the gift of time that can't be taken away from us.

And really. Ben is 23. I'm 24. We aren't in a race against time. We are young. I pray every night, even the nights we fight, that we will have many more decades ahead to share with each other. When the time is right, it will happen. It can be frustrating in the mean time, but in the end, like everything else, it will be so, so worth it.

College has been a 7 year experience for me (granted, I have earned multiple degrees in that time). It has taken me longer than my peers to get exactly to where I want to be without having to settle for anything else. I made decisions that other people refused to make, I took classes I didn't have to take, but took anyway because I wanted to educate myself further about the field I was hoping to enter. I spent extra clinical time in the field. I cried over text books. I argued with teachers. I stayed up all night working on papers and projects. I went toe to toe with top professors (and won every time). But in the end, I am coming out ahead. I am getting exactly what I wanted and it means that much more to me than it might to someone else. I never compromised who I was or what I wanted. Now, I am reaping the benefits from those hard times and all the hard work I put in.


I have a feeling, holding our baby for the first time will feel kinda like that^, only a billion times better and right now, I can't even begin to imagine how great that will be.


God is great!