Our Next Big Adventure

I'm probably stating the obvious when I say that we love adventure. We like the thrill of discovering new places, being challenged, finding beauty, and being with each other. It's the reason we own rock climbing gear, kayaks, backpacking goods, and mountain bikes. It's the cause for our monthly savings plan for vacations and marriage getaways - the removal of ourselves from the common into the not so common.

It's the reason we've been to California twice, on an across-the-country roadtrip to Wyoming with friends, all over Washington, to dusty Texas, on a ski trip to Utah, down to the shimmering gulf coast of Florida, up to bustling New York, crusing through the Caribbean with stops in Grand Cayman, Belize, Honduras, and Mexico, and honeymooning in St. Lucia. It's the reason we got engaged on the top of Big Frog Mountain, camp with friends in the Smokies, have hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail in three different states, kayak the waters of the Harpeth, the Hiwassee, the Gulf, and the Puget Sound, have rafted the Ocoee, and so much more.

Not a month goes by that we're not planning some sort of adventure. These days it's been planning a see-the-leaves day-trip on our weekend visit to Massachusetts in mid-October for my cousin's wedding. And talks of what a visit to Mt. Hood or a Columbia River winery while in Portland in late-October.

And now, we face a new -slightly unexpected- and entirely uncharted adventure of a different sort. One that has a lot of the same elements yet requires a stationery sort of discovery, challenge, and wonder. One that will be incredibly beautiful and difficult in a variety of ways, but so very rewarding and a blessing beyond many we may have ever experienced.

We are buying a home.

A beautiful ranch-style brick home on an unbelievable lot in a great part of Franklin with lush trees, a fenced-in backyard with two quaint storage barn-sheds and a patio, three darling bedrooms, a great kitchen, and bonus room I can't wait to turn into our office/reading room.

Our-First-Home adventure. I think I can handle that...

House Goals Revisited

Okay, so sometimes I feel like this is all I talk about.

But then... then I realize it's actually only (almost) all I think about and aside from updating the chart and posting about reaching our goal last year, it's really not an overdone subject.

So on that note, I thought I'd let you all know we made some changes to the goals we set last year for this year for the house. Seeing as we hit an unexpected jump ahead towards the end of the year and ended up saving 153% of our goal of $8,000, we've rethought what our stretch might be for this year. You know, the thing that makes you - when you're standing on your tippy toes - have to jump just a little bit to get it?

Here's what our goals were (for a recap):

End of 2008 = $8,000
End of 2009 = $43,000 (having saved $35,000 in the 2009 fiscal year)
End of 2010 = $93,000 (having saved $50,000 in the 2010 fiscal year)
End of 2011 = $160,000 (having saved $67,000 in the 2011 fiscal year)

Here's what they are now:

End of 2008 = $12,212
End of 2009 = $50,000 (having saved $37,788 in the 2009 fiscal year)
End of 2010 = $100,000 (having saved $50,000 in the 2010 fiscal year)
End of 2011 = $160,000 (having saved $60,000 in the 2011 fiscal year)

So, that little $7,000 difference might not seem like a big deal but it's enough that we're super-charged about doing what it takes to get there. Going into this year knowing we were already $4,000 closer to where we need to be kind of made me a little too comfortable. You might think, "Well, what's wrong with that?" or "Why don't you just go ahead an buy a house already while the markets are down?"

But comfortable isn't the point of all of this. I mean, eventually it will be. But this is supposed to be hard. This is supposed to not make sense to everyone and this is supposed to be something that, for the time being, we work our butts off to achieve.

And like we've said before, just because we have goals and plans doesn't mean we don't know that just about anything can happen - for the good or for the detriment of what we believe is our mission, financially speaking, for right now. But while we've got the opportunity and the determination to do this, I think we'll just keep moving right along...

Suh-Weet

We did it!
"What?" you ask.
I'll let you figure it out.
I want you to work for the answer.
Not too much hunting and pecking, required, really.
Except, possibly for you subscribers who will have to visit the blog to see.
And those, my friends, are the most clues I'll give you.
Because scavenger hunts are fun.
No really, they're a blast.
And you're smart.
Have fun!


p.s. I love symmetry.

"Top Three" Life List

On Sunday, I spent some time journaling and perusing a summer edition of Real Simple. In it, there was a feature on readers' responses to the "top three things" they'd like to accomplish in their lifetime. Already in an inspired mood, I started jotting down the list I've been running in my head for a long time. And then I realized there were far too many things on the list and that three, was in fact, a qualifying number.

Then, last night, in the middle of FPU class, I slipped Cliff my tiny yellow legal pad I use to doodle/dream/plan on in settings such as those, with a query as to what his top three life goals would be. It was important for me to know that he didn't know what mine were, so I told him after he thoughtfully jotted down his answers.

So, after much (of my own personal) debate, here's our lists:

Kristine
1. Grow in a lifetime marriage of adventure and laughter, while raising children who are happily whole, who love the Lord, and who are equipped to (and who believe they can) change the world.
2. Write and publish a good book that inspires and encourages normal people to dream big, take leaps, and enjoy the journey.
3. Spend time in all 50 states of this beautiful, free country I call home.

Cliff
1. Have a happy, healthy family that is spiritually and financially well-rounded and stronger than the previous generation.
2. Be a part of a cause that makes a difference in my community and the world.
3. Be a wise man who can feed into others' lives and who is a leader.


What are yours?