2019: A Year in Review

I only have six hours left before a new decade begins. As it happens every year my thoughts reflect on the past year and all the change that has come with it. My husband and I have had some very bad years and we've gone through a lot of life's worst moments for only being twenty-six years old. There has been much loss, grief, and we've had some dark days. This year was one of the good ones though. Here are some of the highlights.

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We started the year with a humble budget meeting. After six months of hustle we were finalizing the plan to be out of debt by June. It was refreshing and essential to start the year by creating a plan TOGETHER. He continued to drive with Lyft and Uber on the weekends while Zoe (still in utero) and I delivered groceries for Shipt during the week. We threw any extra money we earned on top of our debt free snowball.

Our much anticipated anatomy scan in February revealed that we were expecting a baby girl. Jamie and I were both hoping for a little boy but we fell head over heels in love with Zoe the moment the tech told us who she was. We finally knew her name. Zoe Bess- Zoe: Life, Bess: Satisfaction with God. Her name is special to me because this baby was alive. She was a life after the death of our first unborn baby. Bess was my great grandmothers middle name and what more could I want than for Zoe to live a life that is fully satisfied in God's love for her.

By the time April rolled around we were growing tired of doing our side jobs. It was getting harder and harder to keep going and to sacrifice a lot of our time together before having our baby. I checked our mail one day to find our tax return. With a trembling hand I picked up my phone to FaceTime Jamie and ask him if the number I saw on the check was correct. We were able to pay off our remaining debt with that check and start on the next step of saving an emergency fund.

With the burden of debt off our shoulders we spent our last month as a childless couple having lots of dates! We went and saw movies all month long at the dine-in theater. We celebrated by going to Kayne Prime and eating the most expensive dinner we have ever purchased. It was fun and a nice chance to let off steam after almost a year of not allowing ourselves to spend money. My mom came to town to help me in the last couple of weeks before I gave birth. I loved being able to spend time with her. We went to the theater, coffee shops, antique stores, and even had afternoon tea in the city.

In June I did the hardest thing I never knew I was capable of. God allowed and enabled me to give birth to a chunky almost nine pound baby without intervention or medication. It was an amazing and unforgettable birth experience. My dad, grandparents, and cousin were able to come see Zoe a week after she was born and my mother in law and siblings in law were able to see her shortly after that. She is the greatest blessing we've ever been given and it has been a joy to watch her grow!

I hesitantly joined a new Mother's group in July and made some amazing friends. All of our babies were born within just a few weeks of each other so we are definitely in the same boat. We get together at some point every month amid the chaos that having up to eight babies in a room will cause and we love every minute of it. It's so cool to know that our babies already have so many little friends.

In September Ramsey Solutions relocated and asked us if we would do the first "debt-free scream" in the new place. This was a huge deal! We felt honored to share our story with everyone listening on the radio and watching on YouTube. Zoe even joined us on the brand new debt free stage and got a picture with Dave Ramsey himself. Going through financial peace university was the best decision we've made in our marriage. We can now have conversations about our finances without fear. We now have a plan and hope for a bright financial future.

We ended the year by spending the holidays with family in Louisiana and West Virginia. Zoe did great and is a natural traveler. It was so fun to watch her meet her whole family. We will cherish those initial meetings and took lots of pictures and videos to look back on.

God has blessed us so much. I don't say that just because we happened to have a good year. I would say it and have said it in the really bad years too. We are just blessed by His presence and his guidance of our life. He leads us gently and with so much grace. No matter what next year brings it is always such a comfort to know that he is sovereign and we are kept in His hand and can never be removed. What a wonderful savior my Jesus is! I pray you are comforted tonight as you think on your year. It may have been amazing or perhaps its been hard but either way I hope you can see God's love in it all. See you all in 2020! God bless!