Tall brown Uggs
Burberry Giant Check Scarf
But then life got in the way of my Christmas list.
See this car?
This is our car. The bow on it because it was my Christmas present two years ago when I was pregnant (sweet, right?!?!?). The check engine lights were coming on. My husband checked the code that it was pulling. It was an air system code so he decided to take it to the dealership to have them look at it to determine what was going on. There is no Lexus dealership in the area so he took it to the Toyota dealership. Turns out that some air thing was broken. $3500 later we have our car back. And because it was at the Toyota dealership instead of a Lexus dealership it took them double the amount of time to fix it too!
.
.
We are driving our Christmas presents this year.
One of the unexpected side effects of my Mom dying is the change in my thoughts about life and hardship. Before my Mom died, I worried a lot about the future and saving and planning for a perfect future- even at the detriment to our current happiness. We didn't go on on vacations so that I could put that money in our secondary savings account so we could put 20% on a downpayment for a house that we might not purchase for another 10 years. We skipped taking trips home so that we could hurry to pay off my school debt that wasn't due for another 10 years. I am the person who doesn't order a soda with dinners to save the $2.25. I was so focused on saving and planning for the future that it was hard to make decisions that we could enjoy now.
Since my Mom died, I worry much less about trying to plan the perfect future. Sometimes, arguably most times, we don't get to choose our future. It happens. This is not a dress rehearsal. We only get one shot at life. Scrimping, saving, stressing, saying no to life, making decisions from a place of fear. No thank you.
When we found out how much money it was going to cost to fix the car, my husband was really pissed/annoyed/upset. After determining that we didn't have any other option (he couldn't fix it himself, they aren't ripping us off, etc), I just sighed and said, "OK. No biggie". My husband is like, "This sucks. I did not want to spend all of this money on the car blah blah". I reminded him that there are SO MANY worse things in life. Having an expensive broken car is so far down the list of things that could go wrong in life, it doesn't even count. Pretty much anything that could go wrong would be worse that this.
HAKUNA MATATA
Agreed. Bummer about the car but there are definitely worse things. Gary and I had a convo just last night about this- that we need to really enjoy the everyday moments and opportunities bc we just never know how much time we have, as mom's way-too-early death showed us all. Gary says that's mom's way of continuing to teach us all important life lessons even from heaven.
ReplyDeleteYou have such a positive outtake on life. I definitely agree that we must enjoy and love the time we have now. It is definitely not a dress rehearsal. You have a beautiful family!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing outlook you have despite losing your mom- I couldn't imagine what that is like. I truly admire your strength and love your blog!
ReplyDeleteThat is a bummer! I love your positive outlook on life though, it is so refreshing.
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ReplyDeleteI completely know what you mean. I had big plans with money I'd been saving too until my sweet pup got sick. Didn't even bat an eye when they told me how much. Got to do what you got to do...even if it really (really) sucks sometimes.
ReplyDeleteYour family is too cute!
That thought about denying yourself now so you can live big later is something I struggle with all the time. I'm not good at saying no to something I want, especially if it's something little like a hot chocolate after a bad day. At some point, I came to a realization that it just wasn't worth it to stress myself out about stuff like that. Saving is awesome (and should DEFINITELY be on the to-do list), but I try to find a balance. If something happened to me tomorrow, I don't want it to be after years of being a penny-pincher and being unhappy, all in the name of "but it will be worth it in 20 years". I feel you... could be a lot worse in the big scheme of things!
ReplyDeleteMaintaining a positive attitude when hardships come is hard but it's something that is good to work at and I'm happy to see you doing so.
ReplyDeleteI struggle with the money/planning thing. I know it's important to save because you never know what will happen but it's equally important to enjoy life and not stress so much over saving, saving, saving. There is a balance, just have to find it!
You have such a positive look on how things changed for you after your mother died. I get a little future and past obsessed, but struggle with focusing on the now.
ReplyDeleteThose ugg boots remind me that I would love to have some moccasins with some fleece in them like that :)
Thanks for commenting on my blog! I just followed yours =] and I want new uggs too!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have a really good head on your shoulders about life and not sweating the small things. Though, I'm sure it was a bummer about the a/c! Love the tall brown Uggs...I have them and wear them all the time! :)
ReplyDeleteohhhh girl I am totally in the same boat right now with car problems! we just had to put wayyyy too much into one of our cars when i would've much rather put that money towards a burberry scarf as well!!! oh life, dontcha just love it sometimes! argh!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful words and thoughts you've shared here. I cannot imagine how hard it is to lose a mother, but your outlook on it now is just wonderful. It's always a good reminder to hear that you should be living in the present, and not living out of fear.
ReplyDeleteHave a happy Monday :)
This is such a great perspective to have. I agree with you that our lives aren't dress rehearsals and we only get one shot so we should enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to look at the car repair, that there could be so many worse things that could happen. Great Christmas list though. ;-)
ReplyDeletelove your blog!! so sorry about your car...we are also driving our Christmas present this year. well...Christmas, birthday and anniversary present actually :P
ReplyDeletehttp://livelaughandlovealwaysss.blogspot.com/
what a great outlook on life you have!! and you're right, spending money on cars is never a fun expense, unless it's buying a new one that has no issues!! very cute blog, check mine out if you get a chance!
ReplyDeletei'm a mommy with a makeup problem..http://www.jennysuemakeup.com
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful piece of information. I must say that while reading your post I found my thoughts in agreement with the topic that you have discussed, which happens very rare.
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