The moment we've all been waiting for...

I know, I know. We announced that we bought a house a month and a half ago and still no pictures of the house!! I'm totally the worst for holding everyone in suspense for so long. Well, that's about to change. Full disclosure is that we really wanted to get professional pictures taken in May to make the reveal more special, but the budget did not allow. So, if we do decide to go ahead and do that, it will have to wait till later.

We bought our house knowing in advance that it needed a little cosmetic TLC, so after closing, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work! With some help from family, we knocked out several DIY projects and decided to hire some professional help on a few others. On top of all that, we've been gradually moving out of our apartment which we completed on Memorial Day. We didn't want to take off too much time from work, so we did almost all of this on weeknights and weekends. So it's safe to say we've been busy in our first month and a half of homeownership!

I'll be revealing inside pictures as rooms are completed, so you'll have to continue to be patient for those, but for the exterior, I'm happy to show you right now!

So without further ado, here's The Piatt Family House.

It's a 1960s ranch home. As you can see, it has a two car garage and fenced-in yard which were huge wish list items for us. Of course, we have a few projects planned for the outside which include power-washing the exterior, painting the white trim, replacing the garage doors, replacing/updating the front door, but other than that, we love it! It's such a blessing that we get to come home to this place. Can't wait to show you more!

House Color Palette

I just looooooooooove colors. Picking out paint for our new house has to be the most fun part of this experience for me thus far, and I'm so excited to share what I've come up with for the color palette of our new home. I know it stresses some people out, but with my art background, I've been looking forward to this for years! Just in case anyone is interested, I'll share a little background on my color choices - where I got them and why I chose them.

WHERE DID YOU GET THIS COLOR PALETTE?

Well, I came up with this color palette on my own. I researched quite a bit on Pinterest and elsewhere, but I didn't come across a premade color scheme that was quite what I wanted for our home. Several were close, but none were an exact match. I spent a lot of time going through paint chip samples from home improvement stores and narrowed it down until I had it just right.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THESE COLORS?

First, it was really important to me to select colors that represented and felt good to BOTH of us. I have been partial to the colors "blue and gray and green - the colors of the sea" (Sarah Plain and Tall) for quite some time. Even though I've never lived near any major bodies of water, I've always loved the imagery of those colors together. For Nate, he did grow up living near a lake. Incorporating "blue and gray and green" into our home is one of the best ways I can pay homage to that for him in this season of our lives. Second, we want our home to be relaxing and inviting to both of us and our guests, so muted tones and neutrals were definitely the way I wanted to go to achieve that goal. I've always been more partial to cool colors than warm colors, so you will not really see any warm colors in my house. Finally, the color choices needed to align with our style. The best way I can describe our home decor style is half beach house/lake cottage and half victorian farmhouse chic. I am sure I will dive into what that style looks like and means to me in future posts, but for now, it's just important to note that the color scheme needs to help tie those two things together.

The inspiration for our home color palette stems from all of those reasons, which I think is kind of perfect. So there you have it - neutral white, gray, silver, and tan/beige accompanied by grayed blue-green or muted turquoise/teal/aqua - whatever you want to call that color, whether it's a light or dark shade, I love it.

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We went with Valspar paints for two simple reasons: price and successful past experience using it. There you have it, folks. Can't wait for everyone to see the finished product!

LINKS:

ValsparPaint.com
Lowes Paint

New Start

It's hard to believe how time has flown, but it's been three years since I've written in this blog. The last few years have been full of both fun and heartache, struggle and success, but for better or worse, I didn't feel the need or desire to write about them. Now, my husband Nate and I are officially starting a new chapter in our lives, and I'm excited to begin writing again.

Without further ado, I'm thrilled to announce that a few days ago we closed on the purchase of our first home!

Here we are on closing day with our realtor, Sandy, who gave us this gorgeous welcome mat for our new home.

Friends and those who have been following our story for many years will know this is a big milestone for us. We've never been shy to share about our journey towards Financial Peace because we know our transparency can help inspire others in the same way we were inspired when we first started. After 5 years of dedication and hard work while following Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps, we are so excited that the time has finally come!

I know everyone is super curious to see pictures of the house. I can assure you they are coming, but for now, maybe these details will help appease you:

The Piatt Family's New House

• 1960s brick ranch
• 3 beds | 2 baths | 1,513 sqft
• 2-car garage
• Large fenced backyard (essential for our 2 pups)

We had a great experience with our realtor, Sandy, and would definitely recommend her to anyone in the DFW area who might be looking for a house. Several people have asked about the doormat she got for us, which we absolutely LOVE. The quality is really stunning in person. Links will be at the end of this post for anyone who is interested.

I'm so excited to begin sharing about our lives again, and not surprisingly, the focus will mostly be on the house and moving in, especially for the next few months. We have the entire month of May to transition out of our apartment and into our new home. Nate and I are so grateful we aren't going to be rushing moving and can go at our own pace! The next several weeks will be filled with getting new carpet, painting, and of course, SO.MUCH.PACKING and UNPACKING. We hope you will enjoy following along with us as we get settled and reveal pictures along the way!

LINKS:
Lender: Bart at Churchill Mortgage | Realtor: Sandy at KW Kocher Team | Personalized Door Mat

Mrs. Wills aka My Mama

For those who do not know, my dynamic mama, Mrs. Linda Wills, is retiring from 40 years of teaching at the end of this school year (spring 2014). She taught elementary school from 1974 to 2014, give or take a few years she stayed home to raise her babies. But even when she was a stay-at-home/work-from-home mama, she was always teaching kids...daycare kids, us, and Sunday school kids, as well. We, as her family, have known for the past year or so that she was ready to retire soon, and we have all been excitedly looking forward to her having more free time for her hobbies and her grandchildren. But I don't think any of us realized, until now, the other emotions that come with the official end of a long career. So, I shall attempt to illustrate what those look like from my perspective.

Forty years ago this spring, Mrs. Wills was just finishing her first year of teaching in a little private Christian school in Florida, she went on to teach in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, the Logansport area of Indiana, a few different schools in the Mille Lacs region of Minnesota, in primary/kindergarten classes while also teaching college and supervising student teachers in Evansville, Indiana, and finally her longest tenure of around 14 years teaching in the Columbia School District in southern Michigan. Around the time she began teaching in Michigan, she got involved in the Reading Recovery program, and from my layman's view, she developed a new love for teaching children how to read. Whatever certification or official term they use in Reading Recovery for someone who teaches it, she has that. ;P She told me today that she has helped 58 students, kids who otherwise would be way behind and struggling in reading, learn how to read with Reading Recovery, and that doesn't count the after-school literacy groups or the kids who she has helped just normally in her classroom in the past 40 years.

Mrs. Wills circa 1974 and Mrs. Wills circa 2013. (sorry for the low res images)

Today, the elementary school where my mom teaches honored her and another retiring teacher in a surprise assembly. My younger brother and his family and my dad were able to attend. The school gave Mom 40 carnations for each of her 40 years teaching. Her principal said a few touching words, and several of her former students spoke and told everyone their favorite memories of having her for a teacher.

I wasn't able to be there, but I know for a fact that Mrs. Wills is an amazing teacher, and I can say that without bias because she was my teacher too, and no, I was never "homeschooled." She was my preschool teacher when I was 3 and 4. Then, when my kindergarten teacher took several weeks (months?) off for medical leave, Mrs. Wills was our long-term substitute. She also subbed for my first grade teacher. Then, she got hired full time at a private Christian school in the country where she was my second grade teacher and then third grade teacher the next year. So I've had her for a teacher more years than anyone else ever did, I think, so I think that makes me pretty much an expert on how great of a teacher she is. (My brother Jonathan is a close second, having her for a teacher for 2-3 years, if I remember correctly.)

Mom was very clear to explain to me that at home, she was mommy, but at school, she needed to be Mrs. Wills. I understood and apparently was able to compartmentalize well enough that when I was in second grade, one of my classmates heard me accidentally call her "mommy" once. This was well into the school year, and she was absolutely stunned to find out after all that time that Mrs. Wills was my mom! :D
 

I remember lots of the things we did in school. In preschool we made flying purple people eaters for a craft. I'm sure that ages me a ton because that is an OLD song, but I remember doing that. I also remember making "footprint paintings" outside by stepping in paint and then walking on a long piece of craft paper. Those teachers were saints to do such a messy craft with us preschoolers. I work with 2 and 3 year olds at my church, and I just can't imagine. I don't know if it was my mom's brainchild or not, but we made Minnesota loons in kindergarten. Funny how I remember the arts and craft projects. I know we did lots of other things, but those are the things I remember the most.

I remember Mrs. Wills' creative lessons from second and third grade very well, like when we learned about apples in September and incorporated math, problem-solving, reading, writing, art, and probably lots of other great lessons in that one theme. We did another one in October about pumpkins. I have so many memories from those years. All of the Bible verses we memorized. And the way we celebrated birthdays. The things we learned about nature. And one year, Mom and her fellow teachers wrote a play based on A Charlie Brown Christmas. There are lots and lots of amazing teachers out there, but I'm not sure how many would add the task of basically writing their own script for a Christmas play to an already busy time of year. That was HANDS DOWN the best and most memorable Christmas play I've ever been involved in – in the history of more-than-I-can-count Christmas plays I've participated in. I still remember all the details they added and how involved everyone was in designing the props and the costumes. Snoopy's dog house made out of a school desk with a cardboard cutout was just awesome. If you care to know, I was cast as the little girl, Violet, who at the beginning, Charlie Brown thanks for sending him a Christmas card. She tartly replies, "I didn't send you a Christmas card, Charlie Brown!" And that was my one line. :) I am so appreciative of all the teachers who go that extra mile to make an impression on kids for decades to come.

I have had lots of excellent teachers, but I think I owe a lot to the early reading and writing skills instilled in me by my mom in early elementary school. By the time I was in 8th grade, I was helping her grade college writing papers (basically doing it myself while she double-checked my work).  She was teaching a basic writing class at a local college for students who wanted to attend college but didn't pass the writing requirements to be able to enroll. She knew I was fully capable to grade their work because she knew I learned things in elementary school that those students hadn't learned. And she taught me those things...how to spell, how to write a complete sentence with a subject and a verb and the various alternate endings, how to construct a paragraph, and how to be descriptive in creative writing. I'm still working on how to be concise. ;) Thank you for teaching me those things, mama, and thank you for having the confidence in me to use what I knew at a young age. I truly believe I'm a better writer for it.

*cue the sappy*

I was looking at the pictures of my mom in her early teaching career and noticing how much Andrew looks like her and how much she looks like her dad, my GrampE. And then I got a little emotional because I know how proud her dad was and would be of her if he were still living. I know how proud he would be because I know how proud her mother is of her. I can't even imagine what it's like to live to see your only child RETIRE from her 40-year-long career, but I know she is bursting with pride. She constantly tells me, "she works so hard." GramE's right, and Mom does it because she knows the kids deserve it. See, my grandma remembers the little kindergartener/first grader who had a HORRIBLE, cruel teacher who embarrassed her and made her cry. She remembers the little girl that swore to herself that she would grow up and be a teacher . . . and that she would be a kinder and better teacher than that woman was. I think she has fulfilled that ten-fold. My mom is engaging, driven, patient, inspiring, and so many other things any teacher would want to be said about them. I see no comparison between the two, other than the title "teacher".

So in four more days, this 40-year-long career officially ends. But she will never stop teaching. She will continue to educate every child she ever comes into contact with because that is who she is. I can't wait to see what this next phase of life holds for her and the rest of our family.  I know I speak for everyone when I say that GramE, Dad, Andrew, Jonathan, your daughters-in-law, your son-in-law, your three-and-counting grandbabies, and I are so proud of you. I love you so very much, Mrs. Wills. <3 br="">

Becoming Free

We knew the day would come, but now that it's finally here, it's hard to put into words exactly what it feels like, but knowing me, I'll find a way. ;)

Twenty-eight months ago, Nate and I set out on a journey to change our lives. Neither of us had much natural ability to handle money nor were either of us taught a whole lot about it. We, of course, thought we kinda-sorta knew what to do, and I, being the daughter of one of the most thrifty women I've ever known, prided myself on stretching a dollar. But we had done a few too many small irresponsible "normal" American things and had gotten ourselves into debt. Based on the dozens and dozens of stories we've heard and read about, the amount of debt we had was actually pretty average...maybe even below average. But it felt pretty huge to us. The total we had in debt in January 2012 was somewhere in the neighborhood of $28,500.

That number was comprised of the remaining total of two vehicle loans and two student loans, but our breaking point was our credit card. See, we had been taught that we "needed" a credit card but to never carry a balance on one. And we did that faithfully for years until one month we spent just a small amount more than we should have, you know, since we weren't really budgeting properly, and that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Nate and I knew we couldn't pay it that month, and it just slowly snowballed. This was bad. I can vividly remember the horrible sick feeling I had, the pit in my stomach, and the sleeplessness I felt at night worrying about it. Nate has relayed to me similar feelings. Finances can be a very emotional, very private issue, because you never want to tell anyone you are struggling. We had an okay income to live on, but we were living paycheck to paycheck. Nate and I have never felt so miserable as we did then – just spiritually and emotionally sick. We prayed desperately for an answer because we were ready to change our habits so that we never had to feel that way again. God heard our prayers, as He always does, and we dove into the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University materials that had been loaned to us as well as his book that we had actually purchased in 2009 (but we weren't ready to put into practice then).

We started attending FPU at our church in January 2012, and we attacked our homework together every week. Nate and I have always loved spending time together and have never really had too much of a communication issue in our marriage, but working on a budget together and planning for the future and attacking OUR debt together was one of the best and most rewarding things we have ever done. We had many budget date nights, which I am sure sounds super lame to anyone reading this who hasn't done it themselves, but they are such happy memories for us. Running the numbers was actually kind of fun! It was exciting to see that each month we'd be closer and closer to another milestone and making our goals and dreams into reality. We graduated from FPU that spring, and by that time, we had already paid off and CUT UP our credit card.

(I know the credit card topic is controversial, but let me just say that now that we budget with a zero-based budget and do a new budget every single month, we could easily manage a credit card in a financially responsible way (if we believed in borrowing money for anything besides a house, which we don't). HOWEVER, we never ever want to feel the way we felt 2.5 years ago ever again. Now that we don't have a credit card, we can rest assured we never will.)

Right around the time we graduated from FPU, we also were able to pay off our truck. The snowball kept rolling. We then paid off our car, my student loan, and finally Nate's student loan. It's easy to run through the list of those quickly now, but the months and months in between each made it feel like it was going to stretch on forever. But as each was paid off, we were able to add more to the next debt. We sacrificed some (we probably could have sacrificed more and paid it off sooner), but we persevered and kept hitting those small victories.

The last debt is always the largest, and we knew it was going to take us many months to pay off the last student loan. But you know Murphy, right? The guy with the law that anything that can go wrong will go wrong? Well, job-loss struck us, and it struck us hard. There is some statistic Dave Ramsey gives that some crazy high percentage of people will face a major negative event once every 10 years. I'm pretty sure this was ours, and it hit a little earlier than we'd have liked. We lost both of our major sources of income all in one day. It was terrible, and I've blogged about it if you'd like to look those up and read about what happened.

After that catastrophe, we just took one month at a time, and by the grace of God, no seriously...there is no natural way we should have been okay for 3 months after the layoff without God's hand in our lives...we managed to keep budgeting and stretching everything so much so that we wound up living off our income from the months of November and December until February and March. Because we follow Dave Ramsey's plan, we only had a baby emergency fund in savings. A tiny little $1,000 to use if we needed it in an emergency. Since losing our jobs, WE HAVEN'T USED IT ONCE. That makes me emotional just to write that. Only a great God could perform a miracle like that. I never thought about it until now, but it reminds me of the loaves and fishes miracle in the Bible. We kept taking from the "basket" (rolling over our excess income from one month to the next), and there continued to be enough excess for the next month. It just kept going and going. Honestly, we didn't earn THAT much in November or December, but God is our Provider and our Sustainer.

During those months, we went through a long "What do you want us to do next, God?" process with a job for Nate that required a lot of waiting and then wasn't a good fit for him. Eventually he found a job that was a great fit for him, and I did as well. But our income was (is) significantly reduced. We went into, and honestly still are, in survival mode. Not paycheck to paycheck like before FPU, but just not really able to hit any goals right now because we are still establishing a new normal. But  now we have this huge overwhelming peace financially because if ever we should, or would, feel that horrible sick feeling, if ever we were to get that pit in our stomachs again, it should be now. "Funny" that Dave Ramsey's class is called "Financial Peace" because that's exactly what we have now. In the midst of what some would call a storm, we're totally okay. It's a feeling I'd wish to give to everyone in the world if I could.

So now to answer the question everyone MUST be asking: "if you're just getting back on your feet then, how on earth are you talking about becoming debt free?!?" Well, all I can tell you is that God is faithful. Philippians 1:6 says that "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion." I'm no theologian and maybe I have snatched that out of context, but I can think of no better answer to how we have arrived to where we now are. God absolutely does provide, and He saw and knew the desires of our hearts, and through some very special people in our lives, He completed it.

So ours is not the conventional way most people finish paying off their consumer debt, and that's okay! This is our story, and this just happens to be the way it is happening for us. It would be awesome to be able to say we worked our tails off getting 3 and 4 part time jobs and selling so much stuff that the dogs thought they were next, but that wasn't the way God had for us. That's not to say we didn't work hard because we most certainly did. And it's not to say we didn't sacrifice because there is no other reason I would have spent a year apart from my husband while he traveled all over the East and Midwest than with this goal in mind. But when all of our hard work and traction came to a skidding halt, God knew what he had for us. My first reaction to the news that we would be able to pay our last debt off in one lump sum was simply "God is faithful." And never in my life have I believed that so genuinely as I did in that moment and still do. We never would have planned any of this to happen, but God knows what He's doing for sure!

So this week we have paid off our last debt, we celebrated with other FPU grads, and this weekend, Dave Ramsey and his daughter, Rachel Cruze are speaking at our church!!! The next step for us is Baby Step #3, saving up a fully funded emergency fund of 3-6 months in expenses. With our new jobs, we really have no idea how long this will take us, but we'll get there. All that's left to say is what we've been waiting to say for 28 months:

WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Jobs

An update is definitely in order!

If you haven't heard, two weeks ago, I started a new job working in childcare at our church. I don't really have a lot to say about it, but I do really like it. I work with 2's and 3's. I actually got sick about a week ago and now have bronchitis, so I have actually only worked a handful of days so far.

After our announcement about a month ago that Nate was hired by AT&T, he went through orientation to learn more information about the job. We discovered more about what the position required than the job description actually explained, and apparently about 1/3 of new hires for premises technician do not make it past the first week of training. Nate was determined to give it his all, and he absolutely did, but by the second day, we knew it was not to be. Nate felt very discouraged because he really wanted to succeed, but after much prayer, we really felt an overwhelming peace that it was okay. We should have been very freaked out by the unknown future, but we really weren't. Only a few short days later, our church was having their annual men's conference, called Men's Summit. I strongly encouraged my introverted husband to attend knowing how much I enjoy the women's conference, and now that his schedule allowed, he did decide to go with my brother. It was so amazing for him to have the opportunity to take time away from our employment troubles to spend time with God and other godly men. If the job at AT&T had worked out, he would not have been able to go. God's timing is perfect.

Before the conference, Nate applied to a few new jobs and on the last day of the conference, he heard back about an available position in Flower Mound (a suburb north of us in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex). If you knew us before we moved to Texas, you'll know that Nate worked for a campground in southern Michigan for about 5 years. He worked outside in all seasons doing mostly groundskeeping and lawn maintenance type work. This new position is similar, in the city parks and athletic fields. Anyway, he was hired, and he just completed his first week. It offers really great benefits, and he is doing amazingly well considering it is only his first week. There is definitely room for growth for Nate to move up from this entry-level position. We are really excited that we are finally on a road to some semblance of normalcy, and we are looking forward to seeing what the future holds for us now!

Pinterest and The Amazingness of Tissue Paper Poms

So, I looooove Pinterest. A few years ago when "everyone" started joining Pinterest, I draaaaaged my feet about it. No way did I need another website addiction of the social media variety. But then I discovered what it's all about, and it has been one of my favorite things on the Internet since...well, ever. I love creativity and decorating and of course designing things, and Pinterest is the best place to put all of those wonderful things. And well, recipes. I am not a fan of cooking, so Pinterest helps make it more enjoyable for me.

I have also grown to looooove decorating the space where we live. That space is currently a two-bedroom apartment, and as such, I am limited on space and by the fact that the walls, ceilings, and floors are not actually mine. But I love home decor just the same.

That being said, our second bedroom has gone through some major transitions since we moved in almost exactly three years ago. It started out as strictly an office space with a GINORMOUS desk I bought from IKEA after we were first married. And then we wanted the room to function as a guestroom for family visiting from Michigan and for nieces to take naps in. But we also needed the room to house our printers, scanners, filing cabinet, etc. So in order to make this guestroom function in all of the above capacities, I turned to Pinterest to PIN some inspiration. Novel idea. ;) I found lots of ideas for putting a double bed and a crib and an office in the same space. But to make a long and boring story short, I got rid of the IKEA desk and was able to implement many of the ideas I had pinned. I wound up putting a wardrobe/armoire in one of the corners of the room. Doing so created a nasty dead space/hole, and the artist in me needed to hide and soften that corner to make it look more cozy, and intentional, and pleasing to the eye. I thought of hanging paper poms from the ceiling, searched for the best tutorial I could find, and pinned it to my office decor board for later.

My, oh, my, what a seemingly innocent thing to do. As with most people, I joined Pinterest just to keep personal pinboards and didn't necessarily care if anyone else ever saw what I pinned on this or any other boards. But then when people started liking the things that I found, I thought that was actually pretty cool.

I found this link about one year ago, and it is now my most repinned pin I've ever pinned. ;) I'm sure other people are used to this, but me, not so much. I get notified almost daily about someone else repinning or liking my pin, which is definitely kind of exciting even if it doesn't actually mean anything or say anything about my curating skills.

The lady who wrote the tutorial is to be commended. It really is a good one. I mean, tissue paper poms are NOT rocket science, but if you're like me or the over 400 other people who liked or repinned my pin, you love the visuals and the step-by-step instructions, even if you don't actually NEED to be told how to make something you likely made in grade school. She has tips for the best ways to hang them and a great link for getting nice tissue paper in a wide variety of colors, which I used and was very impressed with as I just did not have any success finding shades of brown tissue paper at my local Party City or Target. As you can imagine, not many people use BROWN tissue paper for gift-wrapping. ;) You can see her tutorial here.

And just for fun, here's how my project turned out.

Four of the poms are four different shades of brown tissue paper and the fifth one is made out of pages from an old book. The last was by far the hardest pom to make as the paper was small and brittle, but I love the effect it created. I actually have a different lamp there now, but the space is filled in exactly the way I wanted it to be. I personally think it is a GREAT look for a room that functions as a pseudo-nursery and as a guestroom with an office in the large closet.