Happy Halloween!!!

It's Drake's first Halloween, and the sweet boy is sleeping right through it! Not surprising at all for our little man. We were remarking earlier how happy we are to have such a chilled out Halloween, because we know it's the last one. After this, we'll have at least one chid who understands the concept, and will be excited. I miss our old neighborhood tonight. We used to put the firepit in our front circle, and pull chairs out front. We'd sit outside and have our adult beverages, while passing out candy to all the kiddos. Our immediate neighbors would always sit out front with us, and it was such a fun time. The kids would all come around with their parents, all dragging wagons full of small children and coolers with more adult beverages. Our neighborhood really knew how to do Halloween:-)

I've been having a pity party all week of missing Charlotte. I knew going there for the weekend would make me homesick all over again. It's not that there's one particular thing there that is so amazing. It's simply that I feel more myself there, more comfortable in my own skin. I just feel more "me" there. I'm not sure I'll ever get to that point here in Florence, but it has only been just under two months. I love having my parents nearby for a multitude of reasons, and I like my job a lot. But I don't know if those two things will be enough to keep us here after my two year contract is up.

I've been back on the debt reduction bandwagon. Not that I was ever off, but I've been thinking about it more recently. Our focus right now is not exactly debt, but rather avoiding it. We desperately need a new car before Shim #2 gets here. We are more than likely buying a used Honda Pilot. It has the features I want, and is reasonable priced. My plan is to not spend over 20K. We REALLY don't want a car loan. So, we are saving!!! We're almost to the $7000 mark, and I'm so proud of us. I'd love to take that money and head on some tropical vacation like we normally do. But since Dave Ramsey and my "education", my mindset is different. Having children changes that as well. I want to work part time, between 24-30 hours a week. But until our debt is gone, that won't be an option.

2 of our 5 large debt items are gone. First was our credit cards back in Aoril, and second is my school loan/scholarship from the hospital I now work for. Coming back here to work has huge financial advantages! In just those two things alone, we've eliminated almost $50,000 in debt. Go us!!! After we purchase our new to us car, the next thing on my agenda is my official grad school loan. It's the big one from the federal goverment, and I can't wait to start paying on it! My goal is to start on that by next May. We don't know what our tax situation will look like next year, and we may have to pay. That may change our plan significantly.

We are still (im)patiently waiting for our house to sell in Charlotte. The market is just sucking right now, so we are optimistic for spring. I really hope it sells in the spring. That will eliminate large debt item number three- our home equity line. We have talked lately about doing something completely radical, from my usual viewpoint. We have talked about taking the profit from selling our house, and outright paying off our federal student loans. That would take us to being completely debt free!!! That is such crazy concept for me. But thanks to Dave (Ramsey), I realize that is actually how we should be living our lives. We would continue to rent, and our rent is super duper cheap. Really cheap rent, combined with no debt, means alot of money coming into this house each month. Which means we then save like responsible adults, for a house down payment. It's just an idea we've toyed around with. I don't know if we'll actually do it when we get to that point, but it's a viable option to consider.

I never thought I'd be considering such ideas. Thanks Dave for opening my eyes to how freeing it is to have no debt.