Money, Money, Money, MOONNNEEEYYYY

So I have two good things today- one for me and one for my lovely fiance Barrett!  First, because we are learning to put each other first, I have such a wonderful fiance.  Just this past week he found out he got a promotion at his job after being there for only about 8 months!  He works so hard at everything he does and especially at his job!  He is so good that they actually created the position for him!  He works in marketing at a hospital and has done wonders for their orthopedic departments marketing.  I am so proud of him and can't wait to walk alongside such an amazing, inspiring, hard working man. (oh, and he will get a raise, hence the title of this post).
And for me, I have become pretty good at managing our money.  I am faithful with giving back to the church at least what God asks of us as well as other organizations that I am either involved in or that are put in my path for a time.  I have also become better at budgeting, saving and questioning my purchases.  We are still able to enjoy eating out (which we LOVE), buying a few fun things for ourselves (like Elton John tickets...APRIL 15!!!) and put back in savings.  We are so blessed to be where we are and we realize that we have a big responsibility as stewards of what God has given us!  Although with both of our careers we have the potential to make a very good income, we continue to remind ourselves that though we are IN THE WORLD we are not OF THE WORLD!  We will enjoy the good things of this world, because God wants us to find joy in this lifetime, but our ultimate JOY is in Him, not in things!
I love managing our finances and looking for more ways to save and give!
              Top three of my favorite categories in our budget (all 2nd to our giving to our family-the Church):
               Entertainment/Gifts (I love spending time with Barrett and getting people things!)
               House FUNd (spelled just that way, I love getting new stuff for the house and making it more hospitable)
               Netflix (this means we get an xbox, save money by getting rid of cable, and I get to cuddle up with Barrett and watch movies)!!
Love, Whitney

Picture- Barrett and I purchasing our first 'couples' thing...new washer and dryer!

Positive Polly

I was thinking the other day about what direction I wanted to take this blog.  Several things came to mind, but the very first was making an all positive blog.  I tend to be my very worst critic, and I know that many of us our, but honestly I tear myself down A LOT! Barrett is always on me for not telling him the good I do in school, compliments I get, etc.  It's sort of a dilemma that I have because I don't want to sound prideful though I know I do well at somethings, but I also just tend to harbor on the negative and dismiss the positive/successes.  I also have a hard time taking credit because I know all things are for the glory of the Lord, not our own.  So my idea was to get on here when there is time and write things I have done well, and only things I have done well so to boost my confidence.
Then I thought of several other ideas not really coming to any conclusion.  I sort of dismissed the idea because in all honesty I don't really need to take the time to do this with school and wedding planning.  However, I talked with Barrett last night about it and he thought the 'all positive' thing sounded like a great idea.  And besides, my prayer journal is almost full so maybe I could take a spin at this occasionally.
I don't plan to do this often and I am not even going to seek out followers, but this gives me a way to 'talk' out loud and build myself up.  I wont say that I will commit to 100% all positive, but I do commit that in every entry I will follow anything that isn't purely positive with something that is positive!  And sometimes they will be really small and silly, but it will hopefully help me to build confidence!
Ok, so my positive for today...although I did wake up late I have been productively studying for our pathology test we have coming up and I made good waffles this morning even though I have a stinky waffle maker!

Picture: not actually of the waffles but of me cooking homemade stuff crust pizza and sugar cookies for Barrett and mine's first Christmas together!

Always Distracted

So I probably wont do this for very long or if I am able to keep it up I will probably only be posting occasionally.  With dental school and a wedding to plan I really should be more focused on those things.  I am in the process of learning to be a dentist, a wife, a better daughter and granddaughter, a pet owner, house owner and Christ follower.  I don't always get things right, in fact, I rarely do, but there's grace.  I'm learning to really accept that grace.  It's not easy and often I want to not believe I am worthy of it, I am my worst critic, but a free gift can't be earned.  His grace is sufficient.

 Picture: Just a coffee cup I love!  Makes me think of sitting on my computer in my living room sipping on some coffee while I blog (or study)!