Work hard, play hard.

If there's one thing my parents instilled in me, it was a good work ethic.  I've always tried to be a hard worker.  I don't believe in receiving something, without working hard for it. 

Sean and I work our butts off.  I have worked almost every single Saturday since Christmas.  Sean has been working 60+ hour work weeks since starting his new job.  Sometimes the most time we spend together is when we are sleeping next to each other at night. 

I'm not complaining, I promise I'm not.  Sean and I have a good life.  Sean and I have a great life.  We both have good jobs, a beautiful home, great families, nice cars, amazing friends, we're healthy, we're best friends, completely in love...the list of our blessings could go on and on.  We're not lucky, we're truly blessed.  I (like everyone) complain about my/our "problems", but I realize we are blessed.  However, those blessings don't come without sacrifices.  Sean and I have never gotten anything handed to us.  Everything that we have, we work really hard for.  That's why I think it's so "interesting"when people call us spoiled.  Spoiled?  By who?  I would love to meet them!  Oh, I'm sorry...did I say interesting?  I meant completely absurd and erroneous. 

Our parents didn't pay for our school...trust me we're still paying it off!  We don't live off the government, if we can't afford health insurance, we don't go to the doctor.  Our first three years of marriage we didn't set foot in a doctor's office, and guess what?  When Sean dislocated his shoulder and had to go to the emergency room, we paid it off...by ourselves, imagine that. If we don't have money for groceries, we don't buy them...we don't get the government to pick up the tab.  We don't live with our parents for years on end, they've never bought/given us any of our cars, they don't co-sign with us on our mortgage or cars, or give us down payments, we pay our own way.  If we can't afford to have kids, we don't expect other people/the government to pay for them.  Our parents don't pay for our vacations, we do!  And you know what, that's okay.  So, I think it's funny, downright comical, when people tell us that we're so "lucky" and so "spoiled".  It's not luck, it's called hard work.

I think it's awesome that people have really generous parents, they're really lucky.  I've come to accept that is something that's just not in the cards for us.  We're both from big families, and we both realize that would be really difficult to do 8 or 5 times over.  Sometimes I'm envious of people that have families that help them out so much, I mean honestly...if someone was offering me free stuff/money, I realize it would be hard to turn down.  But I also believe there is something to be said for working hard for what you have, and being a grown up.

My Dad always said, "work hard, play harder." I definitely think we have adopted that phrase into our marriage.  We don't live to work, we work to live.  I've traveled my entire life, and now I'm able to travel with my best friend.  Sean seems to like it just as much as I do, and so that's what we seem to  spend most of our "disposable"income on.  Obviously, we don't have kids yet.  I feel like this is our time to get out and be able to leave for two weeks, or three, or a month without feeling guilty about leaving a kid behind.  Most of our friends and families tell us that we won't even want to leave for that long, because we would miss them too much.

  Everyone makes decisions, some good...some not so good.  But in the end, it's that individual's/couple's decision, and everyone else just has to deal with it.  Not everyone has to approve of their decisions, but they do need to respect it.  My Dad always counseled us when we were engaged/first married to enjoy our time with just the two of us.  He would tell us frequently how excited he was to one day be a Grandpa, but made sure we realized that this was the ONLY time it would ever just be the two of us.  Even if you have kids young, and they move away, you'll always have them (and then he would make a joke about some of my little brothers who would literally never move out).  But I think there is some truth to that statement, once you become a parent your life obviously changes-for the better.  From that point on, your life revolves around those wonderful children, even after they move out, grow up, and have families of their own.  They're still your children, and your life very much still is focused around them.

So, this is our situation right now, we work hard, play even harder, and get to do it with just ourselves.  And I love it, it's a great life...it's hard, but good.  Instead of saying things like we're spoiled, and making derogatory/envious remarks...It would be nice if people could just be genuinely happy for us.  And know that we work SO HARD for everything we have, make lots of sacrifices, spend every penny of our OWN money, and have come such a long way since we first got married.   I know not everyone says comments to be mean, they're mostly just ignorant....so I guess that's my point of blogging about this.  Ignorance isn't always bliss.

2012 Wrap-up!

2012 was such a big year for our little family, so I felt that I needed to highlight some of our accomplishments.  I've seen people do this before, and I think it's a great idea.  It's a good way to look back and reflect on the year.  (Yes, I know it's March...how did that happen?!)

• I switched jobs!  I went back to my old office in Allen.  My old boss begged/made me an offer I couldn't refuse, and both of us knew I wasn't happy at Willowbend Dental (literally the great and spacious building).  It's been a lot better this time around, I think for everyone involved.  Both of us got things out in the open that bothered us before, and I got some much needed experience in the grand dental field.  

• Sean graduated college.  Hallelujah! Even though there were some bumps along the way (transferring schools, switching majors, life) he made it through, and I am so proud of him.  Even though he doesn't think it's that big of a deal, it really is!  A lot of people don't ever finish, and it's definitely something to be commended for.  Hats off to the grad!

• We bought our first house!  Or in other words, we spent all of our money, haha!  It has been something we have been striving to do as long as we have been married.  I hate saving all of our money, but Sean proved it was worth it.  Fine...you were right Sean, my lips might be burning from saying that.  

• Sean FINALLY got his dream truck.  A few months after he graduated, we got him a Toyota Tacoma.  Now he doesn't have to be drooling over them every time we see one on the street.  Instead, he just says things like, "Oh my gosh, my truck is so much better than that one."  At least he's humble about it. :) I'm so glad he loves it!

• I ran my first half marathon.  Don't even ask me how, but I gained 10 pounds in the process.  I thought you're supposed to lose weight when you work out more?  What type of motivation is this supposed to give me?!  People keep telling me it's muscle...but I'm not buying it.  It was hard finding the time to train so frequently, but the end result was worth it.  I'll probably do another one in the future, hopefully I don't gain even more weight! 

• Sean got a great job.  Sean started working for STC in January.  He's a Health and Safety Consultant and does sales for them too.  It's a great job, and he gets to use his Spanish a lot, which I'm really happy about.  I always think it's a bummer when people don't get to use what they got their degree in.  He really likes the job, and he has a great boss who we've become really good friends with.   

• We went to Vegas for my brother John's wedding, it's weird not being the only one in my family married now!  We went to California for Michelle's wedding, I can't believe she's all grown up!  It seemed like she was just a baby when Sean and I were dating.  I went on my second girls trip, this time to Miami!  It was seriously AMAZING.  And last but not least, we went to Seattle to see Nate and T for Thanksgiving.  It was kind of a slow year for traveling for us...probably buying the house put on a damper on our crazy traveling antics.  But don't worry, we'll make up for it in 2013!

 Vegas baby!

Oh California...we love you.

I seriously wish I was back in South Beach, just laying out with my girls...

Missing these cuties!

We've reached so many milestones this year as a couple, as individuals, and as a family.  Overall it was a great year, and it was definitely better than 2011.  2011 was probably one of the darkest years of my life, and I hope to never repeat it.  Here's to many exciting things coming in 2013!!

Nate in Texas!

Sean's brother, Nate came to Dallas in January for a work conference.  We're so glad we got to see so much of him while he was here!

Broskis looking at Youtube videos.

The first night Nate was here, he and Daniel came over to watch BCS Championship game.  We had some of my favorite pizza from Palio's too.  This is basically what the night looked like...

 We took Nate to TopGolf, it was a little chilly that night but it was still pretty fun.

 I've heard their food was pretty good, and the rumors were true!  It may seem trivial, but for non-golfers like myself, this is a crucial.

Sean explaining logistics...



 Boom baby! (For the record Sean wanted me to put in the blog post that HE won...I can neither confirm or deny this).

 I feel like you already know if they hated me for making them take this picture...

Right before Sean took Nate back to the airport, we all met up for dinner at a Hibachi/Sushi Grill.  Seriously, delicious. 

I told them to look like they love each other, and this is what they came up with.  They really ARE brothers. :)  And we're lucky to have such a good one!  Thanks for hanging out with us while you were here in Dallas, Nate!