Happy Valentine's Day!

Tim and I officially celebrated Valentine's Day on Friday but today was just as sweet. I'll be the first to admit that the next few paragraphs will be very sentimental and a tad bit corny I'm sure. First off, a topic you're not supposed to really supposed to talk about but hey, this is my blog and I need to vent. Sometimes it gets a little tough with Tim being in optometry school for the past four years and trying to survive on my salary plus Tim's student loans. Tim goes to school with a lot of very fortunate people who have houses paid for by their parents, nice cars, tuition paid for, no undergrad loans, and parents who will pay for just about anything/everything. This year has been especially hard for us with the cost of all of Tim's board exams and paying for Sofia's childcare which was an area where we were not willing to settle for something cheap that we didn't feel comfortable with.

With me being the bill payer and what Tim calls his "sugar mama" for the past few years I have to admit I sometimes find myself wondering why everyone else seems to have it so much easier. Tim and I struggle to make car payments on the cheapest car Toyota makes and when we bought a second car last May so we could both get to our jobs, we bought a 12 year old used car  :) It's stressful to think about how much we will be paying in loans each month for the next 10-25 years for both of our undergraduate degrees, my Master's degree, and the biggest ticket item of all, Tim's four years of optometry school. We hope that all of this money, hard work and sacrifice will lead to Tim getting a good job that he enjoys and hopefully one day a better future for our kids. My point is that it's really easy for me to let myself become consumed in fear and worry about our situation but this morning I had a nice little reminder to be thankful for what I do have. I have a handsome, loving husband who is an incredible father. We are both blessed with a healthy, sweet, adventurous and happy little girl who is the light of our lives. To quote one of my favorite sappy songs that is sort of an anthem for Tim and I, "Even though we ain't got money, I'm so in love with you honey". We will probably be broke for a long time with all of our school loans but we have enough to get by.

I woke up this morning to kisses from my husband and daughter before enjoying the morning chaos of trying to get three people and a dog ready to go before 7:00am. I couldn't wait to pick Sofia up after school today. I absolutely love picking her up. As soon as I walk in she gets the biggest smile on her face and then speed crawls over to me to give me a hug. Today she even had a Valentine and balloon for me. The balloon provided a lot of entertainment tonight. We picked up a very romantic pizza dinner that I had an old "Groupon" for and went home. For memory's sake I ordered one of the only pizzas my husband and I could ever agree on when we first started dating. He isn't a big fan of veggies and I love vegetables, olives and strange cheeses. So in college and after we would usually settle on a Hawaiian style pizza. Ironically we don't actually order it much anymore because we usually get pizza with other people who will generally split veggie/meat pizzas so both Tim and I can get our fix of what we like. The pizza definitely brought a smile to Tim's face. This was probably one of the most low-key Valentine's days we've ever had but one of the best. I love nothing more than eating dinner with my family which usually includes lots of laughs from Sofia, crazy bath time, and then winding down with some cuddling and reading books to our daughter. Tonight, Tim and I will play Carcassone (a game we love) and probably cribbage. We are both extremely competitive and have been playing those games for years. To some people our life may seem boring, but I feel pretty darn lucky.