Behind the blog

Well friends, I know it’s been a while. Over 13 months, to be exact, since my last post. Sorry about that. If you recall, in my last post I share about how I decided to go back to school to do my Masters in TESOL. That is what has been keeping me so busy! I have literally been taking courses non-stop and haven’t had a lot of free time (more on that later). However, I am proud to report that…

I know it’s been a while. It’s been almost 11 months since my last post. I could use this post to share with you about how we packed up our lives and moved to Guatemala. I could tell you about the steep learning curve I’ve been on, learning how to teach English and mentor other English teachers. I could tell you how I thought I knew Spanish but each day I realize there is so much more to learn. But…

Sometimes big events are anti-climatic. I shared in my last blog post how Fred and I recently became debt-free and compared it to my recent experience running a 5K. Both events were big for me – milestones in my life that I will look back on with pride and fondness, and yet, both events felt a bit disappointing in the moment. Don’t get me wrong – I am so glad for both of those things, and I am proud of both…

(Some of you have already heard this news, and some of you haven’t. Either way, I’m going to share some of my thoughts about our journey to becoming debt-free. Enjoy!)  It finally happened. 6 years ago, when Fred and I got married and had almost $100,000 in debt, I didn’t know when we would ever be free. Despite the large amount of money we owed to both the Canadian and American government, we have paid faithfully every month, and on July…

So…it has been a while since I have written a blog (3 months and a few days, to be exact). I often have really good ideas for my blog, but life has been so busy with travel and work that I haven’t had the time to sit down and actually type them. I have two awesome blog ideas in my head for traveling on a budget (stay posted!) but today I will be sharing the things that I have been…

Sometimes unexpected things happen in life. We call those setbacks. Last month, we had a big setback. The check engine light in our car came on and the heat simultaneously went out. So, like responsible adults, we took it to our mechanic. He looked into it and we found the cause: we needed a new engine. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever had to replace the engine in your car (you’re lucky if you haven’t), but it is one of…

It has been 2 months and 6 days since my last post. Although you should never make excuses, mine has been summed up in one word: work. I shared with you how Fred and I were both working full-time and how that was a new season for us. I’ve decided to share some of the pros and cons of being a (true) double income no kids (affectionately known as “DINK”) family. Pros: MONEY.  Fred and I were blown away at how…

For most of my life, I have struggled with contentment. I remember even back to my elementary school days, where I always wanted what I didn’t have: boys, clothes, friends, toys, you name it. This flaw has remained with me to this very day where I still compare my life to others. I know we can all relate to this. As wonderful as social media is, it gives us a chance, through several mediums, to compare ourselves to those we…

One day, I look forward to sharing the news of being debt-free. Today is not that day. However, I wanted to share the story of another person whose life has been changed forever, and how her story affects us. Like most of you know, when Fred and I were first married and recently graduated, we had over $90,000 in debt – the bulk of which was student loans, and a line of credit used to help pay for school and…

The game is constantly changing. Maybe it’s a bit trite to call paying off our debt a “game” – maybe I should say “our reality is constantly changing” – it’s more accurate, right? Anyways, you’re probably wondering what has changed. Let me tell you. Two months ago, I shared that my husband had lost his job. It was disappointing, and we knew it would slow our debt repayment down, but we would be okay. We’d still be able to pay the…