Live Like You Were Dying

I've said many times "If I knew then what I know now...." we would have never spent $35,000 on our wedding and we would have never purchased a time share before we were married. But then I look at it this way-you only live once. Life is too short not to enjoy it. Alex and I never took a vacation together while we were dating, other than to Chicago to visit his sister and Kansas City for his uncle's wedding. The year we got engaged we went to Hocking Hills with my family and just before we got married we went to Las Vegas. On our way to Vegas we talked about our vision for our future...we wanted to be able to take a vacation every year with our children, because we didn't have those experiences growing up...money was too tight. One our first night in Vegas we got sucked into a time share presentation so we could get free tickets to two shows. We thought for sure we would be able to walk away saying "no" to any offer they presented us, but when they kept dropping the price of the condo, threw in two "bonus weeks" AND explained all the amenities of owning a time share...we couldn't say "no."

We weren't planning on going on an anniversary trip when we found out we were pregnant and due two weeks after our anniversary. But when we lost Logan in January we knew there was no sense in staying home for our anniversary because it just would have been depressing. We had so much fun and got to explore a state neither of us had been to-beautiful Virginia. We used one of our "bonus weeks" so all we paid was $200 for a 7 night stay at the Massanutten Resort. Just before we were getting ready to leave for our anniversary trip, I got a phone call from our time share company trying to sell us another vacation package. I kept trying to say no...but then I just couldn't when I realized the package included 5 vacations, including a cruise.

Alex and I have always wanted to take a cruise. When we found out we were pregnant in September and due in May...we knew we wouldn't be taking any vacations during the time or the months to follow the birth of our baby. But when we miscarried again in October, we decided we wanted to "get away." Last year on my birthday I was so depressed because just 5 days prior I had a d&c. This year, I wanted my birthday to be different. I didn't want to be sitting around home thinking to myself "wow, 27...I thought I would have at least 1 kid by now and I don't have any." We decided it was the perfect time to take our cruise.

On my 27th birthday this year we ventured from Ohio to Florida for our first road trip and our first cruise. First stop was Chattanooga, TN and what a beautiful hotel we stayed at! Second stop was Nokomis, FL to spend two nights with Alex's mom and step-dad who vacation in FL every winter. They had been asking us for the past 7 years to visit them while they were in FL and we either didn't have the time or the money. There were no excuses this year. Third stop was Miami, FL where we are staying tonight and then tomorrow we set sail for our 5 day Eastern Caribbean cruise to the Grand Turks and Caicos Island and The Bahamas.

 

I've always been one to stress out about money....it was how I was raised. I've decided now I'm not going to stress. We've always figured it out. I'm just going to live my life like I was dying...and use whatever time Alex and I have together to see the world. I have to say, too, I am so glad I have something fun to do to pass the time that we have to wait during our IVF cycle! I would be so bored and impatient if we were just sitting at home! So Friday I started week 2 of birth control, we finished our antibiotic regime on Thursday, and this coming Thursday I start the first round of injections!