Sunday, December 14, 2014

My 25th Birthday Bucket List in Review

My 25th birthday has finally come and gone and I must say that this has truly been the best birthday of my life. I was surrounded by my incredibly loving family and friends and that's honestly all that I wanted.

Back in September, I stumbled across a post by a very influential person in my life and was inspired to create my very own birthday bucket list. So, I compiled 15 different things that I really wanted to accomplish by my 25th birthday. It took me a few hours, but I loved this idea of accountability. It really pushed me to do some incredible things before my birthday.

I set my bucket list to be my phone lock screen cover so I could see what I needed to accomplish, every single day. That in itself was completely motivating, because it pushed me to stay focused on what I needed to do.

I am very proud of how many things I was actually able to check off and this is a review of my bucket list:

1. My husband and I became debt free (besides my car) back in September. It was honestly such an incredibly freeing experience. We had 3 huge debts left to pay off and we actually hadn't planned on paying them off for a few more months. But since we had been enrolled in our Financial Peace University class (goal #4), Dave Ramsey taught us the importance of becoming debt free immediately. We buckled down, limited our amount we were saving, and decided to attack this debt with full force using his debt snowball method. By October, we had officially tackled this extremely rewarding goal and had paid off all debt besides our car.

2. I had started reading personal development books by the end of July. These books have completely changed me. They have opened my eyes and heart to a whole other view of myself...hence why they are called personal development. Not only have these books helped me develop as a person, but they have also transformed me. I have read 9 books since then...so close to hitting my goal of 10. But I still have taken in so much since July. I will soon be reviewing all 9 books I have read that I feel have completely revamped how I feel, so stay tuned.

3. Unfortunately, my husband and I did not reach half our goal in our savings account. We were so close, but since we had decided to pay off our car starting in November, we decided to use a good chunk for it. It was still for a very good reason, so we do not feel bad that we didn't reach this goal. But when we finally become debt free, we know we will be able to obtain this goal.

4. My husband and I successfully attended Dave Ramsey's 9-week Financial Peace class from September until mid November. What an incredible experience that was. We had already been huge fans of Dave before taking his class, but this experience was absolutely one of the best decisions we have made to take back our lives and to stop becoming slaves to the lenders.

5. Saving $500 in cash for an emergency fund was a lot harder than I had anticipated and once we decided on this...we knew we had to get it done. However, while taking our financial class, Dave Ramsey had said that a $1000 cash emergency fund was needed for people who made a specific amount of money. I looked at my husband and I knew we had to up it to another $500. Just when I thought that was hard, I honestly had no idea how we were going to save 1k. After reviewing our finances, we realized we already had the money...except it was being used as a "just in case fund." This seemed trivial compared to what Dave envisioned for this emergency fund. So we decided to follow Dave's advice and we were able to accomplish this by September.

6. Becoming a certified fitness instructor had been a huge dream and vision of mine for a good few years. I honestly never thought I would have the guts to do anything like it. However, when the opportunity struck, I felt God was giving me a sign. After getting 3 and 4 second opinions from family and friends, I finally decided to take on this dream. I officially became a certified PiYo instructor in October. It was by far one of the most memorable things I have accomplished.

7. Jeremy and I found CCV back in August and have attended every Sunday or Saturday service since then. I honestly cannot imagine missing church now. I truly look forward to attending service every week. This church has also completely changed me. My relationship with God is stronger now than it has ever been. We are proudly able to officially call CCV our home (goal #15).

8. We met with our church group almost every Tuesday. We missed only two meetings because I wanted to share my time with joining an amazing workout for Fitness in the District. I was completely torn when I found out that both activities were happening the same nights and at the same times. But I felt God was giving me the opportunity to do both.

9. Making church friends was one of the most intimidating things I added when I first created my bucket list. We had only been attending CCV for about 3 weeks. But deep in our hearts we knew CCV was the place we wanted to grow in our faith with. And having like-minded people and friends in our life is absolutely important to us. Since then, we have made a few good friends and my hope is to make many more.

10. Becoming move involved with our church was the best decision we have made. We attended Dave's financial class through CCV, as well as their Starting Point class, and now we are officially members. We are looking into serving as that is what we would like to eventually do next.

11. I unfortunately did not complete Body Beast. I was about 2 weeks away from finishing, but my body started terribly missing cardio. I decided to stop and started another workout. While, I am sad I didn't finish Body Beast, I am very happy I started 21 Day Fix. I was getting so much cardio in and my body seriously thanked me for it. It's also a great mix of weights and cardio, so I was still putting my muscles to work!

12. I completed 21 Day Fix before my original date of December 14th, because I had started a whole week before I had originally anticipated. I am very happy with this decision as this is definitely one of my favorite workouts.

13. Having scheduled family time on Saturday and Sunday is so very important to us, but things can get hectic fast. But we stayed focused and made sure to make time with our families and with our own. You could tell how much Aiden loved and benefited from this. He loves spending time with us and he always looked forward to the weekends.

14. Having scheduled date nights with my husband is also very important and we focused hard on this goal as well. Our marriage and relationship has also significantly benefited from having 1-2 date nights per month even while on our strict budget.

15. Becoming baptized together with my family. This was absolutely the most meaningful one of all. Something that I put on the list and had absolutely zero clue if it was something that would happen. But deep down in my heart, I knew this was something my husband and I needed. On November 23rd, my husband and I joined hand in hand in front of our family and friends and not only renewed our faith in God together, but renewed and re-accepted God into our marriage. We now have God as our center and focus of our relationship and family. We have never felt happier or stronger. With God on our side, who can be against us?

What an incredible past few months it has been. Experiences and memories I will never forget. As I look back and reflect, I can't help but get emotional at how much God has truly blessed me with. God has become my center and focus of everything in my life and I would have never been able to accomplish any of this without Him.

-Becky

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