Big decisions = big changes

Often you’ll hear people say small changes can make a big difference. Well guess what, big changes also make big differences. But usually, big changes are harder. A lot harder. 

Recently Alvaro & I made a hard decision. 

When we first got married {two years ago this month!!} we started planning a trip to Hawaii. We couldn’t wait. The plan was to go the following summer. However, plans changed and we decided the timing wasn’t quite right. 

No biggie, we’ll go next summer. We started planning, saving, dreaming, and pinning our ideas. Again, we couldn’t wait! We were planning to go in September this year. 

However, when we sat down & looked at the money we’d be making over the summer plus some extra coming in we had a big decision to make. We could either do what we really wanted to do (HAWAII) or do what we knew we should do, make Dave Ramsey proud & pay off some debt.

So after crunching the numbers a couple times, talking about the pros and cons, and deciding what would be best for our family; we decided to put the trip on hold again. 

I know it may not seem like a big deal and it really isn’t, but it is a bummer. I know Alvaro & I were really looking forward to our first big vacation away. 

But there are so many positive things about making that tough/big decision. 

• We won’t feel any guilt about paying those things off. We were worried we’d be thinking about what we should have done while laying on the beach and not enjoy the trip as much. 
• This will set us up great for the next couple years. If any great opportunities come up for Al to be apart of a research team or participate in an internship, he can do it! We won’t have to make our decisions on him getting a job to pay the bills. The idea that he can pursue his goals and have the opportunity makes me so excited for him! 
• These tough decisions are tough now, but I think they’ll get harder as we get older, stuck in our ways, and have kids or a house. While it’s just the two of us, we can sacrifice and scrap by. Also, I think learning these lessons while we’re younger is just going to help us as we get older. 
• We’re learning and practicing our communication skills. I was able to tell Al that I knew what the right decision was but it’s hard not to make the wrong decision out of emotions. Being able to tell him that and know he understands what I mean is such a great feeling. Neither of us wanted to make the final decision and have to tell the other person that we weren’t going. Instead we were able to talk it through and come to that decision together. We’re a team. 

So hopefully sometime in the nearish future, we’ll be laying guilt/debt free on a beach, enjoying each other, and grateful that we made the right decision. I believe we’ll look back and see this decision as a huge turning point in our lives. 

Deep down we know we’re changing our family tree and just like Dave Ramsey says: 

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