A Love Letter to my Husband

Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes

Today, I find myself staring in the face of a very significant milestone - the one-year anniversary of your death.

It's hard to believe that I have gone 365 days without you here…It's a day that carries a weight of emotions, a mix of sorrow, reflection, and perhaps even a glimmer of acceptance.

In the days leading up to this anniversary, my mind has been a whirlwind of memories, both joyous and painful. I've found solace in revisiting our cherished moments together, reminiscing about the laughter we shared, the adventures we embarked on, and the love that bound us together.  I listened to an episode of our podcast today…and laughed along just as I did when we recorded it.  Your humor and ridiculousness are missed in such a huge way! I am so thankful to have these recordings!

I remember how I felt when I first realized that I loved you.  I remember it well because, to this day, I still feel the exact same way.  They say that if you feel grief in a big way, then the love was even bigger.  I keep telling myself that despite the circumstances, I AM a lucky girl.  I am lucky because I have felt the most ultimate love imaginable...the stuff fairytales are made of! 

Now that you are gone, there's an undeniable ache, a longing for the presence of the one who once filled my days with warmth and companionship.  I have spent the better part of the year putting on a brave face...only showing vulnerability with those I trust the most.

But grief is a complex journey. In the past year, I've experienced moments of overwhelming sadness, anger, and confusion. There have been days when the weight of loss felt unbearable, when the world seemed to blur into a haze of numbness. But amidst the darkness, there have also been moments of unexpected light - the kindness of friends and family, the comfort found in sharing our stories about you, and building our business with the help of our kids! I know that you are so proud of us.

As I approach this anniversary, I find myself reflecting not only on the loss I've endured but also on the resilience that has carried me through. I've learned that grief is not something to be overcome or conquered, but rather something to be carried.  I have also learned that not everyone handles grief the same way. 

As I light a candle for you, I'm reminded that love transcends the boundaries of time and space. Though you are no longer with us in the physical sense, your spirit lives on in our laughter, the echoes of your voice in our heads when we wonder “what would George do?”, and the enduring bond that connects us, now and forever.

Loving you…forever and always. 143

Travel Hack: The Envelope Challenge

When we decided that we wanted to spend a couple of months in Europe for the winter, I knew that saving money would be a challenge. We were in the middle of a Pandemic AND we had just started a business that wasn’t making any money. In fact, we were doing just enough to get us by…in the hopes that our business would have a chance to see a real cruise season.

I had seen a post about an envelope challenge to save money. And it was then that I knew this would be a good way for us to save. You might be wondering, “How does the envelope challenge work?” In the initial post that I read, it suggested that you take 50 envelopes and write the denominations ($1 - $50) on the envelopes. Each week, you would then select an envelope. You would then put that amount of money in the envelope that corresponds with the number on that envelope. At the end of the 50 weeks, you would have saved $1275.

I knew that we were going to need more money than that for an extended trip to Europe, so I doubled the number of envelopes from 50 to 100. Each week, we pulled two envelopes from our bag…and then during that week we got the money and put it in the envelopes. Some weeks were tough. Sometimes, we used money that we would have used to go out to eat…and some weeks we used cash from tips. Some weeks, if we would pull two envelopes with high denominations, we would pick again. But EVERY week, we would pull those two envelopes. And luckily for us when tips were good, we were able to stuff three envelopes in a week.

During the course of the year, we saved $5050…just by putting that money in envelopes and NOT using it on dumb stuff throughout the year. It was so fun to go to the bank with my stacks of cash…and it was a HUGE sense of accomplishment that we were able to SAVE this money during a pretty difficult time.

Taking this trip was a priority for us…and it just goes to show that you don’t have to be rich to be able to live the kind of life you have always dreamt of!

In less than a year, you could complete the envelope challenge too! Where would you go on YOUR dream vacation? Comment below!

If you have not yet listened to the Podcast, check it out here!