Living Our Vows: Kourtney & Chad!

Today i am super excited to have Kourtney as part of the Living Our Vows series because i LOVE her blog (and business) name...Sunshine Blossoms Blog...isn't fun?! And she is so creative and crafty! I am glad to have Kourtney today because she will be speaking on the part of the vow, which i strongly believe, if not actively lived can break or make a marriage..."for richer, for poorer"!  This post is fantastic because many households are discussing money with 11 days left until Christmas. Kourtney reminds us the importance of keeping our vows at the forefront when we are living this part of our vows.   Please read along as Kourtney shares how her and her husband experienced "for richer, for poorer"!

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Hi everyone!  I'm Kourtney and I blog over at Sunshine Blossoms Blog. 

I am so happy to be able to chat with you all today.  

Mrs. Pancakes asked me to talk about marriage.  

Specifically how my husband and I have lived out our wedding vow "for richer, for poorer". 

My hubby and I have been married for 3 years and {almost} 4 months.  

We have a sweet little boy who just turned two almost a month ago!

Let's start at the beginning {of our marriage, that is}. 

When hubs and I got married, he still had two years of college left before graduating.  

I had just completed four years of college, but didn't have a degree 

{thanks to transferring schools and changing majors a couple times}.  

But we decided he should finish up first, 

so I worked full-time so he could go to school full-time.

We took a Dave Ramsey class at church that taught us very good money principles, and re-enforced what we had learned from our parents growing up.  I am so thankful we took that class!  

Things went as planned for the first 7 months of our marriage and my husband was on track to graduate after two more semesters.  And then we got a little surprise. :) Just short of 7 months into our marriage, we found out I was pregnant!  Definitely not a part of our little plan, but obviously God had better things in mind. We were just getting by as it was, paying our bills and living minimally.  The thought of adding the financial responsibility of a child to the mix quickly became very overwhelming.  We were excited too, don't get me wrong.  But any of you with a child {or children} will understand. 

My husband got a full-time job and, long story short, after lots of going back and forth, he decided to continue working full-time and finish school part-time.  He did this for two semesters.  And then the following year, his work hours changed {still full-time, though}, so he decided to tackle school full-time {Has anyone started counting how many times I've said "full-time" in this post?! haha}. 

To say that year was hard would be a major understatement.  Physically, emotionally and financially.  But we were determined.  And we had a ton of support from family and friends.  Did I mention that we had moved out of state for school?  All of our family was several hours away, with the exception of my younger sister.  And zero money to hire a babysitter ever. We struggled to pay our bills, but we stuck together and made it through.  We decided that we would use these hard times to make us closer, rather than to pull us apart.  It's not easy, but you just have to make up your mind that's what you will do.  In my opinion, you can't always go with your feelings, because they will betray you. 

Love and marriage is so much more than lovey dovey feelings.  

Don't give up when you aren't feeling it.  That's where too many marriages go wrong these days.  Keep on going.  It will get better.  And then it will get hard again. 

 And then it will get better again!  Life's a rollercoaster!  Enjoy the ride!

                                                                                                                               Source: stumbleupon.com via Kourtney on Pinterest

Back to my story...  Hubby graduated this past May after much hard work.  We were {and still are} so very proud of him!  I never could have stuck with it like he did.  Did I mention that my husband's degree is in Construction Management?  Not the best industry to try start a new career in right now.  But he spent his entire last year applying for job and calling companies left and right.  He was unable to work temporary construction jobs during his last two summers of school like the other guys he graduated with, which really hurt him.  But he found a decent job back "home" {where we both grew up} so we packed up and were so excited to be close to family.  Unfortunately, some things changed with expected work for that company and that job completely ended after only about three months. 

At first we were angry and we spent time questioning God.  But we finally realized that was not the best way to handle the situation.  God has never once failed to provide for our needs and we knew that wasn't about to change.  Instead, we chose faith and we prayed for peace.  Our situation didn't change, but our attitudes did.  My husband has a full-time job and I'm able to work part-time.  We don't live extravagantly, but we live within our means and our bills get paid.  We are faithful to God and He takes care of us.  He will do the same for you if you allow him to bless you! 

God can use hard times to bring you and your husband closer.  

You are a team!  

Cling to each other. 

I tell you all of this so you don't think I'm just some girl telling you to live up to your wedding vows but have never had any real struggles myself. We have had our fair share of troubles in the three short years we've been married, but we have also experienced more love and joy than I can even begin to explain.  

I hope my story doesn't just sound like one of constant struggle.  

Joy is in the journey. 

 Sometimes you have to look for it, but it's always there.  

I wouldn't never change anything.  Cliche', I know, but so true.

                                                                                                              Source: ourdailyobsessions.blogspot.com via Kourtney on Pinterest

If you are in a hard place in life right now, the best thing to do {besides keeping at it} is to stop feeling sorry for yourself and focus on the needs of others instead.  

Find someone to help.  Even if someone just needs a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on.

                                                                                                                                                 Source: d.yimg.com via Mal on Pinterest

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Focus on your blessings and thank God for them daily.  

I guarantee you have a lot more than you may realize!   

Like I mentioned before, you can find me at Sunshine Blossoms.  

Please don't hesitate to send me an email if you need someone to talk to. 

Thank you so much, Mrs. Pancakes, for letting me guest post today! 

I hope I didn't spend too much time rambling and instead gave encouragement to someone who is struggling with their vow "for richer, for poorer".

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Thank you so much Kourtney for sharing how you and your husband are living your vows of "for richer, for poorer".  I think you have definitely shown us that there are many unplanned financial situations which occur in marriages however we have to work together as a "team" and hold onto what's important, God and each other!

Question of the Day:

How do you deal with financial woes in your marriage?

Have you ever taken a financial class to help with "for richer, for poorer?