Lately, I’ve been seeing a new variation of the “good things come to those who wait” quote. It crosses out “to those who wait” and adds “work hard and get shit done,” or something like that. I get the sentiment of both. I know people often wait for opportunities in life, when they could just go out and make things happen for themselves. But that doesn’t stop me from really clinging to the truth in the original quote. I believe our culture has lost a lot of the value of waiting. Of being still. Of not rushing into things, and in particular, not spending before you have the money.

Last year, Phil and I decided we were ready to have a baby. So, five minutes after having this life-changing realization, we were fully engaged in making said baby. And work hard at that we did! Every day, if not twice a day! (Phil thinks of those days fondly.) And guess what? We made a baby that very same month! Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be. I lost the baby two months later. We were very heartbroken. But we decided to slow things down. To not worry about our own timing, but to let things happen when they should.

At the same time of shifting our baby-making focus, Phil and I decided to get our finances in order. We made a very strict budget for the first time in our five years of marriage, and we pledged to stick to it. Let me tell you, it’s not easy planning meals when you’re only working with a limited amount of cash money each month, and restricting in other ways too, like spending only $40 a month (for the two of us) on going out for dinner and drinks. Sticking to our budget seemed impossible. But what was even worse for me was not making any of those home decor splurges I had easily justified in the past, on account of my normal frugality in such matters. A $150 floor lamp is totally justifiable when I only spent $3 on that wall-hanging, right? Well, not if there isn’t any money for it in our home decor envelope. (We do a cash budget, where we only spend the amount of money we have in each dedicated envelope.) And besides those big splurges, I began to see how much the little bargains were really adding up. My how difficult it was so stop spending! But how rewarding, too! Now we have to wait for the things we want (and sometimes need). And it makes us appreciate them all the more.

So, fast forward about a year. Here we are, not rich, but with some comfortable money in the bank, our credit cards paid off, and a baby in our arms. I can’t help but feel like God has blessed us for our patience. Our patience in starting a family, our patience in decorating our new home, and slowing down to appreciate what we already have.

The icing on our cake? That would have to be the moment we drove by Goodwill on Sunday morning and spotted these shell chairs sitting outside. I had almost dropped a pretty penny on a similar set just a year ago, but waited and stuck to our budget as we had agreed. And, well, here is my reward! $40 for a dining room facelift. I’ll take it! And I’ll still believe that good things really do come to those who wait.

Well I’ve had quiet the productive weekend! Managed to produce one beautiful child into this world, and life will never be the same. Please welcome Lucy Jo Johnson, who joined our family at 4:42 AM on Thursday the 20th of September. Lucy weighed in at 7lb 4 oz, and measured 19 inches long. We just love her to death and are trying to rest up while I heal and get used to a new way of life around here. Hooray! She’s on the outside now!

minutes after birth, our new family of three!

You guys! Purging one’s wardrobe creates this weird anomaly of needing to make over one’s self. Well, a frumpy outgrown hairstyle will do that too, I suppose. The combination of the two? Deadly! And dramatic haircut inducing. Alright, so maybe this haircut isn’t too dramatic or spontaneous, considering I have been mulling over the style since I initially chopped off my long locks almost a year ago.

Every month, Phil and I put five dollars into an envelope called “hair care.” Because, of course, we care about our hair! You just wouldn’t know it by our behavior- my aversion to hair salons and preference to creative updos, and his begging me to be the one to cut his curly salt and pepper locks in the middle of our kitchen. So, today I decided to gather up the dollars from our envelope and splurge a little! I think in a month my hair will be exactly how I want it (not that I don’t love it now!). And by that time, we’ll have a little baby girl demanding my attention, turning me into a hair salon recluse once again.