Marriage Week 14
February 12 - February 18
Another week married…seriously, time is flying by. You know what they say, how time drags on and flies by at the same time? Honestly the day-to-day life drags on. Wake up, go to the gym, come home and work from home all day, eat, watch something on Netflix and repeat. It makes the time slowly pass. Yet here we are, at week 14 which doesn’t even seem real because we JUST got married… in fact our “just married” sign is still over our bed (which Kamil keeps asking when we can take down, ha. I told him at our one year anniversary we can take it down). Anyways, here are a few highlights from our week:
Travel Home from West Palm Beach
After a week in West Palm Beach, on Friday I headed home. From 80 and sunny to 40 and rainy, womp womp. It was so nice to have so much sunshine and warm weather during the trip. Unfortunately the weather has been and will be for the next two weeks pretty dreary around here.
Money & Marriage Livestream Event
On Friday evening we tuned in for Rachel Cruz’s “Money & Marriage” livestream event. It’s always a good refresher and energizer to hear the Ramsey crew talk about motivation, tips and suggestions! She even re-shared our picture on her Instagram which was neat.
3 Month Anniversary
Three months ago on the 13th we got married! Gosh I can’t believe it! It honestly feels like just last week we were celebrating in the charming coastal city of Charleston with our closest family and friends. It’s been a great three months settling into married life and making our little space a home. Honestly, it sometimes feel like we’re on a super extended date and sleepover most of the time :) it’s truly a joy when you just get to eternally hang out with your best friend. We celebrated by having a little fiesta night complete with shrimp tacos + margaritas! Oh and also need to brag on my man for sneakily getting this GORGEOUS bouquet for an anniversary/Valentine’s day surprise; it smelled incredible! He knows all my favorites… hydrangea, lilies, peonies, roses, daisies… he did good!
Debt Free + Emergency Fund Complete
I started on my debt free journey when I was in my early 20s. At about 23 I moved home to my parents to help save money, pay off debt, and have a home base for my mostly travel-based life. By the time I was 25 I had paid off my car loan and two credit cards, and started chipping away at my student loans. I made a goal then to be debt free by 28. Well in February 2020 (at 28 almost 29) I paid off my last student loan payment and was officially 100% debt free!
When Kamil and I stated dating in 2019, we both openly talked about our finances and how important it was to both of us to live a debt free lifestyle and ultimately live in financial freedom. I turned him on to the principles of Dave Ramsey and the “Debt Snowball” and financial freedom and he loved it. We started listening to Chris Hogan and Dave Ramsey’s podcasts, reading some of their books, and really diving into budgeting. In the time we’ve been together we collectively have:
Paid off my engagement ring + both our wedding bands
Paid for TWO weddings in cash (our first originally wedding which was ultimately cancelled from Covid…in which 90% of our vendors didn’t give us a DIME back… and our completely last minute second planned Charleston wedding)
Paid the last of my student loans
Paid off & closed all our credit cards
Saved a 3-6 month emergency fund
Financial stability and living in financial freedom is one of the founding principles of our family and I’m so thankful that we can start married life off with a blank slate and work together to accomplish our goals and dreams. Couldn’t imagine doing it with anyone other than you babe!
Valentine’s Day Date
Our first married Valentine’s! I’ve never had a Valentine (well besides my parents or my doggy as a kid). Kamil was actually my first Valentine last year (our first year together) so this year was extra special to have our first married Valentine’s together! Yes, I know many people think the day is overrated and totally commercialized (which it totally is) but as a Hallmark-loving girl, it’s just an extra ooey-gooey romantic day that I’ve always dreamed of celebrating with someone special! In line with our budget-conscious selves we wanted to do something different than our everyday stay-at-home life but without breaking the bank; so this year we did a “day date” to save a little money and then cook at home for dinner!
It was a cold rainy morning on Sunday. We headed to church and listened to a great sermon (a continuation through the book of Luke), and then per my request to go out and do something on the day, Kamil took me to my favorite little local coffee shop - Fount. They are 100% gluten free and have a super cool vibe… and they’re faith-based which is always cool to see! We snagged a corner of a table and enjoyed time talking about the sermon, our weekend, the upcoming week and enjoying some coffee and coffee cake.
For dinner Kamil was finally able to break-in his grill he got for Christmas from my brothers. We live in an apartment so it’s just a small portable propane grill but still, nothing beats a little grilled meat especially in the summer! On Friday we picked up two steaks from a local butcher, The Butcher’s Market, and he grilled them to perfection. He says that good beef only needs a little seasoning, and he was right! We cracked open the “First Valentine’s” wine bottle from our friends Sarah & Tyler (thanks guys) and enjoyed that with our lovely meal while watching a … you guessed it… Hallmark movie! Dinner was followed up with breaking in our fondue set as a wedding gift. Although we had a slight panic at about oh 7 p.m. on Valentine’s evening when I realized we needed a sterno for it! Honestly, it’s an All-Clad super nice fondue set, why on earth don’t they throw in a first sterno starter pack?! Well I literally realized this about 7 p.m. on Valentine’s night so we took off, in the pouring rain, to try to find one. Finally after our THIRD store (Dollar Tree was a fail, Lowe’s was a fail, Harris Teeter was a success) we finally had it and headed back home. It was a sweet and delicious day with a few laughs along the way!
Happy Weekend Everyone!
LOVE,
The Newlyweds K&K