30 Days of Thankfulness - Day 13

Today I am thankful for my husband's steady job. Life has not always been easy for us, financially. Frank had a well paying, steady job for two summer and winter seasons. One was a cook at a snack bar, the summer I was pregnant with the twins, and the summer that they were born. Since that was seasonal, during the winter months he worked at a garage as a mechanic. Both were great pay and steady work and hours. And then one day in 2010, he hurt his back. We thought he just threw it out or pulled a muscle or something and it would be better in a few days. Boy, were we wrong! After seeing various different doctors, we finally found out that he had 2 herniated discs. He was out of work for almost a year, and it was one of the worse things that could have happened to us at that time. We had 2 toddlers, and we found out shortly after that, that we were expecting Mason. I was unable to work, we got evicted from our home at the time, and moved in with family for a short time. That didn't work well for long, and luckily, my grandparents were right there to help us out and we lived with them for a month or so. We finally found an apartment that was in our budget, and would fit all of us, for the time being. We got some assistance from the state, and moved in as soon as we could. Slowly, we began rebuilding our lives and got back "on our feet." Frank finally found another job, since his back issue was being managed. He started working at the mountain as a cook, and almost a year later, we are much better off than we have been in a really long time. We have since moved a couple times, and are now in a much better and bigger and more affordable apartment, the kids have everything they need and more, we have a good, reliable vehicle, and all of our bills are paid. There used to be a time when we couldn't pay any of our bills. Our cable, phone, and internet bill racked up quickly, our car insurance was always in the cancellation process, and we were constantly going to the food shelf to get diapers for our kids. But all of that is behind us now. We are current or ahead on all of our bills, the kids have diapers and wipes and brand new clothes and we have been able to even spoil ourselves a tiny bit here and there. In some ways, I miss those days since it showed us what we really needed to be appreciative for. I definitely do not miss the stress of not having money to pay things or get things we needed then though. When I hear friends and family complaining about paying bills now, I remind them that things could be a lot worse, because I know; we were there once. Now, I LOVE paying bills. I know, that sounds crazy to most. But after going for so long without being able to pay bills, when we WANTED to pay them, and now being able to pay them without a problem and not have that stress on ourselves, is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. And I thank my hard working husband for that every single day, sometimes more than once a day. ;-) It's because of his hard work and dedication that we can get what we need and provide for our family, and it's because of his hard work and dedication that I can stay home and raise our children the way we want them to be raised, and not have to miss a single second of their lives. And it's because of his hard work and dedication that I can attend college and work on furthering my education to enter back into the workforce later in life, when we are through having children and all our children are a little bit older. I owe so much thanks to my husband, and words can never express how truly thankful I am to him.