My 18th wedding anniversary is coming up in just a few weeks. Three years ago, Vonnie and I were at about the midway point in our debt management program. We were making progress, but money was tight and I was looking for an inexpensive yet meaningful gift to give her. She absolutely LOVED the look and smell of plumeria flowers when we were in Hawaii, so I found a online company that sold plumeria plants. Since they were shipped from Hawaii, all the leaves and branches had to be removed so essentially what I got for my $10 was a stick. We laughed about the fact that I got her a stick for our anniversary, but we both knew what it represented. The stick didn’t look like much, but we knew it had potential. We knew that our finances were still in shambles, but just like that 8 inch stick in the middle of a flower pot it had enormous potential.
Three years later, that stick has grown into a massive indoor plant. The instructions I got with the plant said that it would take 1-2 years before the plant would produce flowers so we have been waiting patiently. Last week, after nearly three years, we were greeted with our very first plumeria blossom. In fact, we can see that there is an entire cluster of flowers about to open.
Earlier this year we finished our debt management program. Our finances and our relationship also are blossoming. With hard work, constant watering and patience, both the plant and our finances are reaching their potential.
I think that’s worth a fist pump, don’t you?
Posts That Make Me Fist Pump
- How to get free stuff on Craigslist from Young Adult Money
- How To Teach Kids About Money By Not Using Cash from I Heart Budgets via Clark Howard
- Is It Better To Spend Money On Experiences Or Material Things? from Bible Money Matters
- It is Time to go on a Cash Diet from Frugal Rules
- When Was the Last Time You Adjusted Your Budget? from Journey To Saving
- While You’re Planning for Tomorrow, Don’t Forget to Live for Today from MoneyNing
Shameless Self Promotion
Other fist-pumping posts I wrote, or appeared in this week from around the personal finance blogosphere:
- You CAN Use Multiple Coupons at Once! in the CareOne Community
- Which is Better: DIY or Professional Lawn Care? at MoneyNing
- Escaping $109,000 of Credit Card Debt with Travis Pizel is a podcast I participated in via Listen Money Matters
TeamEOD Was Recently Included In The Following Carnivals
Carnival of MoneyPros hosted by The Four Hour Workday
Yakezie Carnival hosted by Finance With Reason
Carnival of Money hosted by Carnival of Money
Carnival of Retirement hosted by Save and Conquer
Lifestyle Carnival hosted by Messy Money
Carnival of Financial Camaraderie hosted by Student Finance
Carnival of MoneyPros hosted by See Debt Run
Finance Carnival For Young Adults hosted by I Need Money ASAP
Carnival of Financial Camaraderie hosted by Finance With Reason
Carnival of Money hosted by Carnival of Money
Congrats on 18 years! And yes, that’s definitely worth a fist pump!
Thanks for including my post as well. I had fun writing it and I think people underestimate what you can find for free these days. Some people just want stuff GONE and don’t want to have to deal with it. I know I did that with the heavy dresser we hauled out to the curb.
Hope you have a great weekend!
People are so focused on getting the lowest price, sometimes they forget there are ways to actually get things for FREE! It’s kind of sad what kind of things people are willing to get rid of though, isn’t it???
That’s awesome Travis! It’s so cool to see how patience, hard work and I’m sure quite a few other things turned out well on various counts! More importantly, congrats on your impending 18th anniversary – we just hit 13 a few weeks back. Thanks for the mention and have a great weekend sir!
I absolutely love the life that Vonnie and I have built together, looking forward to many more….thanks for stopping by!
What a metaphor, eh? I LOVE plumerias so I’m with Vonnie on that! Congrats on 18 years together!
You should see it now, Tonya…..we have around a dozen blossoms about to open – they smell SO good!
Rock on brotha! 18 years is amazing! I’m coming up on 6 and it feels good.
FIST PUMP!
congrats, Jacob……it only gets BETTER!
Congratulations! It’s awesome that everything has come together like that – symbolism at its finest =). I can see why Vonnie likes plumeria flowers, they are really pretty. Thank you for including my post, have a great weekend!
They’re beautiful, E.M., and in Hawaii, they’re all over the ground!