Like I mentioned earlier, things are changing around my small, one-person, one-bedroom world - definitely for the better...but it still takes a lot of adjusting!
Since we are closing on the house at the end of this month (25 more days!!!) and are working toward getting settled into our new budget, this month is kinda of a half-way, getting adjusted month. We're working on getting things figured out, and while we can't really put them into action while I'm still living in the Shed and they're in the new house, we're going to do our best! The hardest part for me is going from plans and systems that work great for one person taking care of one person to two people taking care of four people.
Here are a few things we're discovering are just *SUPER* fun to handle:
1) Financial Stuff - We had to read this article as part of our pre-marital counseling (and a few others) and couldn't agree more with money being at the top of the list of things to talk about. We started having money discussions earlier when we first started looking at houses, but when it's time for action, it's a little different. This month we're on a hybrid budget. We couldn't combine our accounts yet because the home loan was still in processing and they said leave everything alone, so we divided up expenses as to who was paying for what in our budget - sounds simple. Not so much. But we do have a good start into keeping ourselves accountable for our spending and making sure the other one knows what's going on.
2) Schedules - We both work 30 minutes from where we will be living. Which would be great and cut down drastically on gas if we had the same schedules because we could car pool. Instead, we rely heavily on his mom and sister to help get the girls to school (until January when I move in) and pick them up from school until he gets home. They're also used to eating dinner about three hours earlier than I am so we've started looking at quick simple things that can be fixed before whatever activity we have for the night. Plus homework. Plus Bible class homework. Plus the everyday things. I know it will be a lot easier when we're all in the same household.
3) Meals - As mentioned above, there's a slight time difference so we're slowly working toward meeting in the middle. There's also a slight difference in planning and shopping. I have a system. He doesn't so much. This last weekend was our first menu planning and grocery shopping trip and it was very eye opening...for both of us. We talked about it though and fully recognize it's going to take some adjusting on both of our parts for it to work. We've got this month to get settled into somewhat of a process before we're in the new house and we really start to iron out the kinks. That being said, we've got a pretty good line up for meals this week!
Monday: chalupas for lunch (we won't usually be planning lunches, but it's a holiday) and his mom is cooking for the whole family for dinner
Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner (omelettes) before Karate practice
Wednesday: lasagna before Bible study
Thursday: Meatloaf and FREE EVENING!!!
Friday: King Ranch Chicken and then headed to a congregational singing
Saturday: not sure if it will be lunch or dinner, but we got some stuff to grill
I know I always say it, but getting settled into things is definitely going to give me something to write about as we work through some of the frustrations of combining households...and I work to stay positive and upbeat about all of the changes. Any advice from anyone would most definitely be welcome :)
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