You're welcome for that annoying song, now stuck in your head. No? It's only in mine? Oh well.
In my "
Ask Me Anything" post,
Bluebird of The Better Half of Life {who just undertook a major life changing choice to pursue a position half the country
away from her husband and normalcy} asked me: If you won the lottery (whether you bought a ticket or found one on the street), how would you use that money?
First and foremost, I would quit my job. Straight up.
Secondly, Tony, Isaac and I would find a pet sitter and take a weeks vacation within the state. Nothing extravagant. Just some time away to clear our heads and enjoy our time as a family. Since I wasn't allowed this vacation for this fantasy, I'm not sure what fantastic ideas we would cook up, so here are the ones I've allowed myself.
We would contact a financial adviser to ensure our money has a long life and that our family was taken care of. Our money would then be put toward paying off Tony's parents house, my Dad's house, my brother's student and car loans and for my parents, their motor home since my they are only a year or so away from paying off the house {something which I know my Mom is very proud of, since quite a bit of that mortgage was taken care of as a single mother}.
I struggle with how to give back to the church or ministries, as I remember hearing our pastor once say that he would refuse the offering of lottery money, if he were ever in that position. Not saying I wouldn't give back, just saying that I struggle with knowing how to go about it so that it wasn't refused.
Finally, we would probably rent out our current house until it could be sold without damaging the value of our neighborhood. We would then move ever so slightly to one of the surrounding communities in the
Northern Suburbs into a house like this:
A 6 bedroom home that Tony and I saw two years ago, built by
Classic Custom Homes. It completely stole my heart. I can't remember the square footage, but for a 6 bedroom home it was phenomenally homey. I felt at ease in it's space, instead of lost. All the bedroom's were upstairs, which I felt was very important to the impression it left with me.
Early in our marriage Tony and I had quite a few disagreements regarding the size of our "dream house." Seeing as how Tony was designing elaborate, impressive homes he was not intimidated by gargantuan homes, whereas I saw no need for them. In fact, if I may, I found them excessive and counter productive to God's call that we be good stewards of that which He blesses us. Tony did not find my logic at all, but over time we have grown to have the same desires in a home, knowing that it is those who are in a home, not what is in it that makes it so welcoming.
Aside from this luxury, we would probably allow ourselves a cabin "up nort" as they say. While I've never been to the lodges, I've always loooved the marketing for
Leech Lake's Trapper Landing. I'd probably be a sucker and want to buy one of their units, but I'm pretty sure Tony would win out and we'd find ourselves on a smaller, more secluded recreational and fishing lake. It would probably be for the best.
I would for sure want to splurge on the latest and greatest camera equipment, but would know it best to just hold off on any major purchases. Instead allowing myself to outgrow my current camera, before jumping ahead.
We'd probably blow a bit of money on a shopping spree, babyGap is evil, but soooo cute. I've never owned anything from J.Crew either, but I think that would about do it.
Primarily I would just want to make sure our money could last, my {extended} family was provided for and that Tony and I maintained our relationship.
