First and foremost... today is the day Jamie's movie is released!! Huge day and super proud of him!! He has worked so hard and has accomplished so much. I can't wait to be able to go to the movies tomorrow night with him, his amazing friends, and our beautiful family. It's going to be a night full of celebrating Jamie's amazing talent and unbelievable accomplishment!! September 16th will always, first and foremost, be the day the entire world was introduced to one of the greatest people who has ever lived. To you, Mr. McCune!! Thank you for being an inspiration, always showing me the importance of adventure, creativity, joy, hard-work, friendship, and love.
September 16th will be meaningful to Jason and I for two reasons. One: it is the day Jamie impacted the world with his movie, Blair Witch. Two: it's the day Jason and I officially became student-debt FREE!!! That's right! After 7 long years, we submitted our very last student loan payment! We did it! Mission accomplished! Free at last, free at last!!
To celebrate our financial freedom, we planned a special evening together. We contemplated going on a hot air balloon ride (which we still plan to do one day), go to a fancy/expensive restaurant, or even go on a trip somewhere special. Instead, we decided to step back in time. We wanted to return to where the debt began--in East Point, where we went to college.
True to form, we settled on an inexpensive, yet meaningful location for our celebratory dinner--Oz Pizzeria. This is where we ate in college, where we spent our first Valentine's Day together, where our families first met each other, where we celebrated graduating, and where I worked when engaged to Jason and during the first three months of our marriage. This was the perfect spot to remind us of how far we've come.
I walked through the doors and a flood of memories washed over me. It felt as though nothing had changed. The smell of cheese and tomato sauce filled the air. The sound of a bell echoed in my ears, loudly declaring orders were ready for pick-up. The tile floors and the same wobbly tables stretched out before my eyes. And, toward the far end of the restaurant sat a handsome, red-headed man-- the same man who held my hand as we walked across our college campus; the same kind eyes that looked at me from across a crowded classroom; the very same man I laughed with, studied with, goofed off with, and fell in love with during our years of debt-making. Suddenly, our student debt felt worth it. It was more than just an education--it was the reason I was able to know Jason. Without that debt, knowing and loving Jason would never have been possible. It was worth every penny, and then some.
I greeted him with an excited smile and a warm hug. Before I could sit down he pulled out a small, clear bag. He had bought a surprise for me. Macarons and fancy chocolates. He pointed at the special heart-shaped candies, particularly the pink and red one. "This is champagne flavored chocolate. I thought we could have it after we make our last payment." I laughed at how similar we are-- unbeknownst to him was a bottle of champagne waiting for us at home.
Jason manned the table while I placed our order. As I waited in line, an employee walked toward me and said he could take my order at the other register. Funny enough, he walked me to the bar area--the very place I used to work myself. I ordered a pepperoni calzone with two drinks. He gave me a metal number "3" for the table. I thanked him, placed the number on our table, and filled our cups with diet coke. For a moment, I lost my way and wasn't able to remember where they kept the lids and straws--it's been almost 6 years since I last set eyes on Oz. Jason, remembering where everything was, grabbed what we needed and returned to our table. While we waited for our food, we made our last and final payment. Since I usually made the payments each month, I was able to see the debt disappear slowly over time. It seemed only appropriate for Jason to make the final payment tonight.
Pure Joy.
Our first picture of us completely and 100% student debt free!
Not long after our huge accomplishment, dinner arrived.
Jason and I had difficulty removing the smiles from our faces. We ate a delicious meal, which was soon followed by our champagne flavored chocolate. Perfect! Afterward, we gathered our belongings and made our way to refill our drinks before leaving. Oddly enough, my old co-worker was refilling his drink as we made our way to the soda fountain. I said hello and was happy to hear how well he and everyone else was doing. I told him to tell my old boss hello for me and he hugged me goodbye.
We hopped in our car and drove to Barrett Park on Rugby Avenue. During our first year of marriage, Jason and I lived at Rugby Valley, just a short walk away from Barrett Park. When I worked at Oz and Jason at our old college, we would go to the park after work and discuss life-- how great things would be one day when we would be debt-free. We took a stroll around the track and enjoyed the beautiful, almost fall-like day. We reminisced and laughed at how out of shape we used to be. In the past, we would walk around the track two times and would stop from exhaustion. Now, 5-6 years later, we were healthier and were capable of walking for hours on end.
We walked around the track just a few times, as the sun would soon be setting. We wanted to drive to our old college campus. We drove down the same, old, bumpy roads and made our way to what used to be Atlanta Christian College. The college has moved away since we graduated, but the buildings remained the same.
The same old classrooms in the building we referred to as "Hathcock."
The same red-bricked library where Jason and I used to steal toilet paper.
Jason's old apartment building. He previously lived in the apartments that corresponded with the top two windows on the far left, along with the window on the bottom left.
My old apartment building across the street from Jason's. I lived on the right side of the building..top left apartment.
The married apartments are in the picture below, although you can see the back of the apartments I used to live in. The old, crumbling, black staircases visible in the back of this picture. We used to sit in a swing directly behind the pavilion in this picture as well.
The chapel where we were forced to attend each week.
After visiting the college campus, we drove past an old mansion where we believe Hagrid from Harry Potter must live. We've always loved that creepy, old home. Afterward we drove past St. John's:
As the sun was setting, I dropped Jason off at his car at the marta station. We then drove home separately. Once back from our time-traveling adventure, we popped open a bottle of champagne and cut into the cake I got for us. I asked the woman at Kroger to write "Student Debt Free" on it.
We made a toast. "To the hunt!" Jason said with a laugh. "To being debt-free!" I replied with a wide smile.
For the rest of the night, I kept saying how great it was to do something while being student debt free. It went something like this: "This is the first time eating cake where we will be student debt free adults!" or "This is the first time we will see a movie being student debt free!"
We never want to forget this night or how far we've come. How lucky we've been and how hard we've worked. Jason and I remembered how hard we struggled early on in our marriage. Numerous times we would stare at our budget, hoping some extra money would show itself somewhere. Too many times we would see our food budget for the week and panic that we had only $40 for 7 meals. "Looks like pasta again this week," we would say. Our diet consisted of pasta, canned biscuits, and (when desiring a romantic dinner) a $1 Michelinas meal. I remember once, our date night consisted of those $1 frozen dinners, but Jason made it special. We poured some left over wine from a night before and he lit candles that rested on the candlesticks from our honeymoon. That's what I love about us-- no matter what's going on in life, we make it an adventure. It's never about what we have, it's about what we can do... together.
Jason and I have worked really hard. We stuck to a strict budget for 7 years, splurging only for vacations. Instead of purchasing a new couch, we duct tapped it back together after our cat tore it up (Jason did this yesterday actually). Jason has spent hours on ebay, trying to purchase gifts and items needed for our home as a way to find the cheapest deal. We rarely go to the movies or pay for things we don't need. We've worked really hard and I never want to forget that. I don't want to forget the months of pasta dinners, the weeks filled with worry and fret over finances, or the days we had only $2.85 per meal each day. It taught us a lot and it has only made us stronger. It has only made our marriage better. It taught us how to focus on what's important in life. How important we are to each other, and not what we can give to one another.
I also don't want to forget how lucky we are. We worked hard but had a lot of luck, too. Most people we know with the college education we have didn't find lucrative jobs like ours. They've worked hard--really hard--and they still couldn't pay off their debt or even their normal bills. We only got out of debt because we were given the opportunity to work as hard as we did. Without that opportunity, we would never have gotten to this point.
Most importantly, I don't want to forget how happy Jason and I have been, even in our poorest moments. Even when we couldn't purchase big gifts for each other, or create fancy dates with expensive dinners-- we were happy just being in each other's company. Our adventures were filled with us going for walks together. WE make each other happy-- not money, not expensive things.
To the end of this chapter in our lives, and to a new beginning! As Jason said, we bookended today. We began gaining debt in college, and we ended our debt by returning to our roots. May we never forget where we came from.
