Mis-Judgement Day

Gina and I work very hard to have what little we have and to do the things we do. We in no way are rich people. We have been fortunate in some aspects and very unfortunate in others but we make the best of things. In the last month I or we have gone to New York City, Las Vegas, and California. I have also recently heard people make reference to our finances and how we must be doing so well to be able to travel so much and do so many thing. Let me clear up a few things for all of you:

#1 - All of our flights were purchased with credit card airline miles or by someone else. We've only paid out of pocket for luggage and taxi's to and from the airport. We also drove to New York City so we paid for gas. We drove while in California so we paid for gas there too.

#2 - All hotel stays were purchased with credit card points or by someone else. We were also fortunate enough to stay with wonderful family members who were more than generous to us. We are so lucky to have all of you in our lives.

#3 - Some meals we paid for. Some were shared. Some were cooked. Some were purchased for us and again we thank you for your generosity. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.

#4 - Unfortunately with social media you get to only see the fun we have and not the late nights we work, the sweat of our brow, the not-so-happy times we endure, and the very little time we get to spend together lately. Just like the rest of you, we don't live the perfect lives and don't waste time advertising the bad...unless it's funny.

I forget that social media sometimes is the only view of your life that your "friends" and followers get to see. I don't regularly talk to most people on Facebook and almost never talk to people on Twitter but when I do see them, they are caught up on all of the highlights of our lives. It must look kind of glamorous going out to eat at great restaurants and drinking at fun breweries. Going to festivals and parades. Walking through parks and museums. The truth is...we put ourselves in a spot to do these things when we moved to Cleveland and you hear about them because I'm always always always trying to positively advertise this city. You can't help but have fun living here. There's too much stuff to do and a lot of it is free! I try to also tell you about the bad things but some are just too personal and don't need to be publicized. They are there though and we deal with them every day. Family and close friends don't know about them and may never...again unless they end up being really funny.

We rent. We lease. We create and sell. We use coupons, airline miles, hotel points, rewards, rebates, and creative funding. We have mortgages and multiple properties that we just can't get rid of. We dig through the cushions for change. We cancel subscriptions. We take second jobs. We have budget spreadsheets to track the mess that is our past finances and the promise of present and future cleanliness. 

...we also have wonderful family and friends who would do anything for us as we would do anything for them. Our home is your home and what little we have is yours to use. We again are blessed to have you in our lives and love you very much.

If you maliciously take advantage of that hospitality or generosity though then I can't say that you will get another chance in my book. It's unfortunate when you are taken advantage of or turned away or abandoned in your time of need by family or close friends who look upon you and unfairly judge...try to make things right by how they see life. That shouldn't be the way it works and if I've ever done it in my life, it was unknowingly and I apologize for it...even though it may be too late...and that's fair.

I know this breaks down the 4th wall of our lives and let's you see what goes into the sausage but if you didn't think that all people and couples are at the very core of it "normal" and go through ups and downs in all aspects...than you have truly been taken in by social forces that are far out of my control. You should maybe stop by and see us instead of just following us on social media. We'd love to see more of you and show you what our lives are all about. We'd love to take you around our city and have some fun. We'd love to catch up on things that you just can't read online.

In closing, we are in no way rich...we just take advantage of the little luck that we get thrown our way and make the best out of everything else. I promise the next blog post will be fun...ner...nier

Love you honey. Sorry about this post.

Surround yourself with the good in life urban explorers and shed the evil that holds you down!

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