All posts tagged: purpose

The Fathers Who Are More

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In my haste to find the perfect Father’s Day card at the last minute this morning, I went to CVS and read every card still in the stands. Struck by the quips and cartoons, I found that the messages on most covers relegated Dads to stereotypes and a basal list of responsibilities. If taken as true, what I was left to believe about Dads from my morning at CVS was this… Dads mow grass. Dads fire up the grill. Dads like power tools and muscle cars. Dads love dogs. Dads are really happy when they have control of the TV remote. Dads are even happier if they can drink beer and have control of the remote. Dads are happiest though, if you let them nap and do nothing. Dads really like to nap. Sure, there are the sentimental cards with less satire and more cursive, but in my humble opinion, most are full of fluff and void of sincerity. No card seemed worthy, because what I believe about a Father’s significance is so much more. …

Why It’s Been 8 Months Since I’ve Posted

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When I started Living Unencumbered in April 2015, I made the tag line: Building a Life with Freedom. I laugh at that a bit now. Freedom is what we had and determined to protect, but as the months passed, what we were missing more than freedom and free time was purpose. It is purpose that we craved, purpose in our desire to contribute to a greater good or affect an exponential number of people. In our first post, we defined Living Unencumbered as eliminating the superfluous things that prevent you from dreaming of what you want to do and doing what you dream. That’s still pretty good actually, but after a year since the blog’s creation, my wiser self would emphasize the need for purpose. Today I define Living Unencumbered as the freedom to pursue your purpose, as opposed to merely reacting to the conditions and circumstances the world gives you. The truest freedom lies in our ability to pursue purposes that bring joy and ultimately, satisfaction. I stopped writing because I lost purpose, or …

We Lost the House

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The Real Estate market has always appealed to Adam and me. We want to be investors in Real Estate as well as own our own home, and since we have been in Greenville, we have been shopping for houses to rent, flip, wholesale or call home.   The market in Greenville is ON FIRE, and while that sounds like good news, the bad news is that everyone else is shopping too – People whose pockets are a lot deeper than ours. We’re just the little guys trying to put our savings to good use, but bigwig investors are lurking in the shadows, waiting to sweep up our dreams at every opportunity. We have walked through approximately ten houses that were listed on MLS. We would see them at 8 am on the morning they were listed, and by 5 pm those same houses either already had several offers or were under contract. People are doing paperwork in driveways on the hood of cars to get their bids in first. In this market, it is imperative to …

Intro to Living Unencumbered

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What if your single source of income was cut off today? What if you lost your job or had to move in 24 hours? Think about it. May 12, 2015 BIG NEWS! Today is our one month and three day anniversary of our current employment status: Unemployed. On April 9th, my husband, Adam and I were working at a water services company in North Dakota, and then on that same day, we weren’t. Quick Background: We both finished 4+ years of active duty service in the Navy in October 2014. (Go Navy. Beat Army.) Last November we got married, and in January 2015 we started two new and exciting jobs in the Wild Wild West of North Dakota. We were both eager to make our mark in our first jobs as civilians and in the oil and gas industry, but what we anticipated being a five to seven year saga quickly became a 3 month gig. Harsh Reality: We spent A LOT of our savings on our wedding and then even more on a lovely three-week honeymoon to Paris and London. …