One year ago today I wrote my first post on this blog. The post was about a sign that has been in my house for a really long time. Last year the sign was in my bathroom as a sort of amusement for myself. You see, at the time, my bathroom was gutted, had no walls, no shower, no bathtub and would be a daily reminder of how broken my "normal" had become. I am happy to say the bathroom has finally been renovated and that the Riveras can bathe in peace.
This is not, however, to claim that our "normal" has been realigned. To the untrained eye, our home is still missing its "sweet" factor and as we adjust, our sign has moved out into the hallway. It really belongs on the kitchen door so people will laugh when the doorknob falls off in their hand, or on our front door where people are greeted with my paper number sign instead of the actual house numbers that "normal" houses have. If the sign were bigger, I would drape it over the stairway to the basement that remains unfinished and sickly since our flood...
But the sign is not big. Its message still is, though. Each time I see it and think of it I am reminded of some pretty powerful things:
Life is not perfect.
My world is always changing.
My home is uniquely mine.
My normal does not have to live up to anyone else's standards.
I am still growing, learning and becoming.
And while I wholeheartedly agree with Oprah Winfrey's sentiments that a home should rise up to meet you, at this point in my life I am grateful to have a home to meet me at any level. The fact that it happens to be this home warms my heart as I know that it rises to meet me in spirit and patiently awaits each healing repair as finances allow.
So while I suppose this post should be a reflection upon all that Rivera Runs Through It has accomplished in its first year on the Internet, I am instead thinking of my home. That may seem strange, dear reader, but in my heart these two things are intertwined. I have written every post under this roof, within these walls, behind these doors. With every post I write I find myself closer to healed spirit. As this house heals, so do I.
In the past year the bathroom was renovated (including all of the leaks!), the roof was resealed, the tenants' apartment got a new door, we got a new dryer, we fixed our own washing machine, bought the tenants a new refrigerator, got my husband's car out of the backyard and back on the road and got my grandfather's clock to start ticking again. When people visit they see my missing numbers, my broken doorknobs, ancient lighting fixtures and my ugly basement, but as I live I see the progress. I see the adjustments. I know I'm getting there.
Here on Rivera Runs Through It I see the progress and the adjustments as well. It is amazing how much I have learned in the past year. I want to thank you for being here today and all the days you visit. I feel incredibly lucky to have the group of followers on this blog that I do and I hope to continue to connect with you in the years to come.
On our honeymoon, my husband and I went on a cruise. My husband participated in the nightly karaoke sessions, but one time I was actually brave enough to take the stage with him when we sung the following song, which has always been a favorite:
I really do love this song and catch myself singing it all of the time, but, during one of my recent impromptu bursts of song, it suddenly got me thinking,
What if I really had a million dollars? What would I do with it?
I thought about it for awhile and I am ready to answer that question so that I can be prepared, just in case someone decides to finally drop off my million dollars!
7 Things I Would Do If I Had a Million Dollars:
1. I'd Pay Off My House
The mortgage, the true ball and chain! If I had a million dollars, I think that would be the first thing I would attack. I feel like doing that gives me a long term gift of money every single month when I don't have to make that payment anymore! How exciting is that?
Without question that is the first thing on my list. Gladly, that still leaves me with quite a chunk of change, so let's move on...
2. Home Reapirs
Well, now that I'm keeping it, let's use some of this money to make it just the way I'd like it! This isn't a case of just sprucing up the place, this house needs some very serious help - we have not yet recovered our basement from flood damages, we have broken doors and doorknobs on every entrance, one dog had lots of fun ripping out window panes when upset and while one bathroom is in the midst of a remodel now, the other is just plain frightful. Wrapped in this portion of my spending would be fixing up my backyard. There is so much potential back there for gardening, recreation and relaxation. Someday, with my million or not, I hope to help it realize that potential.
3. Renewable Energy Updates
Once the house has been brought up to date and is sturdy enough to hold up some additions, I would like to add solar panels on our roof and see if there is a possibility of adding a windmill anywhere on our property. I seriously don't understand why all houses and buildings aren't equipped with these (I know a lot of people are financially restrained, as we are) now. My husband and I keep crunching the numbers on these and hope that someday soon it will add up for us!
4. Pay Off Student Loans/Medical Bills/Debt
Should this be higher on my list? Eh. Maybe. The medical bills probably make up the largest chunk of change and the ones I need to pay off first. All three of these are getting chipped away at bit by bit, so it would be nice to be freed of them once and for all. Kind of like the mortgage, paying these off would be kind of like giving myself a little extra money each month.
5. Get a Cabin in the Woods
My brother and I have been talking about this a lot lately. When we were younger our grandfather had a cabin in upstate New York that the whole family would use multiple times a year. It's where we learned how to shoot rifles, fish, swim in lakes, climb mountains (OK... they probably weren't really mountains), chop and collect wood, build fires, sleep on cots and survive (EASILY!) without television. We want this back. We want to get a cabin together so we can continue the tradition. This is definitely on my million dollar list!
6. Donate at least 1% to Worthy Causes
There are so many causes that deserve support and need it. I, of course, would send some money to the Intracranial Hypertension Research Foundation (www.ihrfoundation.org) for all the help they've given me, to Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America (www.ccfa.org) for all the help they gave my mother and then I think I would like to explore other charities/nonprofits to see who and how they help out to decide who I would help out even more. In the end, I'm leaning toward more of a 5% give rate for this sum of money, but, since I haven't run that by the hubby I feel safe committing to at least 1% (because anything less than that, then HE'S going to have problems!).
7. Invest & Save (With Purpose)
I think this is by far the most important part of my million dollar spending. Every single investment made is a vote for a company's products, principles and policies. I would have to become a more hands-on type of investor. I would have to learn about various businesses and companies so I could make more educated decisions about whether or not I wanted my money to back such ventures.
I would invest in local companies to ensure that jobs are created and sustained in my community. I would invest in environmentally responsible companies to make sure my money is where my mouth is. I would invest in companies that I believe in and I am proud of. I would invest in companies that understand that there is more at stake than their bottom lines. I don't expect that this type of investing would be easy, but with a large sum of cash and the type of influence it could potentially have over a business or two, it is worth the effort.
So... What would YOU DO???
This post is written as part of the What IF? Project hosted here on the Rivera Runs Through It Blog. Each week a new "What if?" question is presented and I do my best to respond to the query. You are invited to as well. This week's "What if?" was
Every single morning when I brush my teeth, this is the sign I have hanging over my shoulder in my bathroom. It didn't start there, but, for now, that is the perfect place to have it.
My mother used to have this sign hanging in our kitchen, so every person who walked in our house could see it. The message she hoped it would utter:
We have been left as an unexpectedly single-parent family. I am raising these two on my own while on disability and have NO IDEA how we are making it. But we love each other more than anything else in this world, so this might not be YOUR idea of "Home Sweet Home", but you should just ADJUST because this moment is just awesome!
I am still in the same house and after renovating the kitchen and going through so many things of what should stay and what should go over the last five years, I realized this sign still has a pretty important role. I moved it into the bathroom where it amuses me every day with its new message:
Good morning, Nicole. You were left this house, unexpectedly, five months after you got engaged. It was a blessing that you and your husband could live in such a beautiful and love-filled home, but let's face it: the two of you have NO IDEA what you are doing or how you are going to make it. This bathroom has been stripped bare, to its studs for over a year and a half now... This is not your idea of "Home Sweet Home", but life has thrown you guys some curves and you are ADJUSTING. Through it all, though, you love each other more than anything in the world and this is your moment (make it awesome!).
And, so, bizarrely, in my attempt to be transparent with the inadequacies of my home and homemaking for the guest who do dare to embark upon the "bathroom that once was", I have found a way to inspire myself each morning! I've embraced who I am - I'm someone who is adjusting, that doesn't mean I can't move on, it just means I'm learning on the job!
