One of the biggest questions we get hands down since we moved back to Iowa is “if you don’t mind me asking, what do you guys do for a living?” I will admit in the beginning after I was asked a few times I started to wonder if it is a common question or was there something more behind it that peaked curiosity. I would respond my typical response we work in corporate America and have been fortunate with our career paths… but here is what I really wanted to say..
Ryan and I come from very humble beginnings. That may be what initially fueled our fires. We met in college here in Iowa both had no clue what we wanted to do in college just knew it was what we were supposed to do to be successful right? Life of course happens and we started a family very young when neither of us were prepared to bring another life into this world. That again fueled our fire. Ryan and I both worked full time jobs and took online and night classes to finish our degrees. After acquiring all that debt I couldn’t find a job that would pay me more than what I was already making and I knew I needed more. Ryan ended up landing a great job here in Iowa that he enjoyed but he knew I needed more. This is where we ended up moving for our careers. We missed out on a lot for our careers. While our families were back in Iowa we were working on building a better life for our young family. This meant a lot of sacrifice for everyone including our son.
We are by far not rich or comfortable in any means. We are just not shy of taking risks. You have to remember that we both came from humble beginnings. When Ryan wanted to move back to Iowa we were very fortunate to be able to sell our home in CO quickly and Ryan has always been a penny pincher. You are probably thinking a penny pincher yet a risk taker!? Yes it’s true a risk taker with always more than one plan. It has been what has gotten us to where we are today.
We took a risk and bought an Extreme Home Makeover House… we now refer to it as an extreme fixer upper. We have a vision for this property and don’t mind sharing it. We may be a little slower coming off the blocks on this one but it’s because our plan in no shape or form includes acquiring new debt. Everything we do on this property we save for. It will be one of our most extraordinary accomplishments and can only hope you stick around to see it!
Moral of the story.. There is almost always more to someone’s story than what they are giving you or what you think you see.
-Jamie
Moral Of The Story 