The Ring

You got a dream of a degree And a shirt that smells like me Yeah we both got dreams, we could chase alone Or we could make our own -from "Want To" by Sugarland

I love that song. Most of it (except the parts with sexual innuendos) describes Josh and I perfectly. When we got married two years ago we were just two kids who really wanted to get married. We're still two kids, but we've learned to navigate through life together. So many people said that we should do everything we want and reach our dreams before we get married, but that just never made sense to me, and this song puts my thoughts into words perfectly. We've both got dreams we could chase alone or we could make our own. And that's exactly what we've done.

Rewind three years. Josh somehow managed to scrape the money together to buy me a diamond ring and propose. That ring means more to me than words can describe-- he worked so hard for it.

Forward one year. We shopped all year and in the end, his wedding ring cost about $70 and I got two (they go together- one on each side of the engagement ring) for $46. And I remember barely being able to afford those rings, but we put them on each other on our wedding day with pride. We both had "dream rings" in mind to buy in the future-- when we could afford them.

Forward two years. This week. We went to an outlet store where I saw a pearl and diamond ring. It was way out of our price range but I pretended to fall in love with it so the lady behind the counter would let me try it on. Long story short, we bought it. And it is the "upgrade" of my dreams.

It's a 2 carat Tahitian pearl (I know-- putting it in carats sounds weird, but that's what the lady said), with 1 carat of diamonds around it. Because of the soft nature of the pearl I won't wear it all the time, which is great, because that means I'll be switching back and forth with my original ring, too!

But why is it so important to me? Not just because it's a beautiful representation of our love, but it represents a lot more. Josh and I have worked really hard to be money-wise. We live on a shoestring budget, are paying off debt, and saving a little bit for a specific reason. Through that, we were able to buy this dream ring when it came along (at an absolutely unbeatable price, mind you).

So this ring? I represents us-- we work hard, work together, and love each other to the fullest.