It’s tax season, the most dreaded season in the entire year. If you’re new to working from home, you might have a lot of questions concerning your taxes and where to begin. Here are some simple steps to work on organizing your taxes for this year and the years to come.

Step 1: Know what is tax deductible.

First and foremost, you will need to know what can be tax deducted. Pretty much everything around you can be tax-deducted. Did you know you can tax deduct your water, sewage, electricity, internet, and gas bills?! Save those receipts and keep them in a folder. At the end of the year, you will need to know the square footage of your office space, the percentage of usage from your internet (even phone if you use it for your job), and your house size to determine how much money you get to deduct from your taxes. 

If you spend money on your job, like buying paper clips, using a stapler, or buying postage can all be tax deducted! Save those receipts and keep them. However, receipts can fade and a good idea is to scan them and then attach the receipt to the scan copy with your tax deductible stapler.

Mileage can be deducted as well if you travel for your job. Download or buy a mileage tracker to keep track of your mileage because gas isn’t free and it can add up quickly.

Step 2: Start Organizing.

Start organizing your tax deductible items into topic related folders. In the Writer’s Market 2014 book, there’s a great article that discusses how to organize your work so you can quickly and easily add it to your taxes in Section C. Here are some categories that you will need to sort by topic:

Contracts (if applicable) 

Depreciation (computers, printers, desk; anything that will last for over a year)

Income

Other (postage, photo copying, books, subscriptions, membership fees, etc.)

Supplies (paper clips, printing cartridges, paper, file folders, etc)

Travel (Travels, meals (if eating out on the job or meeting with a client and buying a coffee, etc), and entertainment for researching for a client or company)

Utilities (light, gas, heat, electricity, internet bills, phone bills, etc)

Step 3: Keep Track of your expenses.

This has to be the most dreadful part of all, but you will need to start keeping a detail record of what you spend and how much you make from your bank account. Print off your business expenses and income every month. This will be easier if you set up another bank account for your business alone. Take the extra measures to be on the safe side and keep track of your expenses in an Excel sheet. This will be your life saver if the government decides to audit you one year.

It’s best to always consult with an Accountant to know how to best prepare for tax season, especially if you’re new to working from home. These steps are to help get you started and grounded for this time of year so you can get back to what you love doing.

Photo taken by wedding photographer, Haley Sheffield

This month Nathan and I are celebrating four years of marriage and I decided to blog about our unique love story. I am walking down memory lane and wanted you to join me. We are celebrating and I would like for you to celebrate with us!

In my last blog, I left you with 10 Friendship Moments between my husband and I while we were friends. I went over some special moments I hold dear to my heart while we were in our just friends phase. In memory #10, I wrote about the last time I saw Nathan before he went on his year tour in South Korea. We went out to eat and talked afterwards; we made each other promise to invite one another to our weddings. I also had given him a letter telling him how much I had enjoyed our friendship and didn't want to let that go. I gave him my address and phone number in case he ever wanted to call or write me.

That was May 2008. In August 2008, I started a new quarter in college, haven't heard a peep out of Nathan, and actually hadn't given him much of a thought. Until...

I was driving down the road to my first day of class of the quarter, when all of the sudden, a thought occurred to me: I missed Nathan. I hadn't thought much about him, until that moment. I started to think about him and what he has been up to. 

I came home that day to find a letter from Nathan waiting for me. That started a new phase of life for us.  We wrote one another once a month from then on, and the reason why it was once a month, is that my letter would take 5 days to get to him, but Nathan's letters took two weeks to get to me. Silly USAF mail. 

During the months of August - December 2008, I met this guy name Adam. We got along, flirted a lot, and he was really cute. The only thing I didn't like was that he was not a Christian. And throughout the entire time of our friendship - if you can call it that - I always thought, "What about Nathan? Who would he marry?" Always. I would try to tell myself, "He'll find someone. Why am I so worried about it?" 

In December 2008, I had a falling out with some friends of mine and I remember telling God, "All I want in a spouse is commitment and loyalty to me!" Because of what happened, it made me realize that I valued true friendship loyalty and commitment. And I remember God asking me, "What about Nathan? He has always been loyal. He writes you letters. What guy writes letters?"

That's when I started to connect the dots and realize that maybe Nathan had a crush on me during our entire friendship and it went right over my head. I started to seriously crush on him.

Finally I got up the guts to ask Nathan in one of our letters. On March 19, 2009, I asked him to pray about a possible relationship between us two. I remember Nathan mailing me back, confessing his doubts of it working. Not only had he  been in several long distance relationships before, with all of them ending badly, but had some character doubts that worried him about us making a good fit. But I was very bold and told him that no matter what, I would always accept him for who he was. 

I think another thing that held him back was the fact that he was going to Germany after his tour in South Korea and that was suppose to be a three year tour. So we both knew we wouldn't be seeing a lot of one another. But that didn't stop me.

He called me around end of March, first of April and we started to have phone conversations as well as write our monthly letters. I remember Nathan telling me once that he could see himself growing old with me. (HOW INCREDIBLY SWEET!)

During these phone conversations, we started to fall head over heels with one another. We experienced some really sweet moments as we talked about our days, where we see each other going, and how we couldn't wait to see one another!

He wanted to become official on Facebook as well as status. But I told him no because he was coming back to Georgia in July and I wanted him to wait then. So he put "It's complicated" instead. I thought it was cute and followed suit.

July finally came! I went up to Atlanta and picked him up from the airport! I was so excited to see him! I had arranged for him to stay at a friend's cabin while he stayed in Georgia. I had to work at my summer day camp job during the day, so we hung out in the evening. Then he came to the camp one day and I just so happened to have 11-12 year old girls. They torture that man to death with sayings like, "You'll go down the slide if you love her!"  Oh boy. Another camp counselor told me he was hot and I told her to stay away from him. (I believe she knew I was joking/serious) Brings back such fond memories!

He asked me out on July 12, 2009.He asked me out on July 12, 2009.Nathan asked me out on July 12, 2009. We had our first kiss during this trip, our first make out session, and first trip with one another as an official couple.

The trip ended with Nathan boarding a Greyhound to go home to Indiana for three weeks before boarding a plane to Germany. Yes, that was the most difficult thing ever to do: watch your new boyfriend leave on a Greyhound (do not ask why he would not fly!) and not knowing the next time you'll see him.

We talked on the phone because he reactivated his old one for the next few weeks. Then he boarded a plane to Germany where we started to Skype with one another on a weekly basis. Next time I will talk more about our dating phase, so come back to hear more!

That is how my love story with my Nathan began. How did your love story begin?     

 

I was scrolling through Facebook one day when I saw a friend of mine had posted this picture. I thought it was ironic that she had posted this because this was the same thing I had been learning. And I thought I would expand on this a little bit on my blog just in case some of you are struggling with this issue as well.

First off, it's VERY hard not to take something personally when someone is aiming their ammunition straight at you full blast. It's hard to not feel responsible when a person is acting nasty towards you; this could look like someone blaming you for their unhappiness, trying to make sure you feel what they are feeling.

But like this quote says, it says nothing about you. You are not in control of their happiness, no one is except them. This can be especially hard when a spouse attacks you with accusations of why you're not making him/her happy. It's tough to stand there and take his/her accusations of discontentment and not take it personally. 

But are you in control of your spouse's happiness? No. You are not responsible for his/her happiness. True joy only comes from the heavenly Father and that can only happen if one is open to receiving that joy and peace that comes when dissatisfaction sets in. If your spouse is not open to receiving God's peace and joy for his/her life, then that's not on you.  I am telling you that you are allowed to not feel bad when they are accusing you of how unhappy he/she is.

The last part of the quote says, "It says nothing about you, but a lot about them." How true is that! When a spouse comes attacking, full force with verbal ammunition at why he or she is not happy, or what you have or haven't done, or trying to keep score, then it shows what's going on inside of his/her heart. It shows that your spouse is in the midst of a spiritual battle and instead of owning up to the root cause of his/her problem, he/she takes out on you.

Now, what can you do when this is happening? Don't even take it personally first off. Realize who is at work here, look beyond your spouses words and see the true enemy. That enemy is Satan and he is working full force.

Instead, don't own what is going on inside of their heart. However, if your spouse says something and God convicts you that what he/she said is valid, then you do need to own up to that and say that you're sorry. Lead by example.

Then pray for your spouse. Maybe not with them because your spouse may not be at a place in their walk with God to stop what they are doing to pray. Remember that blog I wrote a while back about being like the Irish Queen who prayed for her husband to make the right choice and asked God to bless him? That's what you need to be doing for your spouse. Be your spouse's prayer warrior! If you're not praying for him, there may not be anyone else doing it.

I am learning this and you can learn with me as well: Pray while in conversation with your spouse. Pray that God will show you what to say to him/her during this spiritual warfare on his/her heart. Pray that you will not sin or be disrespectful, but be loving and honest. There's no real answer here because every situation is different; however, God knows and He will give you what you should say.

And never forget to look past your spouse's words and actions to see the real need. Look at them with Christ's eyes and you'll probably see a hurting soul. Remember, hurting people hurt people. If your spouse is hurting, then you need to have compassion on him/her. Display what Christ has done for you onto your spouse (because we all hurt others when we are hurting). 

I'm not saying to allow your spouse to run all over you with his/her words, I fully believe God will not allow it either, but every situation and marriage is different and that is why I'm learning it's so important to pray to God during that moment to ask for words of wisdom, peace, and love. It's hard as HECK to do! Trust me! But your goal is not to own or take personally whatever is going on inside of someone else, but instead love them through it.

This means not fixing your spouse, telling them what they need/ought to be doing, or controlling them. Let God fix them because you cannot. It's out of your control and ability. You are only responsible for YOUR actions and YOUR words. Be blameless before God and your spouse.

Learning this has taken me a few years to get to and I'm not all the way there. I am learning, growing, and discovering things about myself in the way I communicate, receive, and respond back. I also know the struggle of owning to things I have no responsibility owning up to. I wanted to share with you what I thought it meant and encourage you to view your spouse in a different and positive light.

What ways are you learning when it comes to forgiving your spouse or not taking something personally? I would love to hear your wisdom as well!

**Please note I'm not talking about physical abuse. If you're being physically abused, you need to get help and get out quickly!**

TODAY, my husband and I will celebrate four years of marriage and I decided to take you on a journey of how we met, our friendship, dating life, and wedding day for this month. I want you to walk down the path called Memory Lane with me. Everyone stories are so different and unique, I wanted to share mine with you.

This time I would like to talk about my highlights with Nathan as we were friends. For some reason, my teenage and early college years are blurry and I remember highlights and moments rather than specific details. Our friendship was built mainly on two things: My family went to first service at our church and Nathan went to second service. During the period between services, Nathan and I would talk (we can just say I TALKED!). The second thing that helped with our friendship was the fact that we had similar friends in common. The group I hung out with was the same group Nathan hung out with.

I want to share 10 moments of friendship between Nathan and I while we were friends and it will not be in chronically order (sorry OCD readers). I know we had a lot more memories, but these are the moments I remember best:

1.      I told Nathan I would never marry him because he made the comment that he could never marry me since I was apparently “too young” for him. So I said, “I will never marry you because you’re too old!” Please note that I was 17 and he was 21 at the time.

2.      Nathan came to my 18^th Birthday Party. I invited him on a whim and he actually came! He gave me an up-close picture of a flower he took in a nice frame. I still have that picture, even though currently, it is in Georgia at my parent’s house.

3.      Nathan came to my homeschool graduation. I know what you’re thinking: a young man attending BOTH my party and graduation says something. But you know what? It went ALL over my head. I was in la-la land apparently. Remember, I had said that I would never marry him. (That brings on a whole new meaning of not saying never)

4.      Nathan remembers a time that we went to the movies with a group of friends and we sat next to one another. I barely remember that, but I thought I would include it since it’s sweet.

5.      One time I was an idiot and gave my bank account number away to a sale representative over the phone. (Please keep in mind I was either 18 or 19 at the time) Afterwards, it hit me how stupid it was and I was too afraid to tell my parents. Who was the first person I thought of? Nathan. So I picked up my cell phone and called Nathan to ask him what he thought I should do. He advised me to get my account number changed as quickly as I could. I did that and everything went dandy afterwards (yes, my mom did find out later, but it was too late to be concern with it).

6.      Nathan and I used to meet up with one another to go out to eat or get coffee. I remember Nathan ALWAYS used to pay the bill (guess it was practice?) like a gentleman! I had to tell the server to make it TWO tickets because Nathan was so sweet and paid for it all the time.

7.      One time, my friend Katheryn and I were hanging out and we decided to meet Nathan somewhere. I remember Katheryn saying, “He’s a nice guy!” Like hint hint. Of course it went over my little head again. No surprise there!

8.      I remember telling Nathan that I got a job as a server/barista in my local town and how excited I was. He always meant to visit me but I don’t remember him doing it. But he was sweet to think about me (he lived in one town and I in another, so in his defense, he wasn’t too familiar the area).

9.      One night we sat in a parking lot in the bed of his truck talking. I don’t remember what we talked about, but I do remember that moment and it has always stuck with me.

10.  I got a call from Nathan in May 2008 that he had gotten his orders to leave for South Korea. I immediately told him we HAD to set up a day and time before he left to get together one last time. We didn’t do that until a month later in early June, a few days before he left for his one year tour. After we ate, we stood outside next to his car talking and since I didn’t know if I would see him ever again, I told him that he better send me an invitation to his wedding so I can know who the lucky girl was. He asked for me to do the same thing. I also gave him a hand-written letter thanking him for his friendship and how he never abused it. I also gave him my number and address just in case he ever wanted to write or call me. In the letter, I told him I didn’t want to lose his friendship and wanted it to continue going. We hugged and parted ways.

To find out what happens next, tune in next week on the story of how we starting dating! You don’t want to miss out!

On a side note, what is YOUR Favorite Memory between you and your spouse while you were “just friends”? I would love to hear your story!