Tax Refunds

Well... it's 12:21am and of course my brain is running with thoughts and so I must jump out of bed to write them down before I forget them... Funny how that always seems to happen even though I'm so comfy in bed! I was going to start this blog by apologizing for yet another long absence... but I guess it really hasn't been that long since my last blog... but I'm not even sure who - if anyone reads this - but I do like it for my mindless ramblings. :)

So AJ and I decided to try filing our taxes this evening - we had finally gotten all of our paperwork in the mail and we were looking forward to some extra money to help pay off some bills and whatnot. Well as these things tend to go, we end up getting frustrated with the tax system and the filing system and not understanding anything of what we're doing. Sound familiar? And in the end, we have a significantly smaller federal refund than the previous year and we have to pay Iowa more than what we had to the previous year.

Not a great outcome for people who hate dealing with finances. haha But, as we were told, it could be much worse. We could be paying both federal and state and I could still be without a job. But none of that is where my thoughts lead me to tonight.

I started to wonder... is it possible for your tax refunds (or lack of refunds) to reflect not only the past financial year, but the year overall? Is there a connection to the events in your life and the amount of money the government owes you - or you owe the government? I know, I know... you're thinking - "Ha! Liz - of course not! That's just silly!" But just amuse me for a minute...

Last year when we filed our taxes for 2009, we had a great federal refund. Awesome. And looking back over 2009, it was a great year! Awesome! AJ and I moved in together. We got married. AJ graduated. We vacationed in Jamaica. Awesome.

This year, when filing taxes for 2010, we have not much of a federal refund and a crappy situation of owing Iowa money. Boo. Looking back over 2010, AJ and I had to spend some time apart. We dealt with a lot of personal events. I was unemployed for a while. Boo.

Okay, okay - so 2010 really wasn't all bad - I mean AJ did start his amazing teaching job/career. And I'm sure 2009 wasn't all good either - there always has to be those ups and downs. Maybe the refund just reflects how the last couple months of the year goes... haha

Anyway... those were the thoughts tonight keeping me up. In general, life has been good. Last weekend we decided to head back to Tipton to see the family and we picked up Matt and Amber in Des Moines on our way. It was great to be back with the Zaruba's again! It had been since Thanksgiving since we had seen them all! And it was a great weekend full of sledding, video games and laughs! This past week has also been good - although AJ and I did both come down with some 24 hour bug that kept us each away from work on a couple of days, but overall it was good. My second week at UNO has started to pick up and hopefully I'm learning the ropes. Soon it will take off and I'll be so busy I won't know what to do with myself! :)

This weekend, AJ and I are planning on relaxing and just enjoying each other's company (as long as we keep the taxes off our minds... ;-) haha). This is one thing we never get tired of doing - the keeping each other company - not the taxes. Just being able to sit on the couch watching TV or playing LittleBig Planet and having that special someone next to you... just that simple act can make you feel so giddy with joy. Or the goofy lame jokes we tell each other that make us laugh so much we cry. Or just being able to reach across, touch their arm and know that no matter what, they will love you and be with you. Those are the things I love about our laid back weekends.

So as you get ready to file your taxes this year... think about the past year. Or at least the past couple of months. Were they good? Were they average? Were they just flat out terrible? When you find your answer, you might just find your tax refund. ;-)