Ch-ch-ch-changes

So things are changing. Hubby and I have decided it’s about time to move back to the mainland. We are thinking of Colorado. I’m very, very excited and it can’t happen soon enough for me.

There’s a lot of reasons behind this decision, not the least of which it’s very hard living in Hawaii. Prices on everything are high. Going on vacation costs an arm and a leg, even if you’re just going to the outer island. It really is necessary to work a couple of jobs to survive. Okay, that’s not totally true. We could survive on what we make from our regular jobs, but I don’t want to just survive. I want to live. These things weren’t so bad when we were younger. But now we’re getting older, retirement is not that far in the future. We want to buy a house; if we do that here we’ll never be able to retire. Also, there’s the whole idea of being closer to our kids. We’ll be in different states but at least on the same continent So it’s all very exciting and I’m looking forward to it. It’s not going to happen right away. We have two very ancient dogs and we plan on waiting until they are gone. Unfortunately I really believe it won’t be that much longer.

I’ve already looked at properties in Colorado and for less than $400,000 you can get acres of land with a big house, barns, garages, etc. It’s awesome. Do you know what $400,000 gets you here?? A 400 sq ft studio in Waikiki. I’m not kidding. A single family home on a small lot here will cost you at least $700,000. It’s insane. I was thinking about it this morning and I guess that’s why we got real close to buying a house but never took the final step. Something always held me back. I think because deep down inside this is not what I wanted.

I’ve had a dream of having land and animals since I was a little kid. When I was younger I didn’t want to settle down just yet and when we moved here I thought I’d have to give up that dream. But now the dream rises from the ashes. I want a couple of acres. I want to have a really decent sized vegetable garden. I want to have chickens, maybe a horse or two. I want to have dogs and birds. I want to run a kennel and a doggie daycare. I want to can vegetables and bake bread and work hard and get dirty and be happily tired at the end of the day. That really has always been my dream and it looks like I might finally get to live it. I want time to draw and learn to play the guitar and work on my arts and crafts and learn photography. I no longer want to spend the majority of my day working for someone else. I’ve done that for 30 years and I’m tired of it.

As you can see I’m very excited about this. I look forward to the next year, getting ready and planning the move. I have lots to do; decide where to live, save some money, find a property, etc. Looks like I won’t be buying any Parmigiani watches but that’s okay. It’s going to be an exciting time.