We have been here a year now, as of today. Some days it feels as if I have been away from the Rocky Mountains for decades, and some days…well, I feel as if this bit of coast has been familiar for my entire life.

I am going to share the barnacles of our new life here. The problems and the worries, but also the daily adventures we uncovered and are still discovering. I might whine a bit nostalgic, and share my tears at missing my children who still remain behind. But I am going to try to throw my energy into welcoming the ‘beach life’ into my home, my mindset, and into creating a casual beach lifestyle that I have dreamed of.

Truly, I have wanted to live a coastal life since I visited the Pacific Ocean for the first time 28 years ago. It entered my soul that week, and never left. Fortunately most of my family (especially the hubs), agreed and plans were made. Small note here: The first involved buying  a boat to live on, and sailing across the seas with our two youngest kids (they were much younger then).  This didn’t happen. We considered buying a condo and living there one month a year while renting it the rest of the time. This didn’t happen, either…In fact, nothing really happened, except for a lot of vacations to Mexico.

I would make my intentions each year to focus on getting us to the beach permanently. I set up tiny altars that featured seashells collected, sand from the shores, and more than a few bits of papers with wishes. All my affirmations linked back to Florida, and writing…and a sunny beachy bungalow….

It took years, but we are finally here. It might not be perfect..not yet….but we are here in Florida (and survived our first hurricane!)…

And it is time, to share my questions on various issues (How do you take care of your skin in this humidity) to seasonal angst (How do I live without my beloved Autumn). How do we afford this, when we are far from rolling in the proverbial ‘dough’ and frankly, having to start completely over.

It is time to write how we are surviving, and thriving, and how we feel as we process this change. Will we stay? Will we find the home we have in our dreams? And most importantly, will we find work that we love, that inspires, and that will support us through it all?

Or will we go back to the mountains of Colorado, to established networks of income-producing work, to familiar doctors and schools, to a climate with a season that kills bugs off. Will we stick it out or give it up?

Hint: We don’t give up easily…

There is a story in here, somewhere~

HPen~