We’re Still Here

Leaving Alabama, the move up here, experiencing Idaho, fixing up the house, getting settled and ready for winter… all pretty life changing events. Life hasn’t gotten uneventful yet, though in retrospect, I’m guessing life with Lance will never be boring.

Folks from Idaho seem unimpressed that we moved here all the way from Alabama, yet folks in Alabama still seemed shocked that we left the south. Folks here know the attraction of the NW, folks in AL can’t imagine enduring a winter with temps below freezing for more than 5 days.

My list of things I miss isn’t too long:
1. I miss my kids. It’s not like I saw them everyday, but knowing they were just an invite to dinner away, was a sweet way to live.
2. I miss having a pay check for doing something I loved.
3. I miss the sunshine. Being up here IN the mountains, the sun gets blocked rather early in the day.
4. I miss a handful of people, you know who you are.

That’s it.

My list of things I don’t miss is longer. I run the risk of alienating many (but that’s OK, you’re probably not on my list of missed anyway)
1. I do not miss the AL humidity. The month of September here was the most ideal weather I’ve ever, ever experienced.
2. I do not miss AL football, or the SEC obsession with college football. Please read the Bible and consider the verse ..Blessed are the poor in spirit…
3. I do not miss the Bible Belt, gasp, I’m bringing football AND religion into my post. I am not a fan of organized religion, I think it does more harm than good. A man I love once said, “I think people will be surprised at how many atheists there will be in heaven”. The god in so many people’s church is not the God that is the great I Am.
4. I do not miss the traffic. Birmingham traffic sucks. We have not experienced 5 minutes worth of bad traffic, no matter what time of day.
5. I do not miss the constant complainers (especially the mean ones). Was it my job that led me to meet so many? We’ve met quite an assortment of folks here, all seem aware of their many blessings.
6. I do not miss the expenses of our previous life. Heating, cooling, frankly all the utility expenses. We take our garbage to the local dumpster, our house is heated by our wood burning stove, we don’t have an air conditioner or dishwasher, no sewer or fire bill…
7. I do not miss the chemically treated water, no chlorine or fluoride in our well water, plus it’s chock full of minerals.

I’d better stop the list of things I don’t miss. We had a very blessed life in Birmingham, it’s just not what we were striving for. I love our frugal life here. Our hot water is hot and our cold water is FREEZING. Our metal roof sings when the rain hits it and when the snow is melting off of it.

The ‘off grid living’ is another goal we’re slowly reaching, that deserves a whole ‘nother post, some day, soon.

Our cabin is tiny and still needing alot of work… check out our kitchen in progress.

Oh, #8, I do not miss LIVING IN a house we’re flipping, at least we get to keep this one, that’s the plan anyway.

We’re still here, even though the REAL winter hasn’t started. It’s funny how your perspective changes in such a short time. When it’s in the mid 40s, we think it’s a heat wave. When the snow has melted, we forget how frigid it is. When it’s dark inside the house at 3:45, we just turn on a light (just one, remember, we’re FRUGAL). Stay tuned to see how Mare weathers the winter…