WOW! WE WILL BE LEAVING ON THE AIRPLANE IN 24 HRS!
After all the planning, it is finally here!  And, of course, God has to make me laugh by  sending us 4 inches of the Great North West slushy snow...sigh!  Lol, won't miss THAT!  This has been a roller coaster of a ride... whew!  So excited for our new adventure...yet so sad to say goodbye to all of our friends and family!  The last 2 weeks have been so emotional!  Saying goodbye to all of my hair clients.  As hairstylists are bartenders that don't serve booze, I have gotten really close to most of them!  And will miss them all very much...as much as doing hair itself!  Hair has always been my hobby, and to be paid to do my hobby has been wonderful!  And now I am retired...just praying that all will go well and so far every door has been opened to us, so I keep telling myself to not question it! 

OMG!  I think I may need a paper bag to breath in...whew...just freaking out...lol!  22days left people!  
               Adoption...
               Christmas tree up...
               most of the packing...
               house taken care of...
               cat (Charlie) taken care of...
               most of the Christmas cards sent out...
               client mailings sent...
               all of our medications taken care of...
               mail fowarding company taken care of...
               VPN for laptop installed...
               sold or given away most of our personal things...
               furniture and kitchen stuff taken care of...
               insurances taken care of...
               passports...
               shots and typhoid meds...
               truck taken care of...
               airline tickets...
               snorkel gear...
               and SO many other things...
               CHECK/DONE/FINITO

               STILL TO DO
               sell the jeeps...
               sign lease and send deposit for house in Caye Caulker...
               finish packing...
               work 3 more weeks...
               see more friends...
               send more Christmas cards...
               thoroughly clean the house for Brandi...
               God, I don't know what else, but I'm sure there is plenty!!!!!!!

O Crap! We leave next month! In 6 weeks! In 47 days!
Still haven't sold the jeeps and haven't had the adoption court date...but you know, o well! We are still leaving and that is that...getting all of our visits with friends in, I am still working, and we are just trusting that everything will be ok! We both are very excited...OMG, we leave next month! Joshua is even getting more excited...he is reading about kids from other countries and is realizing what different cultures are like, how other kids live in other countries. Talking about Josh, I have to get his homeschool work on 11/30, which is cool, and I bought a book for him a couple years ago, "a dangerous book for boys" and Daniel is reading it, and is excited to do some of the things in it with Josh...it talks about the constillation, politics, girls, parents, and games too...I can't wait to read it!
Well, y'all have a good one!  See you next time!

OMG! WE ONLY HAVE 127 DAYS TO GO! AND I AM FREAKING!

I am nervous, scared, EXCITED...all at once!  Daniel says he isn't, he just wants to go...yeah, right!  We still haven't had Joshuas' adoption court date yet, haven't been able to sell the 2 jeeps yet (not for the lack of trying), and still haven't done anything with the house. 

On the house situation, I think my daughter, Brandi will move in while she gets her life together after her divorce. At least we don't have to worry about selling all of the furniture, or leaving the house empty for a long period of time.

Another big thing, my last day of work, of doing hair, will be Dec. 14...Hair is my hobby, always has been.  I love my job, I get paid for doing my hobby!  I will miss it terribly!

And another big thing...missing my daughter, steps, and grandkids! I know my steps will be good, they have their "poopy" together and they are doing great! Christopher/Tamara, Jammie/Susie/Noah, and Jared/Susie all have stable careers or going to school, have stable LIVES!  They are doing great and love them all so much...Then there is my daughter Brandi, who has 2 kids (Joshua and Aubrie), going through a divorce, just starting a new job, and will be needing a place to stay where she can save some money to get on her feet...I worry about leaving her, but maybe I need to leave so that she can learn to survive on her own.  We will be taking Joshua with us for 6 months and letting her stay in the house for a while, so I hope that she will swim rather that sink...God, I love her and only want good things for her!

DESTINATION #1 - CAULKER CAYE, BELIZE

THAT'S ME, CATHY, WITH MY HUBBY, DANIEL

AND THIS IS THE DUDE, JOSHUA, WHO WILL START OUT WITH US!

THE PLAN FOR OUR ADVENTURE IS TO LIVE SOMEWHERE FOR A YEAR ,THEN MOVE ON TO A NEW PLACE!  DOESN'T THAT SOUND EXCITING!

AS THE MAJORITY OF US WHO BECOME OF RETIREMENT AGE, WE WONDER IF WE CAN EVEN RETIRE FINANCIALLY, HAVE NO CLUE WHAT TO DO WITH OURSELVES IF WE DO, OR AREN'T IN ANY PHYSICAL SHAPE TO DO ANYTHING...

SO, DANIEL AND I GOT TO THINKING AND GOING OVER DIFFERENT IDEAS. AT FIRST HE WANTED TO STAY HERE IN SEABECK AND MAKE A LITTLE FARM...THAT SOUNDS GREAT FOR HIM, BUT I PROBABLY WOULD NEVER STOP WORKING!  THAT REALLY WASN'T A BAD IDEA SINCE I LOVE MY JOB AND CLIENTS! THE ONLY THING THAT WAS WRONG IS THAT WE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO TRAVEL VERY MUCH, TO THE PLACES THAT WE REALLY WANT TO GO TO.

SO, HOW CAN WE DO THAT?

WE THOUGHT ABOUT SELLING EVERYTHING AND BUYING A MOTOR HOME AND TRAVEL FROM ALASKA TO ARGENTINA...THAT SOUNDS LIKE A HOOT! THEN STARTED CRUNCHING NUMBERS, AND WITH THE GAS, AND MOTORHOME PAYMENTS, WE WOULDN'T BE ANY BETTER THAN WHAT WE ARE ALREADY.  PLUS THE HASSLE OF GOING THROUGH MEXICO, THE DIFFERENT MOUNTAIN RANGES, AND DEALING WITH THE CRAZY ROADS OUTSIDE OF THE U.S.!

SO, THERE WENT THAT IDEA...

THEN WE THOUGHT, WHY NOT JUST MOVE TO ANOTHER COUNTRY AND STAY THERE?  WELL, THAT SPARKED A COUPLE "DISCUSSIONS"!  WE COULDN'T AGREE ON JUST ONE PLACE...WE BOTH WANT TO GO EVERYWHERE (THOUGH I'M THE MORE ADVENTUROUS)!

SO, THERE, THE ADVENTURE WAS BORN!

LET'S GO EVERYWHERE! BUT, ALAS, WE ARE GETTING O.L.D.!  WE DON'T WANT TO JUST HOP, SKIP, AND JUMP ALL OVER THE WORLD. WE DID THAT ON SEVERAL ROAD TRIPS, AND IT'S JUST TOO MUCH. WHY NOT LIVE THERE FOR A WHILE AND GET TO REALLY EXPLORE THE AREA?

SO, HMM?

WHAT A WONDERFUL IDEA!  I STARTED CRUNCHING NUMBERS, CHECKING ON HEALTH INSUANCES, MEDICAL CARE,COST OF LIVING, GEOGRAPHICAL ISSUES, POLITICAL ISSUES, SHOTS, AND SO MUCH MORE...THE MORE WE RESEARCHED, THE MORE WE KNEW WE CAN DO THIS!

SO, NOW WE BEGIN.

ALL ALONG WE HAVE BEEN PRAYING AND NOW ALL WE CAN DO IS THE FOOTWORK...AND WHAT FOOTWORK IT IS!  SELLING EVERYTHING, DANIEL ADOPTING JOSHUA ( LOL, MY GRANDSON IS ALSO MY STEPSON...I FEEL LIKE SUCH A REDNECK!), SHOTS, VISAS, PASSPORTS, CHOOSING WHICH KID TO KEEP SOME STUFF FOR US, BE OUR CONTACT, AND SEND US OUR MAIL...AND YET, SO MUCH MORE.  BUT, WHEN IT'S ALL DONE, WE WON'T HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN! 

SO, THIS BLOG WAS JUST ONE OF THE MANY THINGS I NEEDED TO DO, BUT ONE OF THE FUNNER THINGS!  WE HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY IT AND PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH WITH US! BEING AN ARMY BRAT ALL OF MY CHILDHOOD, AND NOT HAVING THE TECHNOLOGY WE HAVE TODAY, THIS IS THE COOLEST AND BEST WAY TO STAY IN TOUCH  WITH EVERYONE THAT HAS TOUCHED MY LIFE...BLESS YOU ALL!