Another Year Done, A Fresh New Beginning Ahead!

It’s nearing New Years Eve and I find myself thinking about the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013. It seems so easy to reminisce about all the endings and lasts but it’s much preferable to think about all the good, positive happenings of 2012! 2012 has been filled with many wonderful memories and monumental achievements , accomplishments and milestones. 2012 was a very peaceful year for me. I feel peaceful when those I’m closest to are happy and healthy. 2012 has been a year of learning and experiencing new things. It’s also been a year of life changing decisions for us. It’s been the year we finalized our decision to change everything in our life, including our address, and begin a new chapter in our life.

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2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 5,300 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 9 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

New Years Weekend in San Francisco ! Dinner and a play, The Book Of Mormon, too funny!!

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Crab Cakes are ready!! Lets eat!!

Crab Season is Here!

Christmas Eve is Tomorrow and this year our traditional hosting of our family gathering has been handed over to Scott’s brother and sister in law. We will be enjoying a Christmas Eve brunch instead of dinner. Our contribution is pumpkin pie, blueberry scones and crab cakes, all homemade by Scott. This morning, bright and early,7:30, we took a drive over to Half Moon Bay with Pat to buy some live crab. We always love driving over the hill to the coast. Even in the rain it’s a very beautiful day! I love seeing the waves crashing on the beach . When we got to the harbor we were relieved to see people returning from the fishing boats with bags full of live crab. We weren’t able to get a call through to find out if the fishermen had been out in this weather to bring in their catch for the day, so we weren’t even positive that we would find any crab. Worst case scenario , we figured we’d just enjoy the drive and have a nice breakfast with Pat even if there was no crab to be had. But it was our lucky day! There seemed to be only one boat selling , all the other boats were only providing crab to people who had pre-ordered. So we walked down to the boat and stood in line in the wind and rain behind about four or five other people waiting with coolers ready to be filled up with live crabs! The fisherman on the boat was trying to get his scale working and standing on the pier in the stormy weather it felt like he was taking FOREVER ! By the time we got to the front of the line we were soaking wet! But… Scott’s homemade crab cakes are worth it!! I don’t know if we will have access to crab in Boquete like we do here in California so we are taking every opportunity to indulge in fresh crab this season. I’m sure this will not be our last trip over the hill to visit the crab boats! Here’s some snapshots of our outing!

Always Learning 😁, Usually By Trial and Often By Errors!

Back in June I had the bright idea to start blogging as a way to chronicle our plans and preparations to expatriate ,with the hopes to continue sharing our life as expats after we move. I thought it would be a fun way for our friends and family to keep track of us after we are gone. I also thought it might shine some light on our crazy plans for those who were just shaking their heads and saying,” HUH?”. “WHY?”😱😱 In the course of researching and reading everything I could find about expatriating I had discovered reading other blogs written by people who had already made the leap into a life that Scott and I longed to experience ourselves someday. Somehow I realized,” Hey, I could do this blogging thing!” I love writing and as an avid reader I knew that good writing comes from having a passion for your subject! I most defenitly had a newfound passion! Although the jury’s still out as to how good the writing is! (sigh!). You gotta give me an ‘A’ for effort though! (Big Smile!)

It’s A Dilemma!

Copper and Midnight patiently waiting to be let in the house.

I’ve told you about our cats, Midnight & Copper. They are litter mates. We got them when they were just a few weeks old. One of my clients came into my salon asking if I knew of anyone who might want a kitten. A stray cat had somehow gotten under her house and gave birth to a slew of kittens! That was nearly thirteen years ago. They are beautiful long haired , part Maine Coon cats. I’ve never thought of myself as a ‘cat person’, but apparently somehow I morphed into one! I grew up with dogs and have always loved dogs, but I must admit I love my two cats. They kinda grew on me. I know I can speak for Scott when I say that he too has developed a deep fondness for the little fur balls!

Enjoying The Beauty and Luxury Of California Before Our Re-Location!

12/16/12. Scott needed to use a very generous gift card he received as a big thank you from some friends who he did a bathroom remodel for. The gift card was for golf at Poppy Hills golf course on 17 Mile Drive in Monterey. Soooooo given the fact that there is a marvelous spa conveniently located near Poppy Hills golf course, I was happy to tag along with my sweetie! This was a golf game I would enjoy , for sure! We met our friends at the golf course , the boys jumped in their golf cart as me and my girlfriend followed the friendly GPS to “The Spa at Pebble Beach”! We were on a mission to indulge ourselves in much needed, and much deserved opulent luxuriating ! Ahhhhh!  We were not a surprised, to confirm what we both suspected ,” we are ‘naturals’ when it comes to luxuriating !”. Yep! We had no problem soaking up every moment of our delicious spa day! We truly BELONGED there!

“Why Would Anyone Want To Stay?”

This is a post published by a blogger I have been following for some time. She is a very talented artist who is embracing her life in a way that I aspire to embrace my own! I was especially moved by her words,”I want a life that I own, not a life that owns me!” Bravo! This is my feeling exactly! Her story inspires me, I thought you might enjoy her insights. “Why Would Anyone Want To Stay?”.

Token Image of Mourning

Token Image of Mourning.

Progress Report …

Time is marching on and we are getting closer and closer to our goal of starting the next chapter in our life. There is still much to do before we’re able to jump on that plane headed for Panama city to begin our adventure. Our main focus this far has been completing the work on our house so we can get it on the market to sell. This part of our preparation is the biggest and obviously most time consuming part of the diabolical plan. We are still hoping to reach our goal of getting the house ready to sell by February or March at the latest. Scott is making great progress on all the finish work inside the house.

Our Twilight Twinkle Tour ! Whooo! Hoooo!

The Twilight Twinkle Tour Gang! Scott, Jason,Caroline,Jesse,Me, Liz,Mariah,Cole

A Memory to last a lifetime ! Yep, zip lining through the redwoods at night with a giant elf and seven of my friends qualifies as a memory to last a lifetime! Screaming, crazy laughing, flying like a rocket man (Cole!) , and hugging trees(Caroline!) are things I will fondly remember! Our Twilight Twinkle Tour was a successful adventure full of much screaming (ME!), lots of laughing(everyone) and a bit of overcoming fears of heights(I won’t mention any names(Caroline)) ! The Santa Cruz mountains was a fabulous backdrop for a holiday gathering and we couldn’t have chosen a better night for such an adventure!

Holiday Fair At Harley Farm🎄

For the last few years We have enjoy our yearly trek with Pat over the hill to Pescadero for the Holiday fair at the Goat cheese farm. They have a big barn,( well, several big barns!) and upstairs in the converted hay loft they have a lovely array of hand crafted items to admire and purchase. All the artists are local and the variety of art is always fun to see. There is beautiful sea glass jewelry, knitted items, a women hand weaving the yarn as you admire her wares and many eatable things like lavender honey cheese, lavender sachets, peppermint bark, and jewelry made from antique beads, just to name a few. This year they expanded the fair into a second barn and its more of a small retail set up . They even had PAINT made from goat milk! What? In the original barn they have a lovely cheese shop , Scott bought two cheeses Fromage Blanc and goat cheese ricotta . They have a nice selection of many things made from their goat milk . We always like to watch the goats roam around and butt heads or chew on the fence or just chomp on hay. They are adorable little guys, for sure, although kinda stinky! Ha! Ha! I’d like to try to get back over there in the spring time to see the babies!

This Time Of Year, I Pause…

I pause to feel grateful . As we enter into this time of year we refer to as , “The Holiday’s”, many people , commercials, advertisements and greeting cards speak of being grateful . So I find myself pondering what ‘ I’m’ grateful for. Everyone seems to have a long, touching list of what they are grateful for in their life. The first, and most obvious thing that comes to my mind is my health and the health of those I love and care about. Then I think of all the happy, fun, loyal, deep connections I’ve had with various people during my lifetime . I’m grateful for the blessing of so many people who have been a part of my life and the experiences and memories I cherish. For me, my life would not be as rewarding without having spent time connecting with so many amazing people. For this, I am grateful ! Anyone who knows me knows how deeply grateful I am that my daughter made it out of her adolescent turmoil! That dark time will forever be a memory of not only deep agony but great growth! And it always gives me perspective on what is important to me. Seeing her on her own path, and observing the strength of her fierce independence and capacity for self dependence is a source of unending gratefulness. My partnership with Scott is a never ending source of gratefulness throughout the year, not only during the holidays. I am deeply, intensely grateful for what our relationship is to both of us! I’m grateful for the way we live our lives ‘together’ and the mutual respect and admiration , loyalty and compromise with which our connection thrives upon.

The Gift Of A Memory To Last A Lifetime

Can you think of a more special gift than the gift of FUN!!! I certainly can’t ! Which is why I’m taking a group of special people zip lining through the forest in the Santa Cruz mountains! Yep! Not ‘Only Zip Lining’, but Zip Lining At NIGHT!! WhoooooHooooo! It’s called a ” Twilight Twinkle Tour!”. They only do this during the month of December, they decorate the forest with twinkling Christmas lights and the guides are dressed as elves,( or are they actually elves?, Hmmmm?). This glorious event is Sunday night, December 9th and I’ll let you know if it turns out as fun and glorious as I expect it to be! I know I’ll be enjoying an adventure with my friends and creating a memory that will last a lifetime.

Christmas in Boquete, Panama

I found some pictures online of Christmas in Boquete , Panama! I was glad to see what appears to be a Christmas tree farm! But who knows if it’s still there, things change. I’ll bring my fake tree( to Scott’s horror!) just in case a real tree isn’t easy to find !

Oh Christmas Tree’

Tadaaa!

Today was a great day to decorate a Christmas tree! Luckily I happened to have one sitting in my living room! WHAT??? And to top it all off, Mariah just happened to show up just when the decorations were ready to go! Lucky girl!! It was a truly good day!

Sorting, Packing and Clearing!

This is our storage space,

(Ok, let’s try this again, I inadvertently published this last night before it was completed! I know… A rookie mistake! )
Sort through the attic , check! Sort through the basement, check! Sort through all the stashed stuff in all the closets, check! Now there are piles! Piles in two bedrooms, piles on the pool table,and piles on the dining room table! Yikes! Turns out, sorting is painful, OUCH! In the course of a lifetime we accumulate, and accumulate until every nook and cranny is bursting with stuff!