Best of 2009 Blog Challenge: Best Project

I had some of my photography printed by my good friend Paul and  Lafayette’s art market pARTiculars liked my work so much they chose it to join their collection. I also opened my own etsy shop.

I picked my meditation practice back up.

Jim and I sold our house, simplified our belongings, packed up our dogs, and moved to Costa Rica.

I participated (and won) NaNoWriMo by writing 50,000 words in the month of November. I now have the beginnings of a collection of short stories based on my life.

I’ve started my exploration of vegan, gluten free, and refined sugar free baking.

I began a regular habit of exercising, often walking four miles a day on our wonderful beach here in Bejuco.

I started SamAhern.com and even when I take a break (like in the month of November) I just keep coming back. I love this medium for keeping track of and sharing what I’m up to. I am so grateful for the response it has had.

Notice how I don’t really choose one thing to be THE BEST? Yeah, I’m just not willing to do it. I’m already forgetting or omitting many things due to my not wanting to blog so much that I don’t have a life. There is no such thing as “the best” anyway. (Even though I have a habit of being overly dramatic and proclaiming that something is indeed “the best” at times.) My fact is that my life is overflowing full of good stuff (which I might add is awesome to be reminded of when the earlier part of this year was a whole pile of suck).

Also, I haven’t been doing the prompts for this challenge in order or on the days suggested. I may keep this thing going into 2010. (Woah. Is that allowed?! Hahaha.) As I often say: “I do what I want!” So be it.

Best of 2009 Blog Challenge: Best Change I Made To The Place I Live

Jim and I sold our first ever home we ever owned and moved to Costa Rica.
I wish the process was as easy as that sentence sounds, but it wasn’t. We put it up on the market with a friend (who’s incredible at finding houses, but wasn’t so great at selling them we found) and when our contract with him ended after 3 months (and maybe 5 showings), we interview three agents, picked one and then put our place back on the market. This second time was much different in so far as our agent Chasen Chess (Yes, that’s his real name. He said he was named after a restaurant or something.) was very diligent. He made sure our place had great photos, that we staged it correctly, that we priced it fairly, he put up special feature cards, had us write a letter to the potential buyer that was attached to the fliers, and he marketed it beautifully. We had more people coming to see our house than we wanted at times (it’s a pain to tidy up the house and vacuum up dog hair so many times). Things that helped that we did: pots of flowers out front and back, fresh flowers in many rooms, and closets that looked like someone with OCD had organized them. We turned down a couple offers and then finally went with one, having a round of counter offers before coming to an agreement.

After the inspection we had a list of new things we had to agree upon.

Here’s what we had fixed by professionals: Labeling of Electrical Panel (which we could have done) and new outlet installed, new water heater installed, linoleum fixed in kitchen (when I had torn it by moving the fridge once to clean behind it), and locks fixed (one that was sticking, another that broke, and one wasn’t aligned correctly).

Here’s what I fixed: Sliding door that would only open half way(I sanded down the metal track and it fixed the problem), tore off some drooping ceiling plaster and patched it up with the same texture as the rest of the ceiling so that it was seamless, patched up many a hole in the wall, sanded down a door frame (as the door has swelled during the summer and was sticking) and painted it. Also I tried to caulk the bathroom tiles with wall putty before realizing it (which is strange because I had properly caulked our tiles before). Thankfully I was able to wash all the stuff away and then do it again with all the right stuff.

Here’s what Jim and I did together: Built a screen for the window in the basement and stained the deck.

Here’s what Jim did: Soon after we moved in Jim installed all our window shades (beautiful white double cell shades at that),  replaced many light fixtures, built and installed a ceiling fan with light, took our guest bathroom’s toilet apart and repaired it, fixed many a leaky faucet, fixed the disposal, fixed garage door opener, and a door flap to keep the outside from coming in. In preparation for selling the house Jim worked (a lot), set up many of the appointments for professionals to come fix things, and he was also the vacuum master.

I must say that I wish we had done those things when we moved in, as our house was so lovely (flowers and smooth sliding doors and all) when we left. We did learn that the single mother who moved in have the walls painted and the carpets replaced when we left. She also got a radon mitigation system installed, which we paid for half of.

So we sold the place and moved into a house a few minutes away for a month. Unfortunately the padding and carpet had to be replaced, a washer/dryer combo installed, and a leaky faucet repaired improperly twice, while we were there (and not on my time schedule I might add). Ah well.

We sold, donated, and gave away much of our belongings, put some stuff and storage, and then packed up a few bags and the dogs and moved to Costa Rica. We are renters again, but it’s fun to be a five minute walk away from the beach for half of what we were paying for our mortgage. We have much less space and stuff, which is kind of freeing (when I’m not missing my food processor intensely). I like this more simplified living space and I actually have plans of eliminating even more of my belongings. (How many racer-back tank tops does one really need?)

Packing Up

So I realized I haven’t mentioned how grand of an effort packing was. We had many friends and family help (Jim’s sister Katie and her fiance Michi, Big Jim, Marissa, Kylie, my Dad, Marissa and Jeff, The Weinrauchs, Greg/Tashi, and many more). From moving large pieces of furniture, to packing boxes, to cleaning, it was a massive help.

Jim was a Super Star when it came to posting furniture on Craigslist and getting items to people.

After selling our place we lived in our friend Paul’s mom’s place. Paul and his family had just moved out (they bought a house) and we moved in for a month. We didn’t bring much with us there. There was already a table so we brought a bed, a love-seat and rocking chair (heirlooms), plants, and kitchen stuff mainly. We only used a few rooms in the house.

The rest of our stuff that we didn’t sell or donate and we knew wouldn’t come with us to Costa Rica for the year, went into a storage unit. We had originally thought we needed a 5′x8′ unit, but thankfully ended up with a 5′x10′ one. As you can see, we filled it up.

The last few days before leaving were full of giving away plants, selling the grill, cleaning, running errands, choosing what we really wanted to bring, and storing the rest. We were a bit concerned that we’d go over the weight limit on our bags, so Jim found us a $10 luggage scale that went up to 75lbs (our limit was 50lbs).

We packed bags, weighed them, redistributed items between the bags, and weighed them again. We ended up with one large “rolly suitcase” (each), one duffel bag (each), one small “rolly carry-on” (each), one large moving box at 60 linear inches (the size requirement), and one guitar (in its case). Everything except for the large box was under 50lbs. This ended up costing us $300 in luggage fees; $25 each for the first 4 (2 per person), $100 for the guitar (the extra baggage fee if the right weight), and $150 for the large box (the extra baggage fee plus $50 because it was between 50 and 70 lbs).

The next task was to see if everything would fit in our large mini van (what an oxymoron). With the Tetris skills we had developed with packing all the boxes and the storage unit, it was a success. All 8 pieces of luggage, 2 large dog crates, 2 dogs, and Jim and I all fit in! Thank goodness the middle and back seats folded flush to the floor.

One last stop to the storage unit and we were off!

Letting Go of Our Vehicles

Jim put his truck on Craigslist on a Sunday, three weeks before we were to leave. He figured it would allow him some more time with it, before having to see it go. It sold in 24 hours.

The first guy tried to haggle with the price a bit and Jim declined. “You give me a call when you’ve changed your mind about,” the man said.

There were still two other people interested in seeing it that day. The second guy was from a dealership in Longmont and bought it (allowing Jim to even make a little profit.) Jim had been worried that people would be intimidated by some of the paper work involved, since he still had a loan on it. Thankfully this guy knew what to do.

I’d like to point out that this truck was attacked by a bear after our rehearsal dinner (or so the story goes), slid into an old fence post on an off-road trail outside of Nederland, CO, and had the passenger’s window smashed on Valentines Day. I also taught Jim how to change a battery, when it died. (Only time I was ever thankful for Walmart as well as living so close to one.)  Despite all the damage the truck saw, Jim took excellent care of it that it was in great shape when he was done with it.

It was sad to see Jim let her go. It had been his dream to own a Toyota Tacoma. He lived the dream well!

My car, Spike, was given to me by my Dad when I was almost finished with school at Naropa. My Dad said I was getting the car because I was doing well in school.

It was fun checking out the different dealerships with him and driving the different cars. We ended up getting Spike from Blue Spruce in North Boulder from a guy named Melvin. My dad liked Melvin so much that a couple years later when we were driving by, he pulled over and dragged us all in to say “Hi.” Poor Melvin did his best to act like he remembered us.

Spike was, I mean is, a Black 1998 Subaru Outback Impreza Sport. Her all-wheel drive doesn’t work anymore and the lights for the gearshift turn on and off. She’s perpetually missing a plastic hubcap and the speedometer sticks at 40 miles/hour sometimes (knock on the display and it’ll pop to where it should be).

She was a good car though. She helped me not have to walk, bike, or wait for the bus in the snow. I could live further away, even out of town, from where I worked. Helped friends move or save family some money renting a car when they came to visit. She was also the perfect car to drive Sasha and Lita around in. The only real damage she ever saw with me was when Jim drove her into the side of a mountain on Thanksgiving in Buena Vista, CO (at least that’s my version of the story). She was old yet reliable. She got me where I needed to go and kept me safe (with a little help from the picture of my teacher and statue of Lama Tsong Kapa.)

Knowing I’d only get a couple thousand bucks for her and also knowing my brother, Tyler, needed a car, it made sense to pass Spike down. After my Dad agreed, it was settled. Tyler flew up, stayed for enough days to attend our going way party, and then drove her down (with new tires.) “The car drives like a dream,” he said.

Goodbye Boulder

Since moving to Boulder in 2001: I went to CU, dropped out of CU, got a job, got sober, met Jim, went back to school at Naropa University, moved in with Jim, got a dog, got a job as a preschool teacher, got married, got another dog, bought a house, quit my job, sold a house… and that’s the simplified list.

One of the most important pieces of living here has been the friends I’ve made. They’ve become my Boulder Family. They’ve been my guides, playmates, room mates, co-workers, meal-spliters, teachers, and companions. When I’ve been off track, they’ve cut through my b.s. and set me straight. When I’ve struggled, they’ve supported me and guided me to better things. When I’ve accomplished great things, they’ve celebrated with me.

I’m excited that we are finally moving to Costa Rica on Thursday (it’s a bit surreal), but I’m also sad. There’s nothing running us out of Boulder, we love it here, but it’s time for an adventure. Adventures are fun, but of course there is risk involved. Yes, ours include a limited supply of money, living in a foreign country where things don’t work the same, not being fluent in Spanish; but there is also the fact that we’re leaving our friends (GREAT friends, mind you).

We threw a BBQ yesterday (in drizzly, first-day-of-fall weather) as a chance to see our friends one last time. Granted, not everyone could attend, but it was wonderful seeing those who did. We chowed down, caught up, gave each other a hard time, and laughed a ton. We received cards, well wishes, and even a poem! The kindness and generosity of our friends is immense. We will surely miss them while away, but hope many of them will take us up on our open door offer.