I don’t want you to get the title of the post “Eight months” confused with me being 8 months pregnant…
because sadly….this is how i felt when we all got together to do these family photos back in November.
Today marks our 8th month on the island of Kauai.
The time is flying by faster than you can say…..
“i’m sitting in bed blogging with a glass of wine on the nightstand”.
For some reason these last few weeks i’ve been getting emails from readers asking me my opinion on
up and moving away for a year and how it’s working for us…
so i thought now would be as good of a time as any to just lay down the facts for you.
There are 2 different sets of people in the world.
The doers and the watchers.
It’s okay to be a doer but sometimes in the back of your mind you wish you could just sit and watch.
It’s also okay to be a watcher because it means you are safe.
The watchers are content in their life.
The doers are content as well…..but they feel like there is something else out there.
Something next.
If you know our story….you know that we are not watchers. We tend to move around every 4 years or so….
but we were pretty content living in Illinois till Bryan lost his job….and once he lost his job….
well….the doers in us decided we needed a change.
Change is good. For us at least.
Not everyone needs change.
I had never met anyone {personally}that just up and moved somewhere for a year or two on a whim….
but because i blog….i knew of a few bloggers that did just that.
Up and move for a year or two.
One of the blogs i read is {oh happy day} and they up and moved to France for a year.
The other blog is {design mom}. Yes..they are sisters…and they both moved their families to France…
{and yes i did email them asking them if they need another sister but they declined my offer}
I would have loved to move to France…..but because we were somewhat realistic in what Bryan could do
for work…..we decided on the island of Kauai and living a beach life.
I’ve known people that move across the country….but to me that’s safe.
Get a job. Sell your house. Move across the country.
We rented out our house….put everything in storage….sold a car…shipped a car…
and here we are…on month 8.
{not to be confused with being 8 months pregnant…thank you very much}
It’s one thing to up and move somewhere completely different if you have a job transfer….
vs.
up and moving on a whim because life gave you some lemons and you decided to squeeze them for all their worth.
The cold hard facts:
*We have no money….and by no money…i mean…
NO MONEY
*what used to be weekly date nights back home means we have lunch dates while the kids are in school
so we don’t have to get a sitter.
*People always asking when are we coming home.
Well….we will come home if and when bryan gets a job that will pay our mortgage..but till then
we plan on staying here like planned. That means through the summer….
and it might mean we are here for a little longer. A job waiting tables is better than no job at all.
*Finding a job is going to be hard.
If you don’t have funds to get you through till you {or hubby} finds a job…then that might
give you a heart attack. Lucky for us Bryan found a job {he has 2 right now} within the first month.
*Insurance.
This was the most important thing for us. We needed to have benefits but there were 2 months that we didn’t
and that was really scary.
*No one understands.
I am only saying this because i know first hand what it’s like. People tend to think just because we live on Kauai
that we are drinking Mai Tai’s on the beach every afternoon.
Okay….i drink wine from a box…….and my left brake light was out on my mini {van not cooper} for
a month before i could get around to taking it in to get it replaced and not only that but my kids had
to call me to come get them at school because they were denied bus privileges because i was late in paying
for the bus fare. {yes….we have to pay for the bus here}
On the positive side:
Everyone’s life back home is still the same….our friends are still doing the same thing…..
and will still be there when we get back.
We might not have a whole lot of money….but we are living a different LIFE for a year.
The kids made new friends.
We have a new appreciation for what Simple means.
I can really live with only one pair of knee high boots for an entire year.
We’ve gone hiking….i’ve taken the kids camping….my kids have learned to surf…..they play the ukulele….
i train with Gabby Reece…..we spend Friday evenings on the beach…….the kids don’t wear shoes to school…..
we’ve made friends……we eat better…the ocean is in our backyard…..the kids have been stung by jellyfish and survived.
We always wanted a french bulldog but we have gecko’s instead.
This is living . To us anyway.
And who needs a DVR anyway! I watch television in real time.
we sneak into hotel hot tubs
{and since i’ve never mentioned the story on the blog….i might as well finish it.}
Remember at the beginning of the month
when the kids were home because of all the rain we’ve had? Well… we sneaked to the Hotel next door {with friends}
and the rule in hot tub land is that kids should not be in them. There was a balding {not that it matters..} man in the hot tub and he told my friend and i that our children should not be in the Hot tub. It was stated in the rules.
So my friend and i so gently told our well behaved kids that they would need to get out because of the invisible Hot Tub rules that said….
no children in hot tubs.
So……
once they all got out of the hot tub….i made sure to pee in it.
I know what you are thinking……..
Kasey sneaked her kids into a hotel hot tub and then she pee’d in it when a man asked her kids to vacate.
HELL YES I DID.
Okay….i’m sorry….i’ll never do it again. I promise.
Pinky.
Three fingers up in the air. The Hungry Games solute.
Please don’t leave rude comments on my blog because i’m
still trying to get over all the comments from the wedding crash of 2011.
Sheet.
How did i get off topic people?!
It must be the wine on the nightstand.
Damn you fine boxed wine.
Anyhoo…..i just want to say that we wouldn’t change a thing….we made a decision to
do something different and i can happily say that it’s all been worth it.
Every single day.
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