Holy Cow! What a Year! #Tara’sGratitude #HappyNewYear

Hi and Happy New Year!

Everyone is talking about the things they are grateful for and i barely know where to start. Last year at this time, I was living in southern California. My husband and i had visited Ashland, Oregon in November with the idea that it could be a place we might move “someday”, but my hubby’s business is the kind where projects go on and on. He was in the middle of it. We knew i was flexible since i do both of my jobs from home, but he worked out of an office and had employees. We were charmed by our trip to Ashland, but that was all.

Then came a day in February when my honey came home and said, “I’m at a stopping place. If we’re going to do it, we could go now!” Holy cow! But both of us are pretty good with change, so we put the house on the market the next day. It sold a month later!  We headed for Ashland and found a weird , rundown house that we thought we could renovate. We made an offer. We then loaded everything we owned and a lot of things from my husband’s father (since we were planning on moving to a big house) into a huge moving van. In April, a week before our escrow was supposed to close on our new house and the escrow on out California house was all closed, we drove 12 hours in 2 cars with a dog and moved into a hotel where we planned to stay for 10 days.

Then all hell broke loose. The rundown house had all kinds of problems. We couldn’t get our loan to close. Every day was torture as we were asked for more and more documents and inspections revealed asbestos and roof issues and on and on. We ended up living in a hotel for 2 months!! We finally gave up on the big, fixer upper. Really feeling at a loss, with all our belongings in 4 storage units, and unable to leave our dog in the hotel room, we started looking for a rental home. But our wonderful realtor called us and said, “Remember that house you liked right before you made the offer on the fixer?” He told us that house at the top of this huge hill was back on the market for 50K less!! We put in an offer the next day and closed in 30 days. Even that was a trial with different papers required every day. Our lender totally screwed up, but eventually managed to get it closed.

Finally in the middle of June, we moved into our house. BUT it needed tons of work, so today, the house is about 2/3rds done with renovations but we adore it.

In a year, we’ve changed our lives. New home in a new state where we’ve had to find all the basics over again — dentists, doctors, hair cutters, to say nothing of friends. All is falling into place. We love it here so much!

I still managed to write 5 books and conduct my day job from home at the top of a small mountain where the views thrill us everyday. My husband is conducting his business from home. We’re adapting to cold weather, even snow, changing leaves, and amazing beauty. Less cars and more trees was our goal and we’ve achieved it. Look at the pictures. You’ll see me smiling in my new Oregon boots on my birthday in October. Various views from our deck and of beautiful Lithia Park. Out happy thanksgiving and Christmas in our new home. Every day is an adventure.

When i think of how much change has occurred in a year it blows my hair back! And i’m so grateful!

May your new year be filled with joy and love and a happy embracing of change!