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Sunday, January 19, 2014

Making Decisions

It sure feels great to make a decision!  And we have been making a number of important, life changing one lately!  Despite a number of sleepless nights, and much, much discussion we are very excited about the upcoming changes.


Our first decision was coming to the realization that due to Joses allergies/asthma we needed to sell our house.  It was a hard decision, one that we have considered for years - we could never bring ourselves to do it as we love our log cabin on the lake and it is near to my parents and our friends.  After spending these last few months away, Jose is feeling like a whole new man - full of energy and completely off his inhalers!  Once we made the decision to sell and whole new set of choices presented themselves!


Given the nature of our income, we can choose to live anywhere - and we considered everywhere! From Spain to Mexico to Ecudor...we really wanted to move here, to the United States but didn't qualify for any Visa.  After deciding that Spain was too far away, we started looking at Canadian towns close to the US border (we are loathe to give up the inexpensive shopping here) with a pool (Violets passion) and dance lessons (Hazels passion) as well as decent schools (We feel like its time for the girls to go back to traditional school). After a winter without snow here in Oregon, we were also in search of a milder winter.... unfortunately, in Canada, that comes with a hefty price tag.  We tried to find a place in western Canada so we could still be close to family and friends but just didn't want to be 'house poor'.  We wanted to be able to afford the lessons for the girls, vacations, and save money for their university education etc.  I am also trying to take ino account my needs as a disabled person - proximity to doctors and places to have my equipment is important, and given that I no longer drive we thought it would be nice if we were in a town within walking (or rather rolling) distance of shopping, schools, parks, etc.


After searching high and low for somewhere that met these needs (I think we cruised every inch of the Canada/US border on Google Maps) we stumbled across New Brunswick.  We initially discounted it as it is just so far away from our friends and family.  The girls have such a strong relationship with their Grandparents and we value that - it was the reason we moved from the city to our house on the lake. We kept coming back to it, until one day our millionth mls.ca search landed us in a beautiful little town across the border from Maine, in central New Brunswick.  We fell in love with a huge, old home in need of cosmetic TLC but (hopefully, still have to have an inspection done) structurally sound with updated wiring,plumbing,etc.  We are not completely done closing the deal - crossing our fingers, but if all goes well we will be closing at the end of March and moving mid-June!

As things will be tight until we sell our house, we were eager to get home and start preparing our house for sale, as well as start packing etc.  After much hemming and hawing, and with a bit of trepidation, we have decided to brave the snow between here and home and leave here in a couple weeks and make a break for home as soon as the weather allows.

So, we will spend the next few weeks soaking up the Oregon beauty - it will be hard to say goodbye!




2 comments:

  1. That will put you within a days drive from some beautiful East Coast US areas! Northern Maine is probably less so, but the cost of living in New England US is about the worst there is. You might not find shopping as inexpensive as you have now. Not sure where you are, but I picked Fredericton, for Googling, and that puts you 6 hours from Boston (Eileen) and about 8 hours from Connecticut and me. :)

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  2. the cost of living in maine, is still less than the cost of living in new brunswick or canada in general,but probably not as cheap as here in oregon. we are looking forward to exploring the east, and will see you at some point for sure.

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