Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Alaska Blog
This will be my last post here. From now on find me at http://dancingnomad3-alaska11.blogspot.com/. I've already made couple of posts regarding my upcoming road trip. Check it out.
Good-bye, Virginia!
Well, tonight is my last night in Virginia. It's been my home for a very long time (I've never had anything but a Virginia driver's license) but pretty soon I will be an Alaska resident. Probably what I will miss most is the proximity to my family and friends. The last few days has been spent seeing as many friends as possible between house clean-up, as well as one last trip to DC with the hubby. It's been a good ending to my time here, although I am sure I will be back since I always end up back in Virginia at some point. So long, everyone. Stay in touch, and come visit Alaska!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Packing Done!
Since deciding to move to Alaska (see previous post), I felt as though my life had revolved around my dog and preparing for my move. I've had to arrange movers, get rid of goods, pack, plan my route to the ferry, etc. etc. It doesn't sound so bad when written in one sentence like this, but I had very little time for much else. The movers finally came and went today though, so that is one milestone done. Thank goodness. I was almost worried that with Wednesdays snow storm, the movers wouldn't pick up because of all the snow on the streets in my neighborhood. They did a great job working around it though.
My next milestone is getting the house cleaned up and ready for the tenants, who will move in mid-Feb. I would have hired cleaners, except that I'm not too convinced that these maids-for-hire would clean the place anywhere near as good as I would. I wanted the house to get a nice scrub down, and I started most of the work today. Unfortunately there's still a bit more work to do, so some time this weekend, in between socializing, I have to finish up. Once that's done, I can relax for a few weeks until I arrive to Juneau, and then all hell breaks loose again. I'll have to find lodging, get shipment, unpack, etc. etc. Might be couple months before I am settled again.
I am driving off in a few days, so in the meantime I am staying with a friend. Brad has arranged a place for him to stay too, so he will continue to work at his current job for a while. Millie is in a kennel for the first time. I worry about her since it will be the first time she will be sleeping alone at night. At least it is at the PetSmart where she goes to Day Camp so she is familiar with the staff there.
Now that I am homeless I feel somewhat free. When I'm home, there's always something that needs doing. Whether it's chores around the house or administrative stuff on-line, I don't get to relax much. Finally here at my friend's house, I have a mini-retreat. Hence, finally a blog post :)
My next milestone is getting the house cleaned up and ready for the tenants, who will move in mid-Feb. I would have hired cleaners, except that I'm not too convinced that these maids-for-hire would clean the place anywhere near as good as I would. I wanted the house to get a nice scrub down, and I started most of the work today. Unfortunately there's still a bit more work to do, so some time this weekend, in between socializing, I have to finish up. Once that's done, I can relax for a few weeks until I arrive to Juneau, and then all hell breaks loose again. I'll have to find lodging, get shipment, unpack, etc. etc. Might be couple months before I am settled again.
I am driving off in a few days, so in the meantime I am staying with a friend. Brad has arranged a place for him to stay too, so he will continue to work at his current job for a while. Millie is in a kennel for the first time. I worry about her since it will be the first time she will be sleeping alone at night. At least it is at the PetSmart where she goes to Day Camp so she is familiar with the staff there.
Now that I am homeless I feel somewhat free. When I'm home, there's always something that needs doing. Whether it's chores around the house or administrative stuff on-line, I don't get to relax much. Finally here at my friend's house, I have a mini-retreat. Hence, finally a blog post :)
Monday, January 10, 2011
Happy New Year!
Almost two weeks into the new year, and I am glad 2010 is over with - it just was not a good year for me. I thought about recapping all the crap that's happenned, but I think I'd rather just forget about it. The main thing is, most of the problems I had in 2010 are behind me now. On a positive note, we did have some nice weekend getaways last year, and also got a lovely addition to our household - Millie, a black lab puppy. Then there is the birth of my nephew, Nikko. The year also ended pretty well with lots of quality time spent with my family. I blogged about my Thanksgiving, but I also had family over the New Year weekend, which was very nice.
While 2010 sucked for many reasons, I have to also say that I haven't been too happy these last few years here in Virginia. I can't say I had a bad life here since I have what most people want - a good job, a house, a husband, and a dog. Unfortunately, I seem to have this gene that craves adventure. The normal everyday life that many people enjoy just doesn't cut it for me. I can see how it's nice to settle down, have a place you call our own, and a husband to cuddle up to at nights. It's comfortable. Yet, I feel there's more to accomplish in life. In my case, I've always loved travelling. Despite my attempts to settle, I still have the bug. I want to see more do more. Yeah, I can travel here and there from Virginia, but I felt so tied down in my life that it was difficult. I also want to experience a whole new life - not just traveling couple weeks out the year. Basically, I've come to realize I like moving around every few years to stir things up.
Sometime in 2010 I started looking for opportunities in places I want to go - Japan, Italy, Germany... and Alaska. Alaska wasn't on my initial list, but my husband briefly had this desire to go so I looked. I actually found a job I wanted, for an organization I wanted to work for, in a part of Alaska (Juneau) I would like to try living in. The day after Thanksgiving, I was offered the job - and I took it.
Moving isn't easy, and it only gets harder as you get older. You have more stuff, and the stakes are bigger - now I have a home, a husband, and a dog. As excited as I am about the move, I am also pretty stressed right now. It's making me think twice about my plan to keep moving around. I'll worry about that later though. For the time being, I am trying to scale down my material goods. I want to stay fairly mobile in case I do decide to move again in a few years. On my Facebook page I have a quote that says "If you own something, it owns you." How true. I want to go to Alaska with the bare minimums. Trying to figure out what to sell, give away, throw away, or take is taking up a lot of time right now. Then there's the road trip planning since I am going to drive across the U.S. and catch a ferry to Alaska. Yeah, driving across the midwest in middle of winter. Should be fun.
Most of you are probably wondering what's happenning to the home, husband, and dog. The home will get rented out (hopefully), and the dog will come with me (I thought about giving her up too but just couldn't do it). The husband will stay behind and keep working since he recently landed a job he really likes and lost his desire to go to Alaska. Of course, this doesn't help our relationship, which is the downside of this move. We're kind of prepared for the worst, but we're not making any rash decisions at the moment. We'll see.
I am actually going to be leaving Virginia in about 3 weeks. My plan is to drive to Yellowstone and hang out there for about week for some much needed R&R. Then drive to Seattle for couple of days, and then catch a 3 day ferry in Bellingham to Alaska. I will arrive in Juneau on 2/21. Once I leave Virginia I will be starting a whole new blog. My last post in this blog will be a link to my new blog. So stay tuned....
While 2010 sucked for many reasons, I have to also say that I haven't been too happy these last few years here in Virginia. I can't say I had a bad life here since I have what most people want - a good job, a house, a husband, and a dog. Unfortunately, I seem to have this gene that craves adventure. The normal everyday life that many people enjoy just doesn't cut it for me. I can see how it's nice to settle down, have a place you call our own, and a husband to cuddle up to at nights. It's comfortable. Yet, I feel there's more to accomplish in life. In my case, I've always loved travelling. Despite my attempts to settle, I still have the bug. I want to see more do more. Yeah, I can travel here and there from Virginia, but I felt so tied down in my life that it was difficult. I also want to experience a whole new life - not just traveling couple weeks out the year. Basically, I've come to realize I like moving around every few years to stir things up.
Sometime in 2010 I started looking for opportunities in places I want to go - Japan, Italy, Germany... and Alaska. Alaska wasn't on my initial list, but my husband briefly had this desire to go so I looked. I actually found a job I wanted, for an organization I wanted to work for, in a part of Alaska (Juneau) I would like to try living in. The day after Thanksgiving, I was offered the job - and I took it.
Moving isn't easy, and it only gets harder as you get older. You have more stuff, and the stakes are bigger - now I have a home, a husband, and a dog. As excited as I am about the move, I am also pretty stressed right now. It's making me think twice about my plan to keep moving around. I'll worry about that later though. For the time being, I am trying to scale down my material goods. I want to stay fairly mobile in case I do decide to move again in a few years. On my Facebook page I have a quote that says "If you own something, it owns you." How true. I want to go to Alaska with the bare minimums. Trying to figure out what to sell, give away, throw away, or take is taking up a lot of time right now. Then there's the road trip planning since I am going to drive across the U.S. and catch a ferry to Alaska. Yeah, driving across the midwest in middle of winter. Should be fun.
Most of you are probably wondering what's happenning to the home, husband, and dog. The home will get rented out (hopefully), and the dog will come with me (I thought about giving her up too but just couldn't do it). The husband will stay behind and keep working since he recently landed a job he really likes and lost his desire to go to Alaska. Of course, this doesn't help our relationship, which is the downside of this move. We're kind of prepared for the worst, but we're not making any rash decisions at the moment. We'll see.
I am actually going to be leaving Virginia in about 3 weeks. My plan is to drive to Yellowstone and hang out there for about week for some much needed R&R. Then drive to Seattle for couple of days, and then catch a 3 day ferry in Bellingham to Alaska. I will arrive in Juneau on 2/21. Once I leave Virginia I will be starting a whole new blog. My last post in this blog will be a link to my new blog. So stay tuned....
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