Follow Up to My New Year Post

I've been meaning to say, that although at times I feel hesitant about going to a third world country where I don't know the language, I still have been excited about it. I like adventure! I've just been a lot more cautious since I had children. :)

On the subject of Nicaragua, I'm not sure if it's going to work out or not to go. Some things have come up that have brought the whole trip into question for me. I'm still hoping things work out, though! So, if you're someone who prays, please be sure to include my family in your prayers (I'm looking for prayers that we make all the right decisions concerning our next venture/s.) Thanks so much!

Still Behind Schedule

Boxes, both full and empty, are everywhere. And yet, we don't feel anywhere near done! We have a lot more packing to do before we'll be able to move out of here. Brad thinks there is no way we can get move out of this house within two weeks, so we'll plan on getting out in January. That means, Brad probably won't be able to leave until February. That's right! I forgot to mention, we've gone back to plan A. We may end up going together still, but for now we're back to planning on Brad going ahead of us. Part of the reason we went back to this plan is, because Ethan's birth certificate and passport are behind schedule. I'm sure this process is going slower than expected partially due to the holiday season being upon us. I'm hoping to get a small, furnished place not far from my mom for a month or two before joining Brad. In that time, I'm hoping Brad finds a nice place for us to live in, gets internet service to that location, and is able to begin the process of decision (whether Nicaragua is the place for us, what area of Nicaragua is best for farming, etc.) So, that's where we're at with our move.

The kids and I have a cold right now, which is too bad. The sore throat I have is awful. I'm looking forward to us getting well again.

A Delicious Thanksgiving

I think of all the best blog entries while laying in bed late at night when I wish I were sleeping. The problem is, I forget what they were when I get up the following morning. I sometimes wonder if they really were good ideas for entries or if maybe my sleepy mind just thought they were. We will probably never know since I don't remember the ideas any better than I remember most of my dreams.

Thanksgiving went over without a hitch. My nontraditional feast was quite tasty, if I do say so myself! I made a rib roast, baked yams, mashed cheesy potatoes (actually, Brad made those), a big salad, sweet dinner rolls, a loaf of bread, spinach dip, and several pies (pumpkin, apple, pecan, etc.). For dinner I made BBQ shredded beef with more potatoes and salad. My sister, Mariah and Mom joined us for the holiday, which was wonderful, although they didn't get to stay for dinner (everyone was still too full from lunch and snacking on pie, spinach dip & bread). After our big, yummy lunch we took pictures, played Scattergories, and just hung out. It was a nice, relaxing day.

Our Thanksgiving lunch.

Madeleine with some flowers she "saved" from the thrift store bag that I was going to take to town the day before Thanksgiving. She wanted to show my mom and Mariah her "new" flowers and ended up getting a picture of herself taken with them.

By the way, Madeleine's new bangs were the result of a "self" done haircut. She got the idea in her head that she wanted bangs one day and gave herself some. She did a pretty good job... I just had to straighten a few sections, but it was nowhere near as bad as other haircuts I've had to fix! I also gave her a haircut in the back, but you can't tell in these photos of her.

My mom, me, and Elizabeth.

A sweet photo of Elizabeth and my mom.

My sister, Mariah and Robbie.

Madeleine wrapped up in the afghan her grandma gave her.

I'm going to truly miss being close enough to visit my family when we're in Nicaragua. The thought of how much I'll miss everyone can be overwhelming at times, so I keep shoving that thought out of the way for later. I figure there's no reason to grieve my future losses! And who knows, maybe it won't work out in Nicaragua or maybe my family will join me. I don't think I'll be able to talk my friends into moving close, although that would be great!

On the subject of Nicaragua, someone asked me recently what our departure date is. We don't actually have our plane tickets yet. We're waiting on Madeleine's passport. We're also in the process of getting Ethan's birth certificate, then we have to get his passport. Our departure date is going to depend on how long all of that takes. It may not be until February that we get to leave with how long things are taking!

Tickets

Well, there has been a change in plans. The children, Brad, and I will probably all fly out at once. I found a deal where we can fly from Missoula, MT to Las Vegas, NV for $39.99/per person. A couple of months ago I stumbled upon Spirit Airline where they have tickets going from Las Vegas to Managua, Nicaragua for about $200/per person (they still do). So, it looks like we can get to our destination for about $240 each. There's no doubt that adds up with needing 5 tickets, but it's a lot cheaper than if I were to buy tickets going from Missoula, MT to Managua, Nicaragua (right now each ticket is about $985). The thing I haven't looked into is how much luggage costs to take over. I've heard that's where they "get" you nowadays. I'm hoping it's not too expensive.

I looked up the weather prediction for this week in the area of Nicaragua that we're interested in and it's supposed to be in the upper 70's all week. That sounds so much nicer than what we're expected to get here this week - mainly 30's. That part of this adventure excites me. I sure am going to miss my friends and family a whole lot, though.

More of Why Nicaragua

The reason we chose Nicaragua over any other Central or South American country is for two main reasons:

1. Nice year round climate. The temperatures are consistent year round, and are based on elevation, so there are a lot of micro climates - from hot and humid at low elevation to cool and rainy in the mountains, and everything in between. This makes it possible to grow crops year round.

2. Nicaragua is the poorest Central American country, which makes everything more affordable.

Off the top of my head the reason I wouldn't want to live in each of these Central American countries are as follows:

Mexico - Politically speaking, this country is dangerous.
Belize - Way too much rain here. They get more than double the amount of rain that Nicaragua has, which causes fungus growth issues for farmers. Also, Belize has more English speaking citizens, which cause prices to be higher than in Nicaragua.
Guatemala - Too much rain.
Honduras - An unstable government.
El Salvador - I may need to read more about El Salvador, because at the moment I can't think of any reason this wouldn't be a good place to live. I know some areas of El Salvador are too warm and get too much rain, but it looks like some areas have consistent 70's weather and a decent amount of rainfall (not too much, in other words).
Costa Rica - A touristy country - the prices are higher here than in Nicaragua.
Panama - WAY too much rain (about 130 inches a year).

We didn't look into South America before choosing Nicaragua, but with what knowledge that I do have of South America most of those countries have more seasons, which isn't as good for year round farming.

A Housekeeper and Garden

Getting a housekeeper in Nicaragua is completely affordable. For $2.50-$5/day you can have someone come in and do everything from dishes to laundry to scrubbing floors. She may even help with meals. Most likely I will continue to be my family's cook even though it would be affordable to hire someone to do the cooking as well. In Nicaragua it's uncommon to know how to cook as many dishes as I know how to cook. Also, since most homes don't even have a refrigerator, they're used to throwing everything into the dish they're making (to prevent spoilage). With as many things as I keep in my refrigerator, that could be a pretty disgusting dish!

I'm looking forward to having some of my time freed up from cleaning. I'll have more time to concentrate on cooking good meals and homeschooling my children. Oh, and lets not forget: more time for doing my arts and crafts. Maybe I'll actually have enough time to keep up with my scrapbooking!

I plan on taking some seed packets with us to use during our 6-month-long trip there and have a little garden. It's hard to find lettuce in Nicaragua and when you do you don't know what kind of water it was grown with, so I'll be growing my own salad stuff. Since we're not used to certain things down there that most Nicas are used to, we have to be more careful not to get stomach ailments. Until my lettuce grows, I know I'll be missing my salads! Cabbage is basically the replacement for lettuce down there and I've never been as fond of cabbage as I am of lettuce.

On the Move

I have some big news, but haven't been able to figure out how to share it! I decided today that it's time I just delve right in. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask away. It may help me decide what subject to write about next. The news is... my family is on the move again. This time instead of it being across a state or across the country we're going to move to Nicaragua. It's a small country in Central America - north of Costa Rica and south of Honduras.


I guess the first logical question to such news would be, "Why?" Well, farming in the northern U.S. isn't easy. The growing season is short and the area we're in currently has horrible soil. It's expensive to raise animals when you have to buy hay from other farmers. In Nicaragua there is a year round growing season. Not only will we be able to grow plenty of food for our animals, but we'll be able to grow food for ourselves (a lifelong dream of ours). Still, you might ask, "Why not just move to California or another warmer state?" That one is easy. California is simply unaffordable (plus we're not fond of the laws down there). The U.S. is not a cheap place to live. It's hard for a family to be able to buy land and actually own it without a ton of debt hanging over them. The last thing we want is to be in debt. In Nicaragua the wages are terrible, but living off of U.S. wages in Nicaragua is ideal. Even if you were just an off site telemarketer you could live like a king/queen down there. As most of you know, Brad has off site computer work, so that will work perfectly with our plan.

Nicaragua is a poor country. You can easily find a 3 bedroom home for $300/month. The problem is, as I mentioned before, the wages are terrible. A doctor only makes about $100 a month, which can't even pay the rent in many areas. Extended family often live together to make ends meet. Petty thieves are everywhere.

The weather sounds wonderful. Whatever warm temperature you like, you can pick an area of Nicaragua that has that year round. Right now that sounds heavenly. The cold winds are already blowing and we've had multiple snow storms here. Farming can be difficult in such a cold climate. In the "spring", when Brad is out of town for work, and I have to get up and go milk goats in the freezing wind I sit there and wonder what we were thinking when we got into farming here of all places. I'm not kidding myself, I'm sure there will be problems in Nicaragua, too. They will be different ones from here, but there will be some. For example, instead of the cold winds when I go out to milk the goat, maybe I just won't find our goat at all. Maybe our neighbor will have stolen our goat the night before since they were hungry and wanted some milk. If that's the case, and we end up losing a bunch of livestock to thieves, we'll probably come back.

Our first trip down there will be a 4-6 month long one. Our goal will be to decide whether we truly like it enough to live there, to learn Spanish better, to figure out what area we would like to live in, to meet locals in that area, etc. It should be a wonderful learning experience no matter what our final decision is. We won't take more than a few suitcases for that first trip. After that, assuming we still want to live there, we'll ship over a container of our things.

Well, my children are asking for lunch now, so I had better sign off. I'll try to write more tomorrow about this venture. Remember, I love questions! :)