DR plans and impossible things

It can be challenging balancing the daily needs of living in this culture with our dreams and projects, especially finding the time to do all the things we want to do. And of course to work on many of our goals requires money, which we have to work for, which takes time, which means less time for our projects, etc. Anyway, we continue to try and find the optimum balance between dong and being.

Most of the plans are now completed for our upcoming trip to the Dominican Republic to investigate the possibility of setting up our charity development project there. We are going to be driving around several of the areas popular with tourists, avoiding the all-inclusive resorts where tourists rarely leave the compound, and staying at local bed-and-breakfasts along the way. We are driving around the country, which sounds like it will be an ‘adventure’. But it is pretty much all sorted out and we are now looking into other organizations that we could make contact with (including one with a connection to Monterey, CA – thanks mom!).

Took a day trip to Seattle yesterday – our first day off in a while. Did our favorite things, including coffee (naturally!), walking in one of the glorious Pacific Northwest waterfront parks, second-hand book and CD shopping, and ethnic food! Lovely. We also finally got around to seeing the ‘Alice In Wonderland’ movie (Andy is a Big Tim Burton fan). Evan liked the movie, Andy was disappointed with the large liberties that were taken with the original stories. The correct ‘impossible things’ quote is therefore listed below as our quote for today (which was said by the White Queen actually, not Alice … says slightly obsessional-sounding Andy).

We continue with long-term plans also, and with more garden projects designed to make it easier to care for the house. And we have been planning our side trip to Iceland, which should include Viking remains, puffins and laying around in white mud and hot mineral water…..

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Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.”
“I dare say you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast …” (Alice Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll)

Keeping On

We’ve been working this week on a thorough plan for our Dominican Republic trip. It’s going well, though taking a bit longer than we’d thought. We have pretty much ruled out the southwestern portion of the country due to a lack of tourism and accessibility. There is a lot left to plan, but we are still on course to be set and ready for our nearing departure date.

Andy continues his volunteering. The dog walking at the Humane Society is still going strong, while the Literacy Council winds down; one student has decided to leave the program having put in a solid two years, and the other has moved away. Andy is considering increasing his time spent with the dogs both because there is a great need, and because he thoroughly enjoys it!

Also this week, Evan made an announcement to his mom; we had eluded to the fact that he has been doing quite a bit of learning, but we have held back on the specifics, because it was important to him to settle into this new pursuit without outside influence. The short version is that he is completing his bachelor’s degree. This week is spring break, so he has spent some time away from studies and now is getting organized for next term: sex and gender, primate studies, statistics, and social psychology. He was already half way to a degree, and since returning to his studies, he has completed two terms at this university. The degree he is completing is in Anthropology/Sociology (Anthropology emphasis) with a minor in Religious Studies.

We are spending more time enjoying the lovely place we live as well as focusing on lovely places abroad. In that vein, we went out the Mt. Baker Highway to an eagle nesting park yesterday. We missed the season to see the eagles, but it was beautiful and scenic, and it felt really good to be somewhere so lovely having traveled only 20minutes from home.

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"and if we are not willing to listen to our own voices, then why should anyone else bother?" (Toinette Lippe)

Mulching, England, and, of course, the DR

It's been an exciting week! Firstly, we have really followed through on some big projects in the garden designed to make it less work therefore easier to leave for extended periods. We'd already done a lot of mulching and shrub planting in both the front and back, but this week we picked up 18 Leyland Cyprus trees and ordered more mulch. Yesterday we worked for 9 hours and lined the whole north edge of the back garden with trees and mulch; this should create a nice barrier between us and the trucking company next door- very nice.



Secondly, we are going to England this summer. It's been longer than normal between visits, and one reason is the high prices of flights. Well, just before we went to Florida, a woman hit Evan in the old Honda. The settlement was enough for us to buy tickets to London with a stopover in Reykjavik, Iceland! So we are all booked up there and looking forward to it.



That means we are set for the next number of months with travel plans. The focus now is getting really organized with our DR trip next month. The purpose is to feel the vibe of different areas, look at the possibilities of charity start up: rent, local contacts, etc. This week we'll be mapping out our route, setting up accommodation, and refining the questions we'll need to be keeping in mind while there.



So..... onward and upward!

"So after all is said and done, I know I'm not the only one. Life indeed can be fun, if you really want to..." (Des'ree)

Cash flow and balloons

Our weekly post … (as usual) we’ve been busy, and it seems like we are being supported in our goals. Hot on the heels of last weeks posting, we spent most of the day figuring out and defining our focus in the other areas of our lives that we have dreams and plans for, such as travel, simplicity, financial, and international areas. A little problem with cash flow (as we save towards financial independence and retirement before anything else) was solved with a nice tax return and a generous settlement for the total write off of the old beat up Honda! We had been planning to donate it when we bought our new car as the trade in was very small. Then it was hit a few weeks ago, and so now it has been totaled by the offending party’s insurance company, and is being taken away with a nice cash sum. Worked out just fine in the end!

So with plan in hand, it looks like the rest of the year is going to be exciting and eventful. We are wanting to visit England some time this year to see Andy’s mum and dad’s new house, as well as making the customary quick trip to Europe … Evan’s pick this time … possible Dubrovnik, Berlin, Lisbon or Krakow! Next will be a trip to Beijing to hike the Great Wall of China. We have had to postpone a re-visit to Nepal until next year – both the orphanage and the massage clinic have asked us back, so it was hard to postpone it but it will happen soon. Both places have offered us accommodation too, so that was really nice as well.

We have made some exciting steps in other areas but for now they are top secret!!!
Next week, we’ll talk more about our upcoming trip to the Dominican Republic and what our plans are for that visit.

Here we are with the stars of the movie "Up" - from our recent trip to Disney. We queued for a while to get to them, but it meant a lot (strangely ... because yes we know they are not really the cartoon characters in the movie, but rather probably pissed off Disney employees wearing overlarge hot uncomfortable costumes ....) as the movie is so terrific and inspiring. If you haven't seen it, you should. We seemed to have identified with the old man, who rather than give in and move to a nursing home, follows his dreams, attaches thousands of helium balloons to his house and takes off on an adventure to a remote, tropical paradise .... (hint).
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“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined.” (Henry Thoreau)

Art, labyrinths and other stuff

This week we have spent time considering all the dreams and goals we have set for ourselves over the last few months and the balances between them. We have spent most time on the charity/non-profit project, perhaps at times to the detriment of our other goals – in the areas of travel, financial, relationship, simplicity, and overseas living. So this week we’ve looked at balancing that a little more. With the plans going ahead to investigate the possibility of opening an non-profit in the Dominican Republic, we have started again to look more closely at these other areas. How exciting! More to follow.

We also had a lot of fun picking out several hundred dollars of art that Evan had traded massages for with a well known local artist, Ben Mann. We got to wander around and pick whatever pictures we wanted. So now we have a large tropical island picture scene and some dancing skeletons for us, and a flower bouquet for a house warming present for Andy’s mum and dad (as they move to the coast this week from London) – all pictures in the well known style of Ben.

To celebrate our commitment to moving further forward with all our dreams and goals, we are having a paving stone placed in the local labyrinth that is being built in town this summer. Labyrinths are the ancient walking meditation tool where you walk slowly and contemplatively around a spiraling pathway to the center and back. They are often found in the old churches of Europe. We have chosen our inscription to remind us and others of our personal power, using part of a phrase from Ghandi – “Be the change.” It is going to be built in August 2010!

Things are happening now!
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“Be the change you wish to see in the world” (Ghandi)

Next Stop DR

We are booked! We are off to the Dominican Republic in a couple of months to see if it is a good fit for our project. Exciting, huh!? We’ll be researching specific areas we think might work for a charity coffee shop (phase one of the community center).

Last weekend Gina flew up and we all went into Canada for the Olympics. It was brilliant! It actually went very smoothly. Easy border crossings, and Andy’s plan to park and ride the sky train into Vancouver was perfect. We went to the Yaletown Live City Venue which was a site with huge screens to watch Olympic events amongst enthusiastic Olympic fans. There were food stalls and various presenters as well. It was great to be a part of the vibe. We also made our way to the Olympic Cauldron; also a very cool thing to see in person. Thanks to Gina for coming up so we had the motivation to go. We’re so glad we did.



" Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." (Abraham Lincoln)

Getting stuck in

Returning from any time away is usually challenging for us, and this time is no exception. The time away gives us enough space to have some genuine perspective on our lives, and it is clear we have a lot to do to reach our goals. This is not a bad thing. It is a good gauge to use; how do we feel about our lives in comparison with how we feel when away from our routine? The answers tell us which way to go. In this case, we clearly are on the right path in regards to our project, but we need to have more fun on the way to getting there.
We have spent the first few days back both settling in and developing a financial plan to make our dreams, including the project, come true. All is really looking good. It is do-able with some diligence and organization. The key for us is going to be keeping it all interesting as we go along; having new and different adventures that don’t detract financially from the big picture. We are tossing around some ideas about how to best do that. We are also planning a trip to the Dominican Republic to make sure it is a good fit for us and our project. Nothing has been booked yet, but we’ll keep you posted.
The Olympics are being held in Vancouver, BC which is just an hour or so north of us; our friend, Gina, is coming up from California again, and we are all going to head up there this weekend to check out some of the free events. The weather has been gorgeous, so it should be a lot of fun.
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"We know what we are, but know not what we may be" (William Shakespeare)