Cuatro semanas (Four weeks)

The past four weeks have been amazing.  It was just six weeks ago that we both quit our jobs and began the journey that brought us here.  We spent two weeks in Wyoming and Colorado visiting family and then arrived here on August 13th, 2010.  We keep pinching ourselves because it truly is difficult  to believe that this is now our life. 

We get up in the morning between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. and quickly check email and on line newspapers. Tom takes the dogs to the beach every morning for their morning walk.  If it looks like it is going to be a sunny day, then I do some wash and hang it on the outdoor clothes line.  We then take our coffee to the outdoor living room and listen to the b irds and, more often than not, I photograph new birds that show up in the trees in our yard.  Sometime between 8:00 and 9:00 Tom fixes something for breakfast and I read or study  Spanish (although I should study more than read, I am not yet there).  Sometimes I ride my bike into town and then further on down the road as far as I feel like going.  In the afternoon we sometimes take the car to do errands but more often take a nap or relax in the hammocks.  Tom – sometimes with me, sometimes not – takes the dogs back to the beach for an early evening walk and then he comes back, turns on music and we sit and have a beer or glass of wine before dinner.  Sometimes we just talk until we go to bed, other times we watch a movie.  We go to bed between 9 and 10 and then start all over the next day.  At some point, we will begin volunteering but right now we are just enjoying our lives.

While we have been here the last four weeks we have seen monkeys, birds, frogs, lizards, spiders (although not nearly as many as I had thought we would), centipedes, amazing flowers, trees and vegetation.  We have said hello and goodbye to the great friends who helped us move and we have made new friends with neighbors and reacquainted with friends from before.  We have walked in the ocean, gone to the farmers market, visited and learned about the native plants at the botanical garden, and have visited a wildlife refuge. We have had furniture made and installed to finish out the new house, have purchased all the items we need (bikes, hoses, microwave, toaster, dishes, pillows) and have now settled in for the long term.  I am living the life I want…………..