As They Say, "Best Laid Plans"

Well, my blog-writing somehow fell off the “to-do” list (Who am I kidding? It was always ON the to-do list – just didn’t get to-DONE!).  But I am vowing now to make this a more regular thing! (See how I didn’t actually commit to how often “regular” was?).

First off, I want to share how differently 2022 turned out than anticipated; and I need to keep going on our “North to Alaska” story!  Then start a “South to Missouri” story (oops, spoiler alert there!). 

In my last blog post, I had mentioned moving to Hawaii.  That was the plan.  I was going to retire from Alaska education, and we were to move to Lanai where a friend is a school principal and I’d work for him there.  It would put me closer to my mother who is on Oahu and give us a couple of years’ respite from the cold.  We had planned to move by the end of June…

At the end of February, I attended a job fair in southern Missouri (which was actually iced out – so not even the best time of year to be there) and then visited my brother in central Missouri.  I had no idea how beautiful Missouri was!  People sort of give Missouri a bad rap, and I’m sure there are less-desirable areas, but the area around Jefferson City, the capital, is full of green rolling hills with lots of trees.  We started looking into real estate and ended up buying a house sight-unseen!  We were in by mid-June! While Hawaii had been alluring, Missouri just felt right and financially made more sense.

And so here we are!  It was quite a sudden decision, and certainly a 180 from Hawaii, but we are absolutely loving it.  My business is now based here, and we are learning about the selling market, which is definitely different than rural Alaska!  I am working on finishing a spacious studio, have gotten ten laying hens I absolutely adore, and we are loving exploring the state! 

I look forward to sharing more about the business and life here as it unfolds!