“What the Cluck” Are We Doing?

It’s time! Time to start thinking about our future where we spend our days getting older and doing the things that make our hearts sing. If Covid is here to stay then I’d rather be anywhere else besides sitting in my recliner, my husband across from me on the couch with our faces in our phones and Joe Kenda on the tv, threatening that he WILL find me.

It’s time to cut the umbilical cord that I struggle so hard to keep intact and connected between each of our three boys and all that they continue to bring to our lives, like amazing daughters and precious grandchildren. It’s not easy for me, but my heart strings keep tugging me in the direction of “home”, where every time I return I feel a complete sense of belonging and desire to be there.

You know what I’m talking about.

We all have our BIG dream and an end goal but I know so many people who are scared to go for it, like I am, or who don’t feel that they are deserving enough of a happier life doing all the things they’ve been filling their buckets with, hoping to cross them off the list, one day. Maybe by following my journey as I give you a glimpse into MY bucket and sharing how we’re going to make things happen, I can inspire you to do the same.

Hang on though, it’s going to be a ride!

What’s in YOUR bucket?

I have no intention of EVER seeing my life flash before my eyes by jumping out of a plane or diving head first off of a high rise, so my bucket doesn’t hold all of the things you might expect to find, but it holds the things that excite me. Like eating fresh eggs from our own chickens, and two mini goats named Gus and Gertie.

And that’s where we’re going to start.

The purpose of this blog post (and more to follow) is to share MY/OUR journey on how I’m going to step out of my comfort zone and do what it takes to write the finale for my life’s story. However, if you’re married you will need to get a bigger bucket to empty both of your buckets into so you can take your individual dreams and build one dream together. They say that’s how partnership works and I have proof that it does…or doesn’t!

One of Rob’s dreams was to own a fishing lodge so he could use his amazing natural instinct for fishing to create the experience of a lifetime for others. Because I grew up on the ocean and a bit of time on my dad’s fishing boat, I adapted my dreams to work with his and we set off on an adventure of a lifetime by buying ourselves a 12,000 sq.ft. lodge in the middle of the Great Bear Rainforest.

We had a blast in Ocean Falls, BC and met so many amazing people, but we were secluded to say the least. The only way to access our beloved lodge was by a five hour ferry ride or on a float plane, which was NOT an option for me. When you build a dream together there will be compromises that need to be made and the only one we had, was mine. I made him promise while he was searching for the perfect place for US that there had to be a road in and out so if I needed to escape I could come and go as I pleased.

That’s not what happened.

Eventually the process of having to book days in advance to be able to venture off the side of a mountain became too much for me and I couldn’t do it anymore. During our fifth and sixth year we began spending up to five months apart from each other while Rob worked feverishly to do all he could to keep his dream alive. But even though absence really does make the heart grow fonder, it just wasn’t enough.

He surrendered it all, for me.

Although this quote was perfectly fitting for our last adventure, the meaning remains the same. If you don’t find the courage to set out on the journey that will take you where you want to go, you’ll always be wondering what would have happened if you had actually set sail.

So with a few adaptions and revisions of our first attempt at setting us up for a retirement we can both enjoy, we are getting ready for round two. This time our feet won’t be leaving the ground and our source of protein will don feathers instead of fins!

And this time, we aren’t doing it alone.

They say to pay attention and watch for signs. When you hope for something signs will appear letting you know that the time is right and you will just know. Patience is key here. We had decided after we sold our first dream that we knew we wanted to eventually return to BC. It’s where I grew up and I would give anything to be back living there. We just didn’t know how or when it would happen.

While we spent time trying to figure it all out, we were blessed with two wonderful grandchildren (one month apart), and suddenly I decided I was staying put. There was no way I could leave them behind and walk away from my second chance in life to be a better nana than I was a mom, and that has caused a bit of tension in our marriage because as much as he loves them too, he could love them from afar just as easily.

And then it happened.

Serendipity

It happened so naturally and out of the blue that we know the time is right, and we are more excited for our future than we were the first time we built a dream. 

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serendipity • sair-un-DIP-uh-tee • noun. : the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for; also : an instance of this. Examples: We found the restaurant by pure serendipity, rather than careful research, but it turned out to be the best deal in town.

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My good friend Lynda facetimed me one day out of the blue because she needed to practice the technique on her iPad before she made a planned call with her family that evening. She checked her friend’s list to see who was online and there I was, unaware that life as I knew it was about to change, in a good way.

After not seeing each other for three years, before we knew it we had talked for two and a half hours. During that time we talked about our goals and plans for the future and we couldn’t believe we were headed in the same direction, right down to the town we wanted to live in and what we envisioned for our forever home.

That’s it, that’s all it took.

Suddenly we were making plans for our future together, the four of us heading towards the horizon with our meager belongings in tow, releasing our farm animals from our buckets. We all agree it will take some proper planning and strategizing as to how and when we will get there, but our hearts and souls are there already, waiting for our bodies to join them on a piece of property we will eventually call home.

The first place to start is with a vision board for your goals and dreams to be placed on so you can look at them every day to be reminded of what you are working towards. I have had one for years and have been slowly but surely replacing my accomplished goals with new ones. One that has been on there the longest and that I refuse to remove is in a corner with pictures of farm animals, a fishing pond, large garden and a cozy country cabin.

I decided we needed something to add to our boards for this revamped vision we are creating together, and came up with a name and new logo to keep us motivated and excited. We can’t wait to see it hanging on our new red barn and as stickers on our egg cartons.

We are just getting started and we want to share our journey with a hope of inspiring others to follow their dreams too.

I know how scary and overwhelming it can be to do all of the things it takes to make a dream come true, but it never will if you don’t take the first step. Our first step is to spruce up our house to ensure we receive top dollar so we have what we need to start fresh and prepare for step two. 

We will share each step of the journey of the things we learn along the way, offering tips and suggestions on how to avoid or utilize what we learn about the process.

What the cluck! It’s time again to lose sight of the shore.

I would love to know, what are you willing to cross the ocean for?


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