Living the dream....almost :)

Brewer's Marina in Long Island

Marina at night

Our "slip" in Marina

 When Andy and I first talked about spending the rest of lives together we talked about selling the condo and buying a boat. We both love the water and the idea of living on it seemed perfect. Andy grew up around sail boats. His dad threatened to sail around the world (Nina had other ideas). My parents have had boats for the past 20 years - house boat and deck boats - on a small lake. Neither of us knows how to sail but we decided we could learn - how hard could it REALLY be?  When we moved to Portland we looked at floating homes to rent. We thought it would be good practice to live in small quarters on the water. We never find the perfect one for us but the dream of a house on water has never died. 


Often when we would be looking for furniture, moving, driving and moving, looking for apartments, etc we would remind ourselves that we do not need anymore "STUFF" because one day we will live on a boat. When we left CO we had 3 garage sales, 5 trips to the Thrift Store and 2 trips to the dump. When we moved into our apartment in Portland we sold a ton of stuff on Craig's list, through consignment and several trips to the Mission. Leaving Portland we did 3 more trips to the Mission and sold a few more things via Craig's list. We now have a 16 foot POD in Portland of "stuff", a trailer of tools, a Pathfinder and an RV. It is still too much!

On the trip from OR to NY I started getting anxious that we had left so much stuff in Portland. What was in there that we HAD to have? Are we really paying $185 a month to store stuff? When are we ever going to go back and get that stuff? Will it be cheaper to buy new verses paying for storage and a trip to get it all back? Andy of course agreed - we just didn't plan very well. Outside of the art work and some of his custom furniture it is ALL replaceable or useless. We can get new skis, a new snowboard, new drum set, new dishes. We cannot replace Grandma's paintings - the only priceless things.


Moving into the RV has been eye-opening. There is very little that we NEED. There are some things that we WANT but don't NEED (new couch, new curtains, no floors, solar panels, bigger bed, TV,). We do not need 8 winter coats a piece; tables (we had so many end tables, desk tables, etc); nick-knacks, books we have read; extra dishes; sheets for twin size beds, blankets (so many fleece blankets!); extra tents, shoes, shoes and more shoes...stuff. We NEED a coffee maker which we got today - it is essential for my well-being :) We NEED our computers, tools, bikes, running shoes, toaster oven, fridge, wine glasses/wine opener, a place to shower, do laundry and a very good mattress. We NEED God, Jesus, our family, our friends and each other.

We are ready to make the trip back across the country hopefully sometime in late October and deal with the POD in OR. I am ready to get rid of what we don't need and stop paying the $185 a month to store stuff. Hopefully we can sell some of it via Craig's List, Garage Sale or Consignment but even if we can't donating will save us money in storage. 


The last week we have been very grateful to be staying at Brewer's Marina in Long Island. Friends of ours have a boat here and asked the manager if we could park here. It is AWESOME! We sleep to the sound of the halliard's clanging on the masts and the breeze against the water. I get up in the morning and run on the boardwalk, through a nice neighborhood and then more water-front views. It is not quite living on a boat....but it is darn close.