Anniversary of our escape

Thirteen years ago we did what so many people wish they could do.

We ran away.

From everyone and everything we knew.

My husband quit his job with UPS.

We sold our house.

And we left.

Well, it wasn't that simple!  It was five years in the planning and dreaming and scheming.

Once we decided that we wanted to change our life, we had to decide where we would go.

We decided that we wanted to stay in the northeast, preferably by the sea, so we decided

on the state of Maine.

After spending a few years exploring Maine, we settled on a small town downeast near the

coast.

On our trip up to work with a realtor in 2004 we found our home!

Our little house (dbl wide ranch) in the BIG woods!

The day we moved in I had a brief moment of "of my, what did we do?"  but it quickly passed.

Our house was all alone on a dirt road surrounded by hundreds of acres of woods.  Coming from

our 1/5 acre lot in a subdivision was quite the shock.

Thirteen years later the portion of road in front of our house is paved (my car is happy!)  and we have

a few neighbors (i feel much safer)

But the hundreds of acres of woods is still right outside my door to explore.  It's quiet.  It's calming.

And I can do what I want without the "audience"

We moved here without jobs and with teenagers.  We knew no one.

Thirteen years later our family is grown and married and we have almost 8 grandchildren!  Our

children LOVE Maine and live nearby.  Everyone is successful.  God is GREAT!

We obviously came here with resources ($ to buy our home from the sale of our home)  so we didn't

have to work as hard.  My husband and I have mostly worked part time for the years we have been

here.  Our wants and needs are simple so we keep our cost of living low.

It's not an "easy" life living here in northern New England, but it's a wonderful life.

And we've never regretted escaping from the rat race!