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| We call this part of our property Aspen Meadow |
This is the first day of the rest of my life. Truly. Today is the day we made the decision to "buy the zoo."
We bought a zoo.
Those have been the code words my husband Bob and I have used to describe the moment when we would decide to make the big move from the cornfields of Iowa to the great forests of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Today already contained the super scary moment of sending off an email to my employers to say I would not be coming back to teach in the fall.
The other super scary moment is not knowing for sure yet what we are going to do to support ourselves. We have brainstormed ideas, and one of things we came up with is that both of us want to start writing. Hence this blog.
So who are we, and what are we doing, you may be asking. We are an attorney (Bob) and teacher (that would be me, Elizabeth), who a few years ago stumbled on to our dream. While on vacation doing the Lake Superior Circle Tour we FELL IN LOVE with the great northern forests, the people, the laid-back lifestyle, and most of all, the mighty Gitchigumi. Timing-wise, things were almost perfect. One kid in college, another in high school, we had talked about moving somewhere new in three years, when our nest became an empty one. Both Bob and I are somewhat creative (at least WE think so), and felt that our current jobs weren't giving us the freedom to explore that portion of our personalities.
After our vacation, I was a woman obsessed. I began searching for our own little piece of the UP. (Upper Peninsula) What I figured we wanted was something close to Lake Superior, lots of trees, maybe near a lake, stream, or river, seclusion, homestead-able, surrounded by national park would be ideal.
After several months of searching every UP realtor website I could find, I FOUND IT.
80 acres of trees, meadows, a stream, birds, mammals, and assorted blood-thirsty insects!
Surrounded by national forest.
Half a mile from a tiny town with TWO bars!!
And best yet, TWO BARS of phone service anywhere on the property!!!
Then we did the craziest thing of all. We bought it...sight unseen. Well, we did have ten photos, which, looking at the property now, told us VERY LITTLE about what the actual property was like. The good news is, we thought the photos looked good...the reality is so. much. better.
I know we lucked out. It could've ended badly. But it didn't.
Something that you should know about me is that I am a Godly woman. If that scares you, there are a lot of less-Godly blogs out there you might like better. Anyway, I see God's presence in my life everyday. In fact, I would say that God finds a way to insinuate His Glorious Self into my life, sometimes without my notice, and sometimes as a BIG billboard type, hit me over the head with it, giant shout of a message. Seeing the property for the first time was a little nudge of a message, that this was a good place for our family. BUT. The first time I walked down the old logging trail that runs through the middle of everything and I found a hidden meadow, with a view into the sunset, and a background of whispering pines, God was telling me, IN the whisper of the pines, that I had found my new home.
So, what comes next? We vacationed on the property last summer, and pined for it (see what I did there?) all winter, back in Iowa. This summer we came back, more organized for camping (glamping) out, and after a couple of weeks, started to come to the conclusion that we couldn't spend another winter away from the land we love. Add another couple weeks of soul-searching, brainstorming, praying, and discussion with my wonderful husband, best friend and partner for life, and we are where we are...out of our jobs, starting to formulate a plan for the rest of our lives here in the middle of Ottawa National Forest.
Am I scared? Dude. I feel like I'm in a state of shock. After 32 years in the same job, it's gonna be
GREAT!!!!!!
Anyway, thanks for reading so far. Much more excitement of all sorts to come, I would bet.
Take care, and don't forget to hear the whisper in the pines,
Elizabeth
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