Well, it looks like the budget cuts have indeed cost me my job, but the good news is that I will be able to stay on here at the county doing emergency preparedness (EP) work, specifically working on H1N1 stuff. I have already been trained in that and have been doing translations (English to Spanish) ever since I started here, so it won’t be a major change. I will still be able to work on some of my existing projects and programs as well. However, from what I hear, the money for EP will dry up by July 31, 2010, so Britton and I decided that that would make a good end time to move to Puerto Rico. We would probably need a month or so to get everything all ready for the move and so we are planning an ETA (estimated time of arrival) of September 2010.

Britton says I’m like the girl on the edge; ready to make the jump, but still worried

None of this is written in stone, but at least it gives us a working plan. Before we go, we have a few goals that we want to accomplish that we believe are feasible in that time frame:

1) Pay off one of our properties. Britton is very much about security in risk (and I am too, to an extent) and doesn’t want to see all that we have worked toward thus far just lost. This way, he figures, if we have to come back with our tails between our legs we’ll always have a house that we can live in for free.

2) Save up enough for the transition to be able to buy furniture, a vehicle and other necessities. We are not too sure how much this needs to be as we’ve never moved so far away. For those of you who have made a life changing move, what do you recommend? How much do used cars cost in PR? We heard they are about $2,000 more than in the mainland.

3) Find a place to live in Puerto Rico. We would like to go down there again some time this winter with the clear intention of finding a place, putting in an offer and closing (not sure if that would be one or two trips).

4) Find jobs. This is really open for interpretation. This could mean working remote, working on virtual projects (the internet), running a guesthouse and farm and/or one or both of us finding part-time or full-time work there. We are open to all possibilities. We do know that it will entail us remotely managing our properties in Colorado since we are not planning on selling them (nor do I think we should in this market).

We don’t know what will happen in the future, but who does, really? We can’t be afraid to live. It is exciting and fun, and darling, do not fear what you don’t really know.