1. Passion. We are passionate people Jeremy and I. We are passionate about the beauty in life. Our interpretation of whats beautiful: the way the desert smells just before the rain or that feeling you get when you're standing on the top of a mountain at the vastness of this beautiful world and humbled by the feeling of how miniscule we are or the contagious laugh of our son and being able to see his firsts. We're passionate about our children. We want to spend more time with them than we do working. I want to be there for them all day, not just two hours before bedtime and an hour in the morning as I'm rushing to make it to work. Passionate too about art. We're both artists at heart and frankly, when you're tied down to a mortgage, you have no time or money to try to get noticed and make money, much less create said art. Jeremy is lucky enough to be contracted to do his sculptures at times, but I myself have no time to draw or paint.
2. Money. We don't have much. Not enough to be able to explore our passions. We haven't been on a vacation that wasn't to New Mexico where lodging is free thanks to my wonderful in-laws since our honeymoon(6 years ago) and that was paid for by, again, my wonderful in-laws. I have to work full time to afford our home, at a job that my heart just isn't in.
3. Mortgage. To live here, you have to either rent or pay a mortgage. Well we chose mortgage before we had really thought about it; before we had figured out that we just can't raise our family here. When our house caught fire 4 months after moving in, I wish we'd have had the common sense to move then and there and build our home in the mountains. I kick myself for not realizing that.
4. Noise. Seriously? Can we just get a quiet moment to look up at the stars and hear only our own thoughts? This neighborhood is riddled with so much noise, not just during the day, but motorcycles at night, mosquito sprayers(spraying god only knows what into the air), cars with speakers on the OUTSIDE?!, and even gun shots once. NOT COOL. I need a place that I can foster my creative energy without loud rap music interrupting the peace in my heart.
5. Family. We want more than one child. Daycare costs would not facilitate this. I want to be a stay at home mom. Again, we couldn't afford the mortgage on just Jeremy's pay if I were to do that. The greatest joy in our life is our children. We want the best for them. Nobody can care for them better all day then one of us.
6. Society. Society is seriously flawed here. I drop my son at daycare, where they feed him microwaved food with little nutrients. They at least love him there, and he learns some, but the food thing gets me. I try to feed him nutrient dense breakfast and dinner but he deserves fresh cooked meals that feed his brain. I know that I could teach him more too. The kid is seriously extremely intelligent and a sponge for learning. Then everyone rushes to work, angry, honking at each other, cussing, cutting each other off. The HATE I experience on the way to work is stupid. Just stupid. Then I get to work, where lets just say it's far from a loving respectful environment. I work hard all day. Then I leave. More traffic. Stop to get my exhausted son from daycare. Hear about how his day went in little detail. I get home exhausted and soak up family time until my son goes to bed at 8. Then I do my chores and shower and crawl into bed to do it all again. Why? For what? This house? In this neighborhood I loathe? In this city full of hate? Full of over populated and under budgeted schools. Full of polluted smoggy air? People everywhere living so wastefully when they have the means not to and they refuse to make the effort. Is this a good nurturing environment for our children?
NO. Not in my book. They deserve better. They deserve a town that people smile and wave at you as they pass on the road. Teachers in school that have the extra time to spend with each student. Where they can take a vacation to the top of the mountain to be humbled, ANYTIME. Where they can look up through crystal clear smog free sky and marvel at the vastness of the millions of stars blinking back at their big wondrous eyes. Where the weather is almost always pleasant unless its a snow day, in which case is still fun! Where Mommy's only job is to nurture their little bodies and minds and make sure they're happy. A place full of love, not hate. Isn't that what life is supposed to be about? Love. Being around people you love. Doing what you love. Spreading that love to others. That makes sense to me. After years of praying for guidance each night, my dreams have been filled with nightmares of what's to come here and dreams of a better way. Recently I had a dream that really spoke to me. It was about love. The lack of love in society and that if we didn't start putting it into everything we do and removing the negativity from our lives there would be consequences.The dream ended with a vision of myself happily and peacefully creating art. Spending time with my son. Teaching him, tickling him, and loving on him. Spending time with my husband and loving him deeply. The mountains were in the backdrop of this dream and golden rays of sunshine lit the room and seemed to bathe it in Love. I awoke in tears. I knew our plan was right.
Our plan has been to move to Timberon, NM. It's a quiet, slow paced, SMALL town that houses about 200 permanent residents and only 2 gas pumps. Jeremy has been building a home for us there for over a year now. We have been blessed with finding many things we need to facilitate building for very cheap or free. The house is just plumbing, electrical, a little framing, and a lot of finishing touches away from being done. We will be moving mid September and although the task itself is daunting for this Native Houstonian who has only traveled a handful of times in her life, I feel anxious to get there and start living life happily. I'm done with the grindstone. It won't get us anywhere here. But a hard days work in the garden always puts a healthy meal on your plate, and you can't get fired from that job. Now that's job security. :) We'll have a chicken coop, a greenhouse, a garden, and more meat to hunt than you can shake a stick at, and Love, lots of Love. :)
Just to give you perspective on just how small this town is, here's our "Mall" lol:
And here's just one of the amazing views from the top of the mountain:
