Why am I here?

This is Elise.
     http://www.discovershareinspire.com/2012/05/im-a-despicable-human-being-face-to-face-with-poverty-in-panajachel-guatemala/

This lady says it so much better than I can.  This is what I aspire to achieve.

The IRS Sucks

Yesterday was filled with some excitement from the IRS. Many of you know I was a victim of an identity theft last year by someone filing my taxes using my social security info. Well this year they still want me to verify who I am by going to a local IRS office. As of right now I am not planning on returning for a problem they allowed to happen. The government accounting is so poor that they simply give refunds without verifying any data. Therein lies the issue for me and many millions of Americans. We are honest and do the right thing, file taxes every year and on time. Rather than provide some safeguards like a private institution would, the IRS goes by an honor system. Can you imagine a private company like JP Morgan or Apple etc. just forward monies to people for completing a form? If the IRS had a pin code system like every other 21st century business it would eliminate so much of this fraud which ends up costing America so much money, time, and grief. In the end THE I.R.S. SUCKS, that goes without saying. If the IRS wants to open a field office in the jungle, on the beach about 1 mile from me I would go prove my identity, until then the can kiss my ***
By the way this is Mike, at least I think I am?        

Itinerary

This is Elise.
We have disconnected our cell phones and will be turning in our internet modem tomorrow.  We will try to update this blog with our locations and activities so you can all know what we are up to.  We will have some internet connections on our trip but maybe not everyday.  You can try using the free texting app What's App.
Here is our itinerary for now.  Mike leaves here Feb 14 to start the drive to Tulum, Mexico.  He will arrive by Feb 20.  The girls and I are flying to Cancun on Feb 21 where Mike will pick us up.  We will spend a week in Tulum then spend the month of March in Mahahual, Mexico, near the Belize border.  April 1 will be a travel day through Belize.  April 2 thru April 9 we will be in Placencia, Belize.  After that we will decide if we want to go to one of the cayes or up to San Ignacio, Belize.  Hopefully, Guatemala after that.  We are using VRBO and FlipKey to find vacation rentals and staying places for a week or a month at a time.

Taking the leap

This is Elise.
As we get closer to our departure date I vacillate between excited and happy to nervous and anxious.  I am so happy we are doing this trip but sometimes I feel like I am taking a step off terra firma into a giant chasm and I don't know what's on the other side.  I am reminded of a dream I had a couple months ago where I am looking for a bike shop to pick up my new bike.  In the dream it takes me a long time and a lot of effort to find the bike shop.  When I finally get there I am happy to get my new bike but then I look in my trunk for my old bike and it is gone.  Where is my old bike?  I liked it and there was nothing wrong with it. The bike shop clerk says. " You can't get your new bike until you get rid of your old one."  But I don't know if I will like my new bike and I don't want to lose my comfortable old bike I am familiar with!  But, the dream said I must get rid of my old bike before I can get my new one.  So that is what I am going through right now as I pack our belongings, disconnect our internet and phones, and change our mailing address.  I am getting rid of my old life in preparation to begin a grand adventure.  I don't know what the future holds for us.  Will we want to come home in six months?  Will we want to settle down somewhere in Central America or Mexico?  Will we be robbed?  Will we be safe?
I am so grateful for all the support we have received from our friends.  I thought when we told people about what we were doing they would say we are crazy, stupid, and irresponsible.  How can we take our kids away from our good schools and safe community with lots of playmates to third world countries?  All those desperate illegal children at the border come from the very places we are going.  It turns out that most people express envy and admiration and wish they had done something like this themselves.  Some people are just waiting until the kids get out of high school or say they don't have enough money to do it.  I couldn't wait until the kids got out of school to make a life change.  I reached a point where I said, "I can't do this another ten years."  Despite outward appearances I felt there was something "off" or not fulfilling about my life.  I felt like I was living a life that was unauthentic, that I wasn't living my destiny.  A lot of my discontent came to a head when we had the pool cleaning business and I was very stressed.  I felt like my life had become unmanageable.  It had become too complicated with too many bank accounts, mail boxes, phone lines and way too many accounts with different passwords.  I hated the multi-tasking of running a business out of my home while raising two kids.  I had so much on my mind and was so scattered that I couldn't listen to my kids.  I was very impatient with them and sometimes downright rude to them.  Mike and I were fighting more than usual.  I couldn't sleep and was eating and drinking too much.
Since selling the business and deciding to take this trip I am becoming less stressed, happier, and am making lifestyle changes to live a healthier life.

This is Mike  
Y'all should know my mom was a tremendous influence on me and is the reason I want to share a little about her today.
   She was a young lady who left Germany at age 22, after the war. Prior to leaving Germany, she traveled 16 miles a day by bicycle to work to earn Deutsche Reichs Marks that were totally worthless after the war. She still went to work because it was the right thing to do.
   In 1954, she moved to Canada for a better life but found that she ended up in a sweat shop. Her early days were in a world of different languages, different settings, nothing familiar. She worked ungodly hours under stress from the company and lived on-site in a dorm. She had no way to decompress from the terrible working conditions. One day she finally threw in the towel as she could not take it anymore. That night she broke out of the factory by tying two bed sheets together and lowering herself out the dorm window to the ally below.
   There she was in Canada and could not understand English, no money, truly stuck. She chose a direction and went with it. She walked through a lot of nothing and finally ended up near a German Club. At that German club she met a young man who offered to buy her a beer, he would later become my father.
   My father had very little as he too was a new immigrant to Canada, but still he proceeded to ask my mom for a dance. She accepted, however fate was not sealed until my mom cooked a duck dinner three or four weeks later. My dad always said "the moment I ate the duck I knew she was the one for me."???  I think how silly this is! I think how great this is! I am just happy they listened to their bodies, their hearts, themselves. They knew at that moment who they were and accepted each other, poverty and all.
   I was a mommy's boy all my life, so much so that I actually put my arm around her while she pushed  a shopping cart in the grocery store. Other moms in the aisles would comment to my mom about how lucky she was. My mom was so happy and loved chatting with strangers about how I was always so close to her. I am so happy I did that while I was young rather than wishing I would have done that after she was gone. Time is so precious, so temporary, so perfectly... whatever you'd like to say.
   I would encourage all boys to love their moms more than convention allows, to be the happy person your mom wants you to be with no regrets. Find love everywhere and know the difference between love and lust. In fact, my mom always said, "love should be as easy as breathing." I wish my mom could see how cool my friends are in Steiner Ranch. We have a special neighborhood! She was so awesome that she would have been happy for each and everyone of us. She would have thought our priorities were spot-on if she saw us on any given Friday night unwinding together, kids and all.
   Life is temporal, we should hold on to the things that give us joy.
   When my mom was on her death bed, I asked her, "what is the meaning of life?" She said, with a straight face, "life is like a chicken ladder, full of shit from top to bottom." I laughed because a family friend was there and made lite of it, but I knew deep down she was right. I wonder how many Bee Hive hairdos she had before she realized they weren't as important as she made them out to be.
   Life is much easier than we make it. Life is like a chicken ladder, for better or worse. Accepting the perfectly imperfect and laughing off the seriousness is a talent we should all try to master. Here's to all the moms out there!     
   
 
            

This is Sierra. I am sad and i will miss my friends but, I want to go on a  adventure and meet new friends and eat new things. My dad( mike ) probably told you a story about (me one night saying its crazy how people trade time for money. )Well that is true I know I know you guys are like how can a 9 year old say some thing like that. I did not really think that I would go around the world for a year I mean how is a 9 year old supposed expect something like that.

This is Mike...
Some of you have heard about the crazy dreams Elise and I are having leading up to the departure date. My weird dreams are of me losing hair, in many versions, by the handful. I sometime wake up laughing and other times I wake up tripped out. I decided to Google what losing hair symbolizes and here is the response.
 

To dream that you are losing your hair denotes that you are concerned with the notion that you are getting older and losing your sex appeal and virility. You are preoccupied with aging and your appearance.  Losing your hair also signifies a lack of strength; you do not have the power to succeed in an undertaking. You may be feeling weak and vulnerable.

This sucks...

At least I am not alone, Elise is dreaming about losing her teeth. Can you imagine us in our dreams? A middle aged man with clumping baldness, like a pet bird with no breast feathers and my lovely almost toothless vagabond looking wife... Now that is a sight for sore eyes.
We still think it is important to add all that we are feeling even if it is less flattering.    

Losing your teeth could be an indication that your stress and anxiety levels could be to high in your life right now and needs to be fixed.  These types of dreams can be somewhat tricky to translate because you might have to face aspect of yourself you could be ignoring.
*Attachment Issues (trying to hold on to something)
*Fear of letting go to something that was part of your life for a long time.
*Afraid of failing
*You dread the feeling of embarrassment
*You may feel a lack of control in your relationship
* Is it possible you set your goals to high and they are crashing down
*What are you afraid to loose
*Are you trying to cover up something
*Afraid of losing your money or the feeling of being abandoned.

This is funny Sh_t, no?
Hopefully these bazaar dreams subside soon or I will look like this guy soon ;)



 

Another Family in C.A.

Here is a cool link about another family traveling in Central America

http://www.discovershareinspire.com/

The best way to check out the site is to scroll all the way to the bottom of the blog and select categories and follow it where it may take you. There are some cool videos along with good descriptions about traveling with kiddos.

The Decision to finally go for it

Last year when we returned from Costa Rica, we felt like there was something that we were missing. We had a challenging summer and realized happiness needs to be included in our decision making, not a bi-product of our actions. As Sierra said, "in the end, time is all we have together." When we look at these pictures we see serenity and joy. We are hoping this next trip leads to more of that.        

It is going to be hard leaving the neighborhood for this trip. We are going to miss y'all and the fun times we shared. It is Mid-January and the time is rolling by so quickly, now only 1 month till I leave in the 4 Runner to pick up the girls in Cancun.