Welcome.

Before I start sharing about the beautiful life we are creating, I have to warn you. You will see sunshine, tropical beaches, amazing food, and cultural experiences from our journey to Costa Rica. But this is not a blog about Costa Rica, or even about travel. This is about life. Or rather, about creating life. This is about creating a life aligned with a clear vision. It just so happens that our vision includes sunshine, tropical beaches, amazing food, and cultural experiences. But that’s only scratching the surface.

Moving from the Washington, DC area, where I’ve lived for 22 years, to another country, with a different language, a different culture, involves a lot of uncertainty. And I’m a certainty person. I have a strong need for security. I need to know what’s going to happen, how it’s going to work out, and that I’m going to be ok in the end. I know that this comes from early experiences of not knowing and not being ok and things not working out. For a long, long, long time, security was the most important thing to me.

In fact, it was not that long ago that I would have chosen security over happiness. You see, if a friend had told me they were going to leave their family and friends, sell their home and most of their possessions, step down in their career, and move 4000 miles away, I would have been concerned, to say the least. I might have thought they were rash, impractical, impulsive, maybe going through some sort of crisis.

In fact, when a friend actually did something like this, I questioned her. “Why on earth are you doing this? Do you know what you’re getting yourself into? Is it worth it? ” I couldn’t imagine that any dream she had on the other side of the world could be better than the sure thing she had right in front of us.
Not that long ago, I would have chosen security over happiness. “The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.” I chose the devil I knew over and over again. Even if it didn’t make me happy or make my life better.

Somewhere along the line, I realized that I was settling. I chose low-risk over high-reward in my relationships, my work, even my hobbies. Through the ugly, messy process of self-discovery and accountability, I realized how much I limited the very possibilities of my own happiness.

I made an intentional decision to stop settling.

Once I figured out what I wanted- what I needed- to be happy, I refused to settle for anything less. Even if it took a long, long time to get it. And once I had it in sight, I went for it. That’s how I found the man of my dreams.

I met Ty in February of 2014 in a crowded basement taqueria. That July, we got engaged. In October, less than 8 months from when we first shared conversation and lengua tacos, we married. Within a year, we both had new jobs, closed on our first home, and were expecting a baby.

Now, that baby is a toddler. And our life is beautiful. It’s better than I ever imagined my life could be. We still have a whole lotta dreams for our family. So we’re moving forward, taking little steps here, leaps there. We’re choosing happiness. Together, we’re choosing our dreams.