When Bo got home from hunting this year he was informed that Intel would be offering buy outs before a mass re-deployment (lay offs or moves to other factories). Since Bo has no desire to live anywhere besides New Mexico and has the homestead land in Roswell he considered the buy out. It was a tough decision, while we planned to go this route eventually, we had two weeks to make this decision and the timing wasn't what we wanted. Is it ever? I immediately went into prayer mode.
Here are the things we had to consider:
- After estrangement for many years we were finally fostering a relationship with Amber, then we found out that she's expecting! We are now expecting our first grandson, Orion. Amber is starting a whole new life as a mother! We love her and Erik and enjoy spending time with them.
- I still have 2 semesters of college before I receive my BA and am considering getting a Masters.
- The legalities of the homestead are not settled.
While that's not a huge list of items to consider, the relationship with Amber by itself is enough to stay. It was a gut-wrenching decision but we decided to move back to Roswell. We will live at the back of my mother-in-law, Shiral's property. I don't want to live on the homestead (halfway between Roswell and Tatum). That's too remote for me. I might change my mind so we'll build a house there too, once the legalities are settled. Moving up the time line made it necessary to have someplace to live right now. So the house at Shiral's will be the test.
All of our plans are fluid, of course. But here's the gist of it all. Bo will build a rammed earth house. He's adamant that it be built architecturally correct. The house must meet certain parameters to function as intended. Our heat will be passive solar, we'll have a solar system for the rest of our electrical needs and propane for cooking and heating water. So it's not completely off-grid. We're not hiding from anything, just trying to live as self-sufficiently as possible. We will have a fish pond that we'll keep stocked for food, grow meat and vegetables, have fruit trees and honey bees... It sounds like nirvana, but I think we can pull it off!
What about the fancy college degree I'm working on you may ask. I will still get my degree, I can finish my BA online. I'll decide later about the Masters. I tend to go a little stir crazy at home, even when I have to take care of animals and plants. So I plan to work, at least for awhile. I'm brewing a business idea. More details to follow.
So that's it in a nutshell. I don't know how good I'll be about posting. Bo really wants this chronicled. And I've had requests from friends and family members to blog about it. So I'll do my best. Sometimes it may just be a few words or just pictures. Please be patient with me.
So stay tuned for news about our next chapter!
