Move to Simplicity… Starting… Now.

Here we are in Bend, Oregon. It’ll be two years in September since we moved from McMinnville – our home of 12 years. Really, I can’t believe it’s already been that long. Time keeps moving faster and faster…

We’ve spent a lot of time wondering if this was a good move or not, but there’s no way of seeing that alternate future, is there? So much has changed. For one, our kids have moved from children to teenagers. This change has been more life-altering than I expected… and has caused the highs and lows of life to get higher and lower. But, I’ll be the first to admit – that’s what I signed on for! The roller coaster! Roller coasters are fun, right?!

So anyway, as we read the news, watch the stocks, and wonder if our government will have the will to tackle the looming budget crisis before we’re paying for a loaf of bread with a bucket of dollareenies, we’re wondering if trimming down our life and stuff isn’t such a bad idea. Hence the “Move to Simplicity” heading. Not that we know how to do this, but we thought it might be a good idea to document our attempt just in case anyone else out there is thinking the same things (or have some good ideas).

As things stand now, we live in a very affluent area of a formerly affluent town. We did pretty well when we sold our house two years ago, and assumed we would buy another one when we moved here. We have not… though not from lack of trying! We blame a Devine Thwarting, but that’s a story for another day. We’re currently renting a beautiful, 3,000 sq. ft. house in a neighborhood with a community swimming pool and several parks. This house has worked well for us: three bedrooms in the main house, and another small apartment above the garage for our office, which is secluded and quiet. This arrangement requires two heat pumps, and a lot of natural gas to get the place warm in the winter (which lasts about 7 months here in Bend). I’m not even going to try to figure out what our footprint is here.

Every morning the automatic sprinklers come on and water all the parks… every Monday, the grounds crew come and mow all the grass. Not a weed in sight. Lovely? Yes. Sustainable?? Hmmm.