Monday Dreaming

It would seem that I have Northern Minnesota completely on my mind.  Perhaps it's the sound of the wind through pine trees behind our trailer or the fresh clean snow, but I can't stop dreaming of it.  There's something that pulls your spirit up there.  When we were up there last, Ross was taking a yurt building class.  That gave me time to toot around, go for hikes, read and then look at properties for sale!  It always comes down to that:)

 

There are no mountains or ocean, but there's Lake Superior with her vast allure, hundreds of trails that allow for unabashed dreaming and thinking and deeply clean lakes to dive into.  It feels as though all the people I met living up there had the same passion for the outdoors and community.  So as Ross took his class, I quickly met the locals and by the end had emails and guidelines to buying land in the North.  I don't know the reality of actually living up there, mostly because it's far from family and friends.  But damn, I can't stop dreaming about it!  

I wonder if everyone has a "place" they dream of living.  I don't know if this is actually that place for me, but it's one of them.  And perhaps that's all it will be...a dream.  Maybe the dream of it will keep pushing me in my life here in Southern Minnesota.  Pushing me to fulfill the goals I have, pushing us to find the home down here we also dream of, pushing me to take the plunge on business ideas.  Who knows?  But I do know that it doesn't hurt to dream.  In fact, it feels good to let an idea wander around the corners of my brain picking up colors, shapes and sounds until it's a fully fledged world.  So I'll keep doing that today, next week, next month and perhaps someday one of those ideas will suddenly be my reality.  

Four Years Ago

Four years ago today, Ross and I left on a worldwide adventure.  This realization struck me yesterday and I was overwhelmed by that thought.  We were 25 years old with a ticket that took us to distant countries without a ticket to bring us home.  We were jumping into the universe headfirst with the simple guideline of following the clues.

When I sat down yesterday and asked Ross if he remembered what today's date was, he stared solidly at me for 30 seconds and calmly replied, "No way."  I couldn't help but cry about it.  Cry because I cannot believe it has been four years, because of everything that trip held and taught us, and mostly, because of the fact that we did it. 

 

When we were 24, Ross was working a job that paid him well and life was just good.  But we had travel itching at our toes.  Then he quit.  It was almost that simple.  The rest of the world gave us plenty of reasons why it was foolish, but we listened to the little flicker inside us and more so, to each other.  We got jobs as houseparents for a gap year program for four months where we saved the money, bought the tickets and dropped Philipe the cat off at my parents for his own little adventure.

I can still see and feel us getting off the phone with the agent who helped us buy the tickets.  We were jumping on a couch full of excitement while looking at a Rand McNally map marked with stars that represented the places we were about to see.

Fast forward four years and we're riding on a different adventure.  One that will hopefully better ourselves, but more importantly, others and the world.  I still don't know what it is, but I know we felt it when we were traveling.

I love quotes

 

Image from here.

The Next Adventure

Well, the holidays have come and gone!  For whatever reason, I thought this season was going to be a bit calmer, but until this last weekend, we were busy busy busy!  I always love it.  Time spent with family and friends, all people who are thinking and feeling the same...that we're so thankful for each other.  That's what I love about the season.

Now I'm back at it.  Ross and I are brainstorming out some ideas for this next year.  So many ideas!  Unsure if I've already written about it, but we officially are letting the universe know that we are ready to buy land!  It's super exciting and something we've been dreaming of for years now, but it officially feels like the time.  I'd say we're similar to snails, simply slow moving.  At times I feel rushed or antsy to get to the next step in our life, but then I calm myself down and slow cruise.  And the funny thing is...it seems to work!  There's this alignment right now that we can feel in our spirit?  The universe?  And it is definitely telling us to now actively pursue this next adventure. 

I dream of a home like this someday!

So now, I find myself taking "Sunday Drives" (a Minnesota activity of simply driving, usually in the country, on...you guessed it, Sundays) a few times a week.  I just drive getting accustomed to this area and finding little towns that I then fall in love with.  Who knows what we'll find! 

P.S.  The above cabin picture is from here, Cabin Porn.  If you've never visited this site...enter with caution, it's addicting!