Our Farm Adventure

my man lives right by black rock mountain, so pretty up there!

As thrilled as I was for you about moving to Asheville, something I want to do, too, I am really glad that you are being sensible and intuitive about it. If you guys decide to stay, I will be equally as thrilled. And I admire you both regardless.

life is a ride.. there is no right or wrong, follow your bliss

Here's a place similar to Earthaven in VA. Remember it from study of intentional communities in college. Modeled a bit after Skinner's Walden Two.

http://www.twinoaks.org/index.html

I agree with Brian - your life is your own and you should do what YOU want with it. Transportation be damned, there is always a way to get places! We live in a fantastic country and think about how frustrated you are with your everyday life right now. Being away from family can be hard but not liking where you are is so much harder and it makes ... Read Morebeing near family a moot point. I'm sure you guys could find a rental house with a cool landlord who will allow you to do some gardening, and then you guys can save up and when the time is right and your credit is right you can buy a place. Living in a place you are happy and comfortable does wonders for helping you deal with all the adversities life will throw at you in the future.

Brian and Morgan -- I love you two. There's a part of me that feels exactly that way, trust me. :)

Brian, one thing we keep reminding ourselves of... Portland probably has the best job opportunities for Ben. I'm not entirely sure which direction he'll go when the time comes, but I have this feeling that Portland would offer him a much larger horizon of choices than some of the other, smaller towns in the South. Athens is out. Ben lived there for a few years while attending UGA and it's a fun place to visit, but not sure he wants to go back to live.

Katherine, we *did* think about maybe moving to Decatur or some other cute area of Atlanta, but that seriously lasted about ten seconds. I love big cities, but I don't really like Atlanta for a variety of reasons, and Ben feels the same.

Morgan, during the past few days I've though about you and Yarko and living in CO, but yea, it's probably a little too far from a coast for my liking.... Read More

We blew our load living in Portland. It's everything we ever wanted in a city and didn't really realize it until now. Nothing else seems to compare.

Dude, PDX is a sweet place to live and work, I don't have to tell you. I found that savvy renting was a great way to get by for awhile. Don't try to live in the hippest neighborhood, and you'll make it just fine. I had a sick 1bdrm for $750 in Laurelhurst/Kearns that I'd move back to in a heartbeat.

Make sure the winters are tolerable for you. I lost 20 lbs and was much happier altogether (for no apparent reason) when I moved to Raleigh from Cloudyville.

Being happy is the most important thing :D