“I don’t want a boring life!”
How the life we’re living is challenging us to reach higher
Buenas noches, amigos 🥱
The title of this post is from a little conversation I had with my hubby last week where I said, “Wow—we’ve sure had a lot of adventures and changes in the last few years…our life hasn’t been dull!”
To which he responded, “I don’t want a boring life!”
Immediately I was struck at how meaningful that one statement was. If we’d kept our comfortable 4-bedroom home, our 2 cars, our regular pay checks, and all the other things we’d gotten used to, life would lack a certain spice ours seems to have taken on since we left Canada almost 3 years ago!
Before I continue, I want to say muchisima gracias—thanks so much—for all the feedback on my last post re: Guatemala and our move to the mountains. We truly are living an adventure!
Today also marks 2 years since we flew back from visiting Canada and officially moved to El Salvador. We’re now in our fourth rental home, in our third region of this incredible country.
Since moving up to the mountains a month ago, we’ve met some interesting people, including the couple who started this mountain community (top photo) a few decades ago. The husband is in his 70’s, an engineer from Switzerland, and the wife is a Salvadoran architect. They are both a wealth of knowledge when it comes to building beautiful, practical homes here. We are thankful they have agreed to help us come up with a plan for our property and our home. We hope to start building on our property soon. Here’s a photo from an exceptionally clear day up there. We love when we can see the ocean, and it doesn’t blend in with the sky.
We went from taking in stray cats, fixing them, and helping them on the beach…to now helping out stray dogs here in the mountains. We now have 3 that we’re keeping from starvation each day. Canela is the sweetest and our favourite so far. Ruthie and Big Guy (he’s still waiting on a good name) spend a lot of time pining for ways to get extra kibbles or leftovers too.
Tom has decided to get back to running each day. He’s been re-inspired by Hal Elrod (author of Miracle Morning) and David Goggins (author of Can’t Hurt Me) to get up at 5:30, and go—rain or shine, feeling like it or not. And, I’ve been inspired by his enthusiasm! Our slogan when we wake up at 5:30 and don’t feel like it is: “This is what we do!!!” I decided to join him last week, and we set out on Wednesday morning to hike down the coffee farm trail to “el rio” at the bottom (a tiny creek by Canadian standards). Being up so early has its perks—the best one is that it allows us to soak up the sunrise.
The first day I went, we were joined by two of our kitties—Nika and Stripe, siblings. They were excited to accompany us, running along happily. There must be several hundred dirt steps going down the huge hill, descending the side of the valley, but we found a zig-zag trail that makes it a lot easier to run. This photo was taken a couple days later when Ruthie joined us…
Whenever the cats would lose sight of us, they’d start meowing like crazy till they’d round a corner and find us again. Coming back up the steep incline, we were all out of breath, and I was thankful that the panting kitties needed to lie down for a minute to catch their breath…so I could too!
The next morning we left at 6 again, and this time we were accompanied by Ruthie. She didn’t need breaks coming up the staircase on the hill, and I noticed this time how out of breath I was. It’s almost impossible to run up that steep hill, but walking it is still some major cardio!
Today when we ran, we were joined by Stripe, Nika, and Ruthie (2 cats and a dog). It’s fun to see how the animals want to get exercise too!
Tom and I are both feeling much healthier since moving up to the mountains. The white spots of fungus on his back from sweating constantly have disappeared. I don’t feel tired all the time like I did on the beach. And, our cats haven’t had health issues lately either—that’s a first in months, it seems!
Speaking of cats…about two months ago, when the girls and I were at the pool by our house (near the beach) one morning, we met this sickly looking creature…
We took Aslan—the girls named him after the lion in the Chronicles of Narnia—to the vet that day. The tests showed that he had fleas and also a blood infection due to the fleas. And so, we began to care for him. He is an incredibly friendly cat who loves humans, and would rub against us every chance he got. But, he would also let himself in—EVERY time the door was open! And because of the fleas, we needed to push him out constantly. He soon became known as our “guard kitty” as all of our visitors had to find their way past him upon their arrival…
We gave him his first flea treatment, and started him on the special antibiotics he needed to fight the infection. He was more than happy to eat wet food every morning, so that wasn’t hard. But because he’d been in survival mode for so long, he wanted to eat ALL the other cats’ wet food too. So we had to put a big basket over him as a temporary cage (with some dry food to keep him occupied) till the others were all done. Then we realized we’d be going to Guatemala in the middle of the 15-day antibiotic regimen…
Thankfully we have some good friends, and one of them helped us out, coming each day to feed all the cats and give Aslan his antibiotics. Thanks, Jessica!
Tom and I have been helping some Canadian friends with setting up their beach front house as a vacation rental. It’s in a gorgeous location, right on the rocky point of the beach in San Blas, and a few minutes walking to swim and surf along the sandy beach. There’s enough room for 10 people to stay, and would be a great place for a family reunion or some sort of retreat. A friend here is planning to host a yoga retreat there next year. Take a look at the rental here: Soul House. You can also pay with Bitcoin (they prefer it). It is also listed on Airbnb, where it’s a bit more pricy due to the fees. Please pass it along if you know of anyone who might be interested. 😊 They have a great local cook available for hire as well.
Up here in the mountains we have some new things. One of them is the brightly-coloured, lightning-speed hummingbirds. With all the beautiful flowers around, they are a common sight, and they’re so incredible to watch. When we had some friends up to visit, one of them noticed a hummingbird nest in a tree branch within 5 feet of our deck. The tiny birds’ heads were moving around excitedly. The next morning we watched as the mamma brought them nectar and they opened their little beaks to gulp up the nourishment from her. So fascinating!
We also enjoy having a fruit stand on the way up to our place. We now regularly feast on dragon fruit and pink anonas (the delicious light green fruit on the left that has a texture kind of like pudding), and we often make fresh-squeezed orange juice in the mornings—why not, when it’s $2 for 12 big oranges?!
This morning I said to Tom, “I’m so glad our girls don’t need screens to keep them occupied these days. They’re always in nature and they love making things.”
“Yeah, they’re like Laura and Mary from Little House on the Prairie,” he said.
The funny thing is that a few people have come to our cabin here and said it reminds them of that book and TV series. Five years ago, we would have never thought we’d be OK living in a house less than half the size of the one we had in Canada.
We don’t want to become too comfortable, or forget what we’re capable of. That’s part of why we’re living in a smaller place, and also why we go for mountain runs at 6:00 am now. It’s also why we want to keep finding ways to make life exciting for our girls. Homeschooling them and living up here in the mountains are definitely helping with that.
We’re so thankful each morning when we wake up to the fresh air, the birds singing, and for the experience of life up here. The other morning when I was on a little walk in this mountain community, I looked around at the hibiscus flowers, majestic trees, and luscious green hills in the distance, and my heart was bursting with so much gratitude.
Since I’d just bid the guard at the gate, “¡Buenos días!” I guess my mind was in Spanish-mode…so I breathed these words as I walked along the cobblestone:
“Gracias, Dios. Gracias por las flores bonitas. Gracias por los arboles grandes, los pajaros…por nuestros amigos y nuestra salud. Gracias por todo. Por los gatos y los perros, por esta comunidad…y todas las excursiónes en la finca de café aqui.”
For people like my mom—just teasing you, Mom😉—who’d like the translation, here it is:
“Thank you God. Thank you for the beautiful flowers. Thank you for the big trees, the birds…for our friends and our health. Thank you for everything. For the cats and the dogs, for this community…and all the hikes through the coffee farm here.”
Thanks for reading, friends!
¡Gracias por leer, amigos!
Hasta luego 😊
I told the Lord many years ago, "Please let me never be bored," and He heard me also. I love how you're making the most of every opportunity and becoming wonderfully filled/overflowing resources yourselves. :)
What a wonderful read while enjoying my morning coffee! All I can say is AMEN!