2019 - Year in Review!

Making friends in Puerto Rico!

It's that time again .. a look back at the past year. Damn, it goes fast! So much happened in 2019 ... as with every year that passes by us. We wrapped up 2018 in Puerto Rico, and spent the month of January, 2019 there as well. Ken & I fell in love with Puerto Rico ... the beautiful beaches, the lush rain forest, and the amazing people. We knew we'd be back!

We returned home just in time to celebrate our grandson's first birthday with our family in February .. he's so cute, and growing was too fast!

February was also Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and we always take part in the fun!

By the end of March, we were back in Puerto Rico ... buying a beach house! 

Our beach house needed a lot of work, and for 3 months we worked our butts off getting it ready to rent on Air Bnb.

While we made many new friends in Puerto Rico (and now have open invitations to return), we sold our investment property after just a few months. It was a difficult decision, but our investment turned out to be more than we anticipated, so we cut our losses and moved on. Our plans didn't turn out as we'd hoped, but we have no regrets. Living in Puerto Rico for a few months was a great experience! One of these days I hope to write about the fun times and beautiful places we visited. Until then, you can read more about why we sold our house and see the work we did on it here.

We recovered from our disappointment by celebrating the 4th of July with family in Destin, Florida!

We then settled back on Nirvana and began more projects.

We finally got the sails back on Nirvana and got her back on the water!

In August, we were headed off again! This time, we were headed to Colorado to help our daughter, son-in-law & grandson move. We helped them load up a U-Haul and followed them in their vehicle for a two day road trip. We hated to see our kids leave Louisiana, but were excited for them. They wanted to live near the mountains, and they settled in a beautiful town just North of Denver and near Rocky Mountain Park. At least we'll have a great place to go when we visit them! 

When we got back home we took a boat trip to nearby Mandeville and stayed overnight. It was so good to be back on the water and using our sails!

In October, we were back in Colorado to have fun with our kids and family. The last visit was mostly work and we wanted to check out more of the many breweries and sights nearby. We can see why our kids love Colorado .. it's beautiful!

Once back home on Nirvana, we finished up some more boat projects. One of the projects was to add solar panels ... we're now able to anchor without worrying about draining our batteries!

On November 18th (and two days before the 10th anniversary of buying "Nirvana"), Ken and I finally left the dock! We took Nirvana into the Mississippi Sound for new adventures. We'd been working towards this day for so long .. it seemed so surreal! We had a great time heading towards Pensacola, Florida and wondered why this passage had been so intimidating. We had great weather, which makes all the difference. 

With a few unexpected setbacks and cold weather on our backs, we decided to dock Nirvana in Pensacola for the Winter. The Florida Panhandle has so many beautiful areas to explore when the weather is warmer! 

With Nirvana secured, we rented a car and took the 3-hour drive back home to visit family for Thanksgiving. Before we knew it, we were flying to Colorado to spend Christmas with our daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. We enjoyed a "White Christmas", which is rare for us southerners!

We're now back in Louisiana, living in one of our vacant rentals while fixing it and waiting for another rental to become vacant. We're splitting our time between our "condo" in Pensacola and our rental in Louisiana, which isn't a bad way to get through Winter. There's always something going on in New Orleans, and the beaches in Pensacola are beautiful!

For the past 10 years, I've been writing an annual review. When I take the time to reflect over the past year, I'm always surprised at how much we've done .. and how many unforeseen experiences we had. While things don't always turn out as we'd hoped, we look back and agree ... life is good!

Hasta luego .. until then. Mid-Life Cruising!