Thursday, April 27, 2017

Visiting St. Croix (and how it changed all of our plans).


You don't always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.
~Mandy Hale

Trust who and what you are and the Universe will support you in miraculous ways.

~Alan Cohen

I am typically pretty comfortable living with some ambiguity. I have a great deal of tolerance for not knowing exactly how or when something will work. I can walk in the right direction and keep my eyes and heart open to recognize and grab opportunity as it's presented.

I am learning to understand that living with someone happily means understanding when "planning" that way is uncomfortable for someone else.

In the last few months, I have been confused as my boyfriend insists to me that we do not have a plan. We have a plan...to move to St Croix in August. We've been selling things and saving money in our Island Fund bank account. This was the plan. But he needed more.

So I started developing a budget to determine what income we would need. Searching employment sites, etc. I found a job that seemed like a good fit and sent out my resume.

We also identified a list of homes we wanted to see (easily done, since I check the RE/MAX site every day).

The next step was the best step of all. We needed to visit the island. St Croix...here we come!

We had multiple objectives for our visit:
  1. I had a job interview,
  2. House hunting,
  3. Meeting new friends,
  4. Learning more about St Croix.
ü Job interview: check. I spent an hour and a half on the beautiful 34-acre tropical campus of Good Hope Country Day School. I met staff and students who were all happy to tell me the positive things about their school. I felt at home there.
ü Visiting houses with our realtor: check. We learned so much about how much we don't know! Many of the homes we thought might be a possibility looked different in person than they did online. We found one that we thought might be a good fit. It had lots of fruit trees, and a fully fenced 1/3 acre (two things we'd love to have. If you look closely, you can see bananas in the tree). Even this place seemed overwhelming...
ü Meeting people: check...I really think it's impossible to NOT people on St Croix. It seems like everyone is so friendly and the island is so social.
ü Learning more about our island: Check. Our visit was timed to coincide with the Centennial Transfer Day Celebration--100 years from the day that the United States purchased the US Virgin Islands from the Danish.

We explored, went lionfish hunting, chaney hunting, diving, and snorkeling.
Dirt "road" we explored accidentally 
(I never claimed to have a good sense of direction!).

Ruins from an old sugar mill plantation

The reef has one less lionfish to worry about!

Chaney we found while snorkeling just a little north of Frederiksted pier.

We went with a plan. We met all of our objectives.

But our plan? Out the window.

The job I originally applied for is not the offer I received. I am really excited about this new opportunity. I love that it happened this way...I'm not positive I would have applied for the position that I was offered. I'm thankful that the Universe used the other position to get me to consider this one! I may be the next middle school math teacher for Good Hope Country Day School! I am excited about the idea of witnessing the magical moment when a kid has that a-ha experience. I am also excited to think about my new colleagues becoming my new friends.


And we found a home on the island--but we are not purchasing any of the homes we looked at. In fact, we are not purchasing a home at all, yet.

We met a friend of a friend for lunch. He had moved to St Croix around 4 years ago and we wanted to learn what we could from him, and also make a new friend. He has been the caretaker of another family's property, living in the attached apartment while he cares for and maintains their island vacation home. He went on to explain that he needs to come back to the states in August--the same time we are moving there. In a crazy turn of events, after emails and video conferences, we are thrilled to become the new caretakers of this beautiful island home! We now have a home on the island--with a pool and amazing views.

It's amazing to me how everything seems to be falling into place! When that happens, I feel like I am headed in the right direction and the universe is right behind me, like the wind at my back. Researching and planning are both important in a move like this. But perhaps even more important (at least for us) is a visit, an open mind, and trust in who you are.

Now we have a home, a job offer, and a moving date: July 28, 2017.

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