So things happened fast around here – and it’s been a long time coming.  I received a call that the onsite build was scheduled to begin in the next few days.  It went quickly from holes in the ground one day, to a platform the next.  I honestly didn’t expect things to move so quickly.

The next day we had walls up and the roof on – and I had a build that was pretty much dried in.

Before the build out, I ripped out the deck that was in the back yard.  Mainly to make way for the plumbing and electrical lines that need to be dug and run to the house.  Although I wanted to have natural gas lines run to the house as well, I decided to go with a larger propane tank that I’ll use to run propane into the house for the stove.  I’ll use that same tank to run lines under the house out front for the gas fireplace that I will eventually put in after I start the deck.

Next up, I need to rehang the front door as it’s not as secure as I would like.  After I get the door re-hung, I’ll be ready to put up the siding and officially have the house dried in and ready for interior work.

Here are some photos from the most recent update.

I’ve gone back and forth about what to do with the large space and I’ve grown quite tired of all the mowing – and with the pool I thought it might be cool to create an indoor/outdoor space with a large resale value.  The possibility of renting this out on AirBnB or even a long term rental has crossed my mind after the project is complete.

My plans over the next few months is to begin working on this bad boy and provide ongoing updates on the blog. I’ve fallen behind on making that monthly post goal – so with updates on the building, hopefully I’ll be motivated to also post of the progress.

I’m working with the good folks over at Kanga Room Systems to finish up the plans and start the permitting process before all the real work begins.

Here is a look at the floor plan that I’ve decided to go with.

Let the fun begin!

• Be intentional with people/relationships (love more deeply with friends and family)
• Be present in social situations (no phone, laptop, distractions, etc)
• Read at least 5 books (not a big reader so this is a large goal)
• Travel More – with 6 weeks of vacation this year, I’m looking to get out
• Complete Salesforce Certifications
• Complete Scrum Master Certifications
• Start/Complete backyard Construction Project
• Landscape yard
• Lose 20lbs
• Cut the cord with Cable/DirecTv
• Finish garage (paint, hang garage doors)
• Finish furniture projects
• Purge Unnecessary Items (closets, garage, house, etc)
• Save More/Increase Net Worth
• Write/Blog at least once a month
• Increase PR (personal record) at the gym

I’ve put a number of things in life on hold because I have been scared to do them alone.  Waiting for friends or family to commit to joining me on something has led to me pushing things off.  I’m making a commitment today that waiting for others is not going to hold me back from doing the things I want to do.  Life is too short to hold back from doing something I want to do. Here is to a great 2017!

After a fairly stressful year so far, I was excited to reconnect with friends over the typical barbecue, beer, games, fresh cut grass, swimming holes, parades and the countless other activities that one might enjoy over a 4th of July holiday.

A trip to Fredericksburg with an amazing group of friends from Austin provided the quintessential picture of what a Texas hometown 4th of July is all about.  Although not back home with my parents, a trip out of Austin was just want I needed.  Not only to reconnect with friends, but a true chance to get away from work and the hustle of countless tasks.

This trip was filled with fireworks, food, watermelon football, laughs, sleepovers, parades, games, dancing, food vendors, veterans, candy, koozies, dogs, and even the smell of fresh-cut grass and small town Texas hospitality.

It’s simple – you create a budget in the program, connect your bank and other financial accounts, and use your phone to enter expenses as you make them.  You give each dollar a job as you receive income and by entering your expenses, I always know if I can join friends for dinner, buy that concert ticket or if it’s time to spend the evening with PB&J and Netflix. And I don’t feel guilty about spending money on a vacation or trip any more.

Here is the best part, by sticking with the budget and using the phone app religiously, I was able to save thousands in just a few short months.  I’m obsessed with keeping up with income and expenses, watching my net worth grow and looking at ways to give, spend and save in a more comfortable way than I ever have before.

YNAB can work for everyone but might not be for everyone.  I’ve been told many times that other programs like Mint do the same thing for free and don’t require you to have to enter all your transactions. But here is where YNAB was the clear winner for me – it forced me to be engaged with my money and made me stay on top of entering transactions, thus watching my budget and seeing where I was falling short or really saving.  With their new bank import feature, those individuals that don’t want to enter transactions can now skip that process but it doesn’t give you a real time view of your income and expenses if you haven’t downloaded or imported your transactions from the web version. (the mobile version doesn’t allow importing of transactions)

If you and a significant other share accounts, the web and mobile apps constantly stay synced so charges from each person are reflected in the program for better accountability and tracking that allows everyone to stay on top of their goals.

It’s worked for me and I love it!  Check it out or ping me with any questions!

My year in St. Lucia was one the hardest and most rewarding things I have done while in my 30’s. I think I learned more about myself and what I could and couldn’t do, what I missed and loved most from home, friends and family, and gained some of the most amazing friends and experiences that I could have ever imagined – and I would do it all over again if I had the chance or was offered the opportunity again.

I’ve been encouraged to start posting to the blog again, so this is my attempt at making a few additional posts for the few people that care or that follow what’s going on in my neck of the woods.

More to come on life back home and reflections of spending time overseas….

When you are on a island like this, you quickly realize that you end up doing the same things over and over again.  Granted, there are always new people and conversations to do those things with that help break up the monotony of these activities, but I’m itching to get out a bit more and “explore”.  I’ve decided that I’m going to travel to a few other islands before my time here is up.  I’ve already booked a trip to Barbados and I’m looking at hitting up Antigua as well.  Thankfully there are two airports on the island and the smaller airport is closer to us which is also were I can catch the inner-island flights to get me around.  More to post after those trips have happened.

I’ve recently moved back into my own place.  I had to make a move a few months ago when my company sent a married couple down here to being working with us.  Now that a fellow co-worker has left the island, I took over her old place.  It’s been riddled with problems since I moved in but thankful they have all been taken care of.

If you’ve read through some of my previous posts in the past, you would see that I love me some TV.  It’s been hard not having a DVR here.  Not to mention the island doesn’t know what HDTV.  We cannot find a single high definition station on the island.  Netflx has completely different options for shows down here.  We can get quite a few shows here that you cannot stream on Netflix back in the states.  But, I’ve had a hard time getting or watching of the the regular shows I used to watch back in the US.  I have even had to resort to buying season passes of Survivor on iTunes just to make sure I can keep up and catch a show I continue to love.

As my time here in St. Lucia continues to count down, I’m thankful for so many of the amazing things I have been able to see and experience so far.  I’ve posted a few pics here of some of the great things over the past few months.

I’ve had the opportunity to fly back to the US once since arriving here and it was a difficult trip to make.  I was both excited and a little nervous about heading home seeing as it had taken me a few weeks to get used to the idea of living on a island with only people I knew from work.  After making the transition, I was now headed back home to reconnect with people that I loved deeply.  (More on this an another post).

Since returning to St. Lucia, it’s been hard to readjust being back here again.  I miss a lot of things from home but I’ve been able to push through this and recenter myself in a place that truly is paradise.  Here is a list of things that I’ve learned and have been able focus and reflect on since coming back:

• We tend to eat at many of the same places on the island – we’ve become regular locals
• I can spend hours on the beach and be ok with this
• It’s somewhat easy to find and eat healthy food from the grocery store (although expensive)
• I got my sailing certificate and I am an official international crew member
• The US to EC currency conversion still throws me for a loop sometimes
• Rainy season is upon us and this threatens beach time
• We have been in a drought and they ration water which means no water many mornings
• St. Lucia’s call the first floor ground and the second floor, one. Although I live on the 3rd story, they say the 2nd.
• Electricity is expensive here since the entire island runs off of generators
• I’ve finally mastered Celsius conversions
• I’ve made some great friends here (work and other foreigners)
• I’m quite good at working a Hobie cat. A regatta is still pending
• I miss High Definition Television
• We get US television stations here
• Netflix offerings are very different here than they are in the US
• Amazon prime doesn’t work here at all
• The frogs can keep you up at night – they are loud and sound like an alarm going off
• Two times around the property here make 1 mile – walking and running distance has become easier to track
• The sun comes up at 5:30am and sets around 6:00pm
• I don’t enjoy coming home from work with little daylight left
• I miss being able to drive my own car
• Waitstaff service isn’t always the best here.  Learning to navigate with patience has been successful
• Wednesday night is fish night in town. They grill up the local catch of the day.  It’s become the Desperado y Pescado night of choice
• Desperado = Beer with Tequila in it.  Delicious
• The garlic sauce when getting fish is the best thing to happen to said fish
• I still cannot get used to $1 EC being coins.  They don’t have $1 dollar bills here
• Friends and Family are truly priceless – It helps to reconnect often to stay focused and reminded that you are loved

My first week here was spent trying to figure out our general way of life.  Things like discovering where the office is and how different it is compared to our US facilities, how we get around town both on the weekdays and the weekend, trying to understand the currency and currency conversion, navigating the grocery store and discovering how the selection of things change from week to week  and how each one of my team members interacts and functions both in and outside of work.

I wouldn’t say that I’ve had a hard time adjusting to life here but this has been the biggest change in my personal life that I have had in a long time.  Having never lived more than 100 miles from home, this is the largest step out of my comfort zone and the close circle of what I know.

There is still, in large part, a fear of the unknown.  A fear of not knowing what the next few weeks and months look like for me here.  There are a ton of new challenges ahead and a lot of adventures too. Here are a few of the things that I have learned since being here:

• The grocery store is hit or miss – selections change every time you walk in
• The cost of food is rather expensive
• The entire island is powered by generators, so electricity is very expensive
• 240v is not the same as 120v – don’t plug stuff in unless you know it will convert
• The locals are amazingly friendly
• People work hard here, both my team and the St. Lucia people in general
• Driving is a bit insane
• Having to wait on other people for things is a learning experience – rides, money, directions, general help, the bill, etc.
• The weather is amazing – constantly 85 degrees
• The washing machine takes 1.5 hours to wash 1 load
• The dryer takes an hour
• Visiting the barber to get a haircut is just like in the US.  Thankful for a good haircut
• Friends and family can come and visit – just find your way to the Island, the rest is taken care of

I hope to use this blog to post some of these adventures on life in a different country where I don’t know the people, the culture and what it means to be so far away from my friends and family.  Having never lived more than 100 miles from home, this is a first for me.  Leaving behind a city like Austin that I have called home since 1997 scares and excites me in ways I cannot even begin to imagine.

My first flight leaves today at 4:00 pm and I land in St. Lucia on Thursday at 3:00 pm.

It really hasn’t hit me yet that all of this happening, but lets see how it all goes down once I get in line at TSA and see where all my emotions go.   More to come….