Looking back at 2009
Sadly, we have neglected the Hale Chronicle for the last few months. Hopefully we can correct that starting with this post. When January 1 came around on the calendar, we got the urge to look back at the year before, so here goes!
The Hales had a big year in 2009; it was adventurous to say the least! 2008 had us feeling a bit restless, and we felt the need for a “shake up” of sorts. We dreamt big, and decided to sell our home, leaving our “stuff” behind so we could travel the world indefinitely. However, our dream quickly deflated along with the Calgary housing market, so we refocussed on work and “real life”. Later in the year we did get an offer on the house, and decided that downsizing was still a good idea; we could be debt free (except for the mortgage), and actually have some cash in hand – woohoo! After the move and some personal disappointments, we got the travel bug again and decided to forget about the bank account and take an abridged version of our trip around the world. We’re so glad we did it!
We were lucky enough to visit 14 different countries on our trip. Hopefully we’ll be lucky enough to return to our favorites some day down the road. Ireland, France and the UK were some of our favorites, and definitely Italy. In Italy we volunteered for two weeks in an attempt to offset some of the massive carbon footprint we made with the numerous flights on our trip.
Mid way through our trip, Jason was presented an amazing opportunity to work in Costa Rica. We didn’t have to think about this too long; what an awesome way to get ahead in his career, and for us to see more of the world! Along with the excitement of this move, we had some more exciting news; our family was about to get bigger! The best part of 2009 was the arrival of our little tico Braden.
And here we are now, in this always beautiful, sometimes frustrating country. We’re learning to live the Pura Vida lifestyle, and hoping to have an even better year in 2010. Best wishes to all of our friends and family for good health and happiness in 2010!