Category Archives: Tropical

Time For a Little Sunshine

Yellow Flowers

Britton has been enjoying his time off and resting after his major medical incident back in November. He has recovered nearly all of his memory and is functioning quite well with the treatments of the doctor. He has been sleeping through the whole night again and doesn’t seem nearly as anxious either. Life as a whole has gotten much better for him and us. He is scheduled to return to a modified work schedule near the beginning of February.

In the mean time, our good friends have been talking about picking up a property in Puerto Rico as well which would be awesome because we would love to hang out with them there. They love the tropics as we do and I think together we would have a blast. They had a few properties they wanted to check out, and like we did a few years back when we first unknowing found our house, are sending a scout, our friend Matt, to check them out. Britton thought it would be a good time to go on a trip since he is using up all of his time off for the year and it’s a rare opportunity to do something like this with his best friend.

anasco beach

So Britton and Matt will be in Puerto Rico for a little less than a week in the middle of January. They will be staying at our place in Rincon while together they look at properties and do a few  fix-up jobs and clean-up around the property.

Since it is just a short trip, I am going to stay home and vicariously enjoy the sunshine through Britton and Matt’s updates. It will be tough since we’re in the midst of the coldest part of the year, but just knowing that they are down there getting it ready for our final journey coming up will make it all the more sweet.

 

Rincon Sunset

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San Sebastian Market

I was looking through some old videos of Puerto Rico and found this one of the Pulguero or Flea Market in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico when we were there in 2009 (you can read about this trip here if you missed it). It is one of the larger weekend markets with quite the exotic and eclectic assortment of items. We can’t wait to go back to Puerto Rico; it has been too long!

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Bathroom Remodels: What We are Working For

I think these monthly reflections on why we continue to stay in Colorado working are especially helpful this month. Britton’s work load has dramatically increased as his team has decreased from five people to two. At the same time, we have realized that really we have enough resources to move to Puerto Rico now, if we want to.

That’s a great feeling, after all, who can argue with having too many choices?! But sometimes it makes the choices a little harder than when your hand is forced. So, even with the added stress, we continue on day by day, week by week, month by month, and hopefully within about one year, we will be there. But I told Britton that if we need to adjust the time table for any reason, I am completely flexible. After all, it’s just us! We can create our lives however we want! Isn’t that awesome (and a little scary)!?


This isn’t our bathroom, but it’s kind of cool in a strange jungly way

So this month we are focusing on working and saving for the bathroom remodels that desperately need completed in all three of the bathrooms at the property in Puerto Rico.

The first bathroom we will finish up is in the concrete cabana. Really, this bathroom is not too bad. It needs a new toilet because it is cracked and leaks a little water.  I would also like to tile the shower area and add a better hot water solution rather than just the Duromatic electric water heater.  Maybe we could even add shelving or a vanity stand for the sink. I don’t know if I have any pictures of the bathroom the way it is now, but you can see it a little in this video we took of the cabana.


If you’ve already seen this video, you can skip to 2:35 to see the cabana bathroom again

Those changes shouldn’t take too long or be too costly and will be some of the first things we do when we arrive. The bathroom in the upstairs bedroom of the wooden house and the bathroom that is located on the northern deck are much bigger projects. For one thing, the upstairs bathroom will need to be completely remodeled. The toilet is disgusting and the sink is tiny. But the biggest thing about a “master bathroom” that would be nice would be to have a shower of some sort. The bathroom on the deck will either need to also be completely dismantled and/or remodeled.

Here is the video of the wood house and the bathroom on the deck as it is now as well as a video that shows the upstairs bedroom immediately after the bee removal:


Wooden house main level with deck outdoor bathroom @ about 2:00


Upstairs after bee removal including tearing into the bathroom wall -bathroom at about :50

Suffice it to say it is a big mess and a big project. But it is not impossible. Britton and I have done many a bathroom remodel in our rentals. Houses are not magical things. They are just a sum of their parts. It’s just for the purpose of saving up of the sum -of money- that we continue to work in Colorado. But as this weather continues to get chillier and the saving gap closes, we are getting really close to leaving!

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New Deck: What We Are Working For

We have completed another month and as such we are coming up with another goal that we are working for.  In previous months we’ve worked for a new  roof and to pay our taxes.  This month we decided that we would work for the funds to replace the deck on the house in Rincon.  The wood deck is original (built around 1990) and has been exposed to the elements since the place was fresh.  The wood has gotten pretty bad and is rotting out.   It is getting to the point where you really don’t want to even walk on it.


Under Deck


On Deck

You can see the condition of the deck (click to enlarge)


Cassie

The deck will be a fairly major part of living in the house and our day to day activities so it will be important to replace it.  I think I may be able to do a lot of the work myself if I can aquire the right tools (a really tall ladder).  It will be a matter of just cutting boards, and screwing them back into place.  I imagine I would simply replace what is there piece for piece. 

This is what it looked like when it was first built:


Fresh Deck

 It would be good to have a nice deck to cook food, entertain and watch sunsets from.  This is a worthy goal to work towards this month!

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