Category Archives: Life

Friday Thoughts – November Rain

December 2, 2016 cb3 Leave a comment

Not Even Cold November Rain

Maybe it’s the weather or maybe it’s due to dwelling on the current domestic challenges but whatever it is, it has me in a bit of a funk. Might as well write about the rain. November ended the drought and wildfires of the past few weeks with a blaze of glory. Heavy rains with tornadoes in some areas ended a 66 day stretch of dryness.

In a way, I almost feel like my personal life needs a tornado to blow through and kick things up. The routine is wearing a bit thin. Granted, I’m being extra complain-y for someone that just got to go out hiking last week. but it’s deeper than a day trip is going to fix.

I was not cut out to be a housewife (no offense to housewives, totally tongue-in-cheek self-deprecating humor here).

The Job Thing

I feel like I’ve been constantly behind the curve for the month. We’re reaching crunch time before the year end freeze and I only have two weeks left to make some key deliverables. It really bothers me that personal life has impacted my business life. I’m somewhat competitive in the workplace and have not been on my A game.

I’m going to focus on spending more days in the office in December (even though I hate intentionally commuting). Hopefully this will help break the cycle and some of the assumptions about the domestic items that I should be able to accomplish during the work day.

Yeah, sometimes working from home sucks.

Let’s Focus on the Positive

There are a few things going in the right direction. So I can’t be completely grumpy. First of all, after the year-end freeze starts at work I’ll be able to take some time off. Right now I’m planning at least the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

During the break, I’ve already made plans to meet up with some friends in Nashville to catch the Predators game against the Blackhawks. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve made it to an NHL game so I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll probably fly this one solo so I can’t get some ‘me’ time as well.

Share Granted

Today another RSU grant vested. The tax withholding shares weren’t quite as drastic as I expected so we got a little bit more than originally anticipated. This will give us around $4500 dollars to allocate in the following way:

20% to Savings Account
20% to my IRA
20% to Mrs. CB3’s IRA
20% to 529 plan
20% to Charitable donations

We’ll be having a family meeting Sunday night with the kids to discuss which Charitable organizations that we want to support. I really want to make sure the children are part of this process.

New Focus on Investing

Another positive from the week was a suggestion to check out Bigger Pockets to assist with my research into Real Estate Investing. What a wealth of information! I’ve only just started to scratch the surface.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be working on more research as well as putting together an investing (business) plan for this area. I also need to revisit my investing plan for stocks and update that as necessary. Most of my money is managed in that arena, but I do dabble a bit.

Focus on the Magic

The last bit that I’ll leave this week is about the magic of the holidays. My daughter is nine this year and it occurred to me that there will probably come a time soon when a certain truth comes to light for her. Whether it’s from her peers or because she sneaks around and makes a discovery like I did, I know the time will come.

It’s interesting to think back to before I had children. I never thought that I wanted to participate in such a deception. I used to think it was a silly thing to do.

Now I realize how important it is for children to be able to have that kind of magic in their lives. I wish we as adults were able to hang onto that and still have it in ours. It’s unfortunate that it comes to an end and we allow ourselves to be consumed by the dictum of society to conform.

We need more magic in this world.How will you add a little magic?

Cheers!

-cb3

Hiking, Life

Opting Outside – Black Friday Hike to DeSoto Falls

November 30, 2016 cb3 Leave a comment

It’s That Time of the Year

The media and my inbox light up like a Christmas Tree with a constant stream of promotions and sales ads. It’s a time of celebration with family as well as the lure of amazing deals. I’m very lucky in the fact that I can safely ignore most of the Mayhem and spend my time outside with the family.

I read an interesting post from Penny at shepicksuppennies.com that reminds me to balance any criticism I may have otherwise had regarding those that participate in Black Friday. I do realize that I am operating from a position of privilege in being able to ignore it.

With that said, we took the opportunity to hike to DeSoto Falls in North Georgia.

The Location

As I mentioned in my post Friday Thoughts – Pre-Holiday 2016 Edition, portions of N. Georgia, W. North Carolina, and E. Tennessee have had issues with wildfires. We wanted to get up into the mountains but needed to pick an area that would be relatively free from the side effects of those fires.

We chose the DeSoto Falls area for a couple of reasons. First, it’s just a little over an hour from the house. I didn’t want the children to spend more time riding in the car than hiking. Second, it’s a short enough hike that the children can handle it but long enough (around 2 miles round trip) that the adults will get something out of it. Finally, it’s close to Dahlonega where we can stop in for dinner when we’re through and enjoy a little mountain town action (even if it was a little over-touristy that evening).

The Hike

It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon for getting outside and hiking. The weather was warm enough that we really didn’t need jackets. We started out on the quarter mile hike to the lower waterfall first.

On the way up, I was trying to use one of those gestures to start the camera on my phone and ended up throwing it on the ground. That’s the first time I’ve ever cracked the screen on a device and luckily it’s only a single crack along the bottom.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to see at the lower falls due to the conditions. It was barely a trickle.

The hike to the upper took a little longer since it’s a three quarter mile trail. The youngest started complaining about his legs being tired with less than a tenth of a mile left before we got there. He made it OK and enjoyed being silly for some family photos. Interestingly enough, after having a snack we didn’t hear any complaints on the way back to the car.

The Effects of Drought

The Southeast US has been very short on rainfall the past couple of months. In our area, we hadn’t had rain in 66 days until yesterday (Thank You Nature!). The effects of the drought were immediately obvious when we arrived at the lower falls.

When we got home, I compared photos from our last trip in May, 2014. You can see the difference.

Pre-Drought — Lower DeSoto Falls – May, 2014

Here is a shot of the upper falls from 2014

A Little Bit of Peace

Despite the low water levels, we were able to get out and enjoy the day. The area wasn’t too crowded and I was able to capture a little bit of waterfall video. The sound of falling water is always meditative for me. Good for the soul.

Cheers!

-cb3

Goals, Life, Retirement

Friday Thoughts – Pre-Holiday 2016 Edition

November 18, 2016 cb3 Leave a comment

Longing to Hike

I’m going to ramble over a couple of topics again this Friday. Cabin fever does that to a person.

In case you haven’t heard, the southeast has been having a wildfire problem the last couple of weeks. I was really hoping to get out and hit some trails over the holidays but the air quality in most of the region is terrible right now due to the smoke. We need rain!

The weather is almost perfect Fall weather. Cool in the morning and evening, but not cold. Warm during the day but not hot. It would be really nice to be able to get outside.

Off-by-One Errors

Yesterday I got a pleasant little surprise based on a couple of threads in the Rockstar Finance Forums. One of the discussions is on the topic of savings rate. I’ve talked about mine in several of my progress updates and goals, but someone brought up something I hadn’t considered. Should I count my 401k Employer match as savings?

It occurred to me that I wasn’t even tracking that as part of my cash flow spreadsheet! I had been blindly taking the information that comes on my pay statements and copy/pasting into the sheet. I quickly went to the 401k login and parsed through the statements to get each months match amount. I had saved almost twice what I thought I had in the 401k. Bonus!

(I do realize the money was there all along, it’s just nice to actually see it)

Now, after adding in a row for this and adjusting the values, I noticed that my savings percentage went down for the year. Wait, what?! It turns out, that I had an error in my spreadsheet where I tallied the Investment column and the formula started one row lower than it should have. I haven’t been counting my 401k as part of my savings total since I started the sheet last year! Doh! Double Bonus.

With the addition of employer match and the correction in the sheet formula, I am now happliy sitting on a savings rate over 20% for the year so far. That’s up from the 13% that I had previously calculated.

I’m going to go back and re-factor the 2015 results as well as re-visiting the retirement calculator.

Upcoming RSU

At the beginning of December, I will be getting the second to last distribution from my signing bonus RSU grant. The last bit will come in June of next year which basically means that I will be taking a small pay cut next year unless something new comes in to replace it.

It’s not a very large grant, but since I am still basically new to building wealth the shares would represent about 2.5% of my overall investment portfolio. The plan is to sell them at vesting and re-allocate the capital in other areas like so:

20% to Savings Account
20% to my IRA
20% to Mrs. CB3’s IRA
20% to 529 plan
20% to Charitable donations

Considering that I am currently on track to beat my financial goals for the year, I think it’s important to give back. Yes, I could accelerate my plans a smidge more and gain an extra percentage point toward a goal but in light of recent events I believe there are organizations that can use all the help we can give.

Here are the candidates that I am considering for support:

I’m sure we’ll think of more, but those are my top five right now. I’m also going to see if there’s a way to do it through my employer to get a matching gift.

Also, like I mentioned previously, we will get the kids involved in this. I want to have them research what charities are available based on their interests and see which one they would like to support.

Travel

It seems like this time of year I always start to get the feeling that I’m ready to take it easy for a bit at home while I have the time. Since I travel some for work, the idea of not having anywhere to be is really appealing.

Of course, with two children in tow this never really works out the way I hope. There are grandparents and extended family to consider and all of those family events that are ‘tradition’. <Sigh>.

Thanksgiving is pretty well locked in with no major road trips. My brother is coming into town so that will be good. Christmas on the other hand always ends up with us loading the car after lunch and heading off for a two hour drive and several days away.

Don’t get me wrong, it will be enjoyable once it’s happening and I know the children will be creating memories. One of these days everyone is coming to us!

Gift Giving/Receiving

Speaking of Christmas, we’ve been putting some thought into gifts again this year. I really like the idea of reducing the amount of stuff that the children receive. We’ve never really gone crazy, but with three separate grandparent units and a gift exchange at the large family dinner it can add up.

Something you want, something you need, something you wear, and something you read…

This appeals to me. I think for parental gifts this will do nicely. I’ve already talked to my parents and they are on board to make contributions to the children’s 529 savings. I still need to have conversations with the others.

I, myself, would just really like about a week worth of sleep at a cabin in the mountains with no connectivity. Yeah, that’d do.

Meals

Lastly, I want to talk a bit about food. I may go off the rails a bit for Thanksgiving (Heretic! But seriously, the oldest child won’t even touch turkey). It’s true that we cook a pretty mean turkey around here but this year I’m craving a dish that I had while I was in Ireland this time last year.

That’s right, lamb shank. This was probably the most amazing meal I had while I was there. Many thanks to the Blair’s Inn. I emailed them earlier in the week and they were gracious enough to send me some tips on preparing this dish. I’m really looking forward to it (and a few pints)!

I hope that everyone gets to have a good meal with family or close friends at the table over the holidays. I also hope that we can all put recent politics aside for a bit while we have that meal. If you have to talk about something, bring up money!

I’ll be back next week with another spreadsheet post (relevant since I just fixed one).

Cheers!

-cb3

Life, Relationships, Stocks

Friday Thoughts – Election Week 2016

November 11, 2016 cb3 2 Comments

What a Week

Well this has definitely been a draining week for a lot of reasons. I’m currently sitting in a coffee shop sipping a $6 coffee and trying to compose my thoughts. Yeah, I went there. Spent the money and it feels good. I just had to get out of the house today and break the routine. Work from home productivity hit a low this week and it was time to shake things up.

Here’s where we are…

The Election

Honestly, this didn’t go the way I expected in the front of my brain, but in a way the back of my head knew it would. Let me explain. My current life is that of a tech worker for a silicon valley company. It’s a very intellectual world and influences the way I view the world. I’ve read lot of posts about echo chambers and confirmation bias and I can say I think it’s true. I’m guilty.

This hasn’t always been my life though. I grew up (junior high/high school) in rural East Tennessee. I still know some of the people there even though I don’t see them often. I’ve heard how the financial crisis impacted them. I know why they’re angry and I get it. It sucks.

The real challenge that has caused the most emotion is the negative fallout from this election (and it’s on both sides). A lot of very negative things were said during the process and my fear is that there are groups of people that now feel validated and empowered because of this rhetoric. We live in the South. I know it’s been hiding in the woodwork and now I’m afraid it won’t hide but maybe getting it out in the open will help us heal it.

We have to listen. We must ask how we can help make things better. My wife’s first reaction was to say we needed to move out of the country. That’s something that we’ve talked about doing anyway for a while, but I don’t want to do it for this reason. Running away doesn’t help anyone.

The Market

I watched the futures quotes the night of the election. I’m not going to lie, that was scary too. The S&P hit it’s limit down for after hours trading. The next day everything was sunshine and lollipops. I can’t predict the future but I can stick to my plan. My timeframe is not this week or next. I’m in this game for years. While it’s also true that I dabble in trading as well as investing, 99.5% of my assets are in my investing accounts. One of these days I’ll post about that too, but let’s just say I’ve managed the risk by limiting what I play with personally.

I know it can be scary to see large down days or stretches of decline, but remember the best lesson you can learn is to plan your investments and then invest according to your plan. The market will reward that over the long time and will punish the emotional response.

Going Forward

Like Pop said in Luke Cage, ‘Always forward, never back’. Let’s work on that together. I’m going to be looking for ways I can help. It’s time to be more involved in the community and it starts with me.

For now, let’s all breathe and listen.

Peace

-cb3

Life, Relationships

Friday Thoughts – Dinner with a Friend

November 1, 2016 cb3 Leave a comment

Catching Up

The other night (last Thursday to be precise), I took the opportunity to catch up with an old friend for dinner. This was out of the ordinary for me for a couple of reasons. I’m not usually one to take time away from family operations on a week night, but I needed it and when it was all said and done I’m glad I did. It was also a good opportunity to hit one of my favorite brewpubs down in the city that I rarely make time to visit.

She was in town for a business conference. In the sixteen years since we were in college together, we lost touch for the majority and have managed to catch up a handful of times in the past couple of years. Her husband and I were friends through the campus theater and we all spent a lot of time hanging out together outside of class. I was always closer to her on a personal level, so it was easy to catch back up on everything that’s been happening in our lives.

We covered a variety of topics over the course of the evening. Marriage, kids, jobs, personal finance, politics, and social issues were all present. There may have even been a tangent about beer in there somewhere. When dinner was over, I drove home and kept thinking about some of the things we discussed. Here are a few of the things that are lingering in my thoughts:

Kids

This was an interesting discussion. While my friend and her husband are a couple of years younger than I am, they have a son that is a senior in high school. My oldest is nine and the youngest is five. It feels like I’m ages away from experiencing the things that thet currently have happening in the child department.

She has had to manage college searches and high school dating drama. My biggest challenge is getting the oldest to eat and actually do her homework for more than five minutes.

I did listen intently and file away a lot of her experience for later. I’m sure at least some bit of it will come in handy. It’s still strange to talk to someone that is younger and know that they are farther along in some aspect of life. They’re going to be empty nesters next year. I’ve got over a decade bfore that happens!

Finance

We didn’t discuss numbers, but it felt good to be able to go into a discussion about finance with a person that I view as ‘having it together’. She and her husband both make good salaries in Tech and the only debt they’ve ever carried has been the mortgage and occasional car payment. They invest and are building for the future. Three years ago I wouldn’t have been able to even broach the topic.

Now the thing that struck me the most is that I’ve been doing this on a single income. My wife left work six years ago for mental health reasons (being a teacher and having a family takes a lot out of you). I supported her in that move and also in her eventual choice of career change from educator to part-time naturalist.

The thing is, though, I can’t help but imagine what life would be like if we were bother contributing to the FIRE goal. On a not so positive note, I’m reminded that I’m the only one working toward my goal and this is due both to necessity and my own choice.

Marriage / Relationships

This is a really tough topic for me to write about regarding my thoughts. Things have not been going well lately. Don’t get me wrong, there’s no hostility or negativity but we’re just not working together as partners anymore. I’m basically in a situation where I have more of a roommate that is in the business of raising two children with me. However, when it comes to life outside the children, we’re basically heading down separate paths.

I don’t want you guys to think that this is something new or that it’s something I take likely. Over the course of our ten year marriage, we’ve had our share of struggles as well as good times. We’ve both worked very hard at times to keep it together and continue to build. Unfortunately, when one half of the partnership has been down for so long it starts to take a toll.

Being able to talk to my friend about some of what’s been happening was extremely helpful and provided a much needed outside perspective on the situation. Hearing what it’s like to have a more balanced partnership instead of one where one half is always sacrificing to care for the other was a conflicted wake up call. It made me realize that is what I want. I could, maybe, someday have that. Maybe I don’t have to keep sacrificing my needs for the greater good.

Like I said, it’s a tough topic. I don’t have any answers right now and I’m not sure I will for a while. I struggle with it most days. Honestly, it’s why I haven’t been writing as much. It’s hard to be inspired when this is the relevant topic at hand, but this is my current truth and that’s part of what this blog is supposed to be about.

The Past / The Future

We also took some time to reminisce about the days back in college. It seems like so long ago in some ways. I look at the person I was then and realize what I long way I have some. Going from student to summer camp counselor to IT professional it seems like I’ve lived three different lives. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Where I head from here is the open question. Which path will lead to the best outcome for everyone involved? Can I still consider a plan to early retirement with the challenges ahead? I’m not sure. I do know that for now, I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing and attempt to improve every day.

That’s all we can ever really do, is it not?

Cheers,

-cb3

Hiking, Life

Friday Thoughts

September 2, 2016 cb3 Leave a comment

A Quiet Rainy Morning

I’m in a somewhat reflective mood this morning, so I wanted to take a few minutes to jot down a few of the things going through my head.

After the kids were off to school, the dogs were fed, and the house quieted down I sat down at the computer to review the August financials. Next Tuesday I will have a post up with the latest updates.

To be completely honest, I sorta got distracted from that when my phone popped up a notification from Google photos with suggestions to go back and look at last year. I ended up in the gallery from our AT backpacking trip this summer (which wasn’t last year… again, distracted) and though about how I still want to get a post up about that trip. I may have to break it down into a series.

The other thing I’m working on this morning is learning about Bullet Journals. I saw a friend mention this in a FB post the other day and I decided to check it out. I’m not always the most organized person (please don’t look at my desk) so if I can develop some new habits it can only be positive.

The West coast will be coming online soon and I will need to dive into my day job. I realized that I haven’t meditated since sometime in June. I need to get back to that. Having some minutes of quiet reflective time during the day is extremely helpful considering the current frenetic pace of life.

With that in mind, I’ll leave you with about 20 seconds of peacefulness. This is from one of the watering spots on the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina. I have fond memories of the cool clean water that comes out of the mountains.

Cheers!

-cb3

About, Life

A Brief Moment on the Dock

August 30, 2016 cb3 5 Comments

The Best Job I Ever Had

A few too many moons ago, I took the best job in my life. I wouldn’t know it at the time, but I recognize it now. It’s a state of being and a mindset that I hope to achieve again one day soon.

I recall having moved back home from my second attempt at attending a University and wallowing around my parents house that Spring trying to figure out what to do with myself. My grandparents happened to be visiting and my grandmother was looking through the newspaper (the internet was still a relatively new thing) at the Classified ads.

She looked over at me and asked, ‘You enjoy camping, right?’. Sure, I had been a Boy Scout and spent my share of nights in the woods. However, I was more of a computer nerd these days. There was even the white pasty skin to prove it.

“Why don’t you go be a summer camp counselor?”

I was skeptical, but I called the next day anyway and applied for the position. Besides, I didn’t really want to spend the summer as a cook. The interview went well and a few weeks later I was packing my stuff for the summer and moving to camp.

He’s Not Going to Make It!

Driving up to camp and getting out of the truck on that first day, I can remember feeling like I had wandered into a club where I wasn’t a member. Maybe it was those first day on the job jitters or maybe it was the way all of the staff seemed to already know each other like they had been doing this for years.

I quickly learned that I wasn’t the only new person as the two weeks of staff training passed.

Of course, there were a couple of old timers (even though I was technically the second oldest staff member) that joked around about whether I’d make it to the end of staff training.

In those short two weeks, we came together as a team. Inside jokes were formed, shenanigans were pulled, and memories created. The next eight weeks of camp lead to more of the same. By the end of it all, we were less of a team and more of a family.

What It Meant to Be There

How could I not love this life. I spent my days in the outdoors on the side of a lake teaching children how to love it as much as I did and playing while doing so.

I learned how to white water kayak.

I learned how to rock climb.

I got to go swimming every day.

There was a zip line and water slide.

All of my meals were provided

I had a neat little cabin with no AC and a metal roof.

The kids were (for the most part) Awesome!

I made friends that I can go for years without seeing and we can pick up like it was just yesterday.

All of these things became a part of who I am. We were isolated out there in out little bubble world. News from the outside rarely made it in to camp. We didn’t have TV. We didn’t listen to the radio. I went entire summers without checking email.

This agreed with me very much.

Going Back for More

Needless to say, this made an impression on me. I wasn’t the same person that I was before my grandma happened to find an ad in the paper.

I chose to go back to work at every weekend opportunity they would give me over the next Fall and Spring. The next summer, I was probably one of the first to submit my application. I ended up working at camp for three more summers after the first.

Eventually, it got to the point where I was getting a bit too old to go back. Life was changing and I was feeling the need to ‘grow up’ some. Rent needed to be paid and I had an offer for a full-time job where I wouldn’t be able to take off for the summer. I hadn’t studied in the right field to pursue a career in camping, so I jumped back into IT to pay the bills.

The Best Times Pass Too Quickly

The new (much) larger paychecks and the desire to finally finish school kept me distracted enough to balm the ache of not being at camp the next summer. There were a few folks around town that would get together regularly from the old staff and that was good enough for a while. As with everything in life, eventually it all changes and we ended up going in different directions.

I did end up marrying the girlfriend from my last summer. That was ten years and two children ago. I’ll save those stories for another time.

This past weekend was the annual Alumni weekend at our old camp. It didn’t happen for a long time, but this was the fourth year. We jumped at the chance to get back up there and reminisce. There were a few familiar faces and some dear friends. We sat around until way too late both nights rehashing the same old stories that we tell every time.

During the day, we took the kids around camp to do all of the activities that we enjoyed so much. My son did the water slide forty or fifty times. It was awesome. Paddling, swimming, climbing, archery, and hiking around. It’s all still there. It’s all just as beautiful as it ever was.

My heart longs for it as I sit here behind all my screens staring at my work stuff. It’s hard to focus. I need to ditch this and get back there. Soon.

The best part, though, really is seeing my children becoming a part of this. I know it will be a part of their lives too. That helps me to be content. Maybe they can find a way to hold on to it longer than I did. Maybe my life can be that simple again too.

Cheers!

-cb3

Life

Dusting Off The Blog

July 18, 2016 cb3 Leave a comment

Where’d We Leave Off?

Last time we talked, I was sitting at the beach about to take the kids swimming. It’s hard to believe it’s been over three months since I sat down to write.

The financial progress was going well and we used our extra income to pay off another loan and go on vacation. The vacation went really well and was mostly relaxing. I only got one work call the whole week that we were away and it turned out to be very easy to solve over the phone.

We set our sights on finishing out the school year and looked forward to a hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail in June. This would be our first full vacation without children in almost 10 years.

Why the Time Away?

There have been several reasons for the extended absence. I could blame it on work getting busy (which it did), end of school year activities (which we had), or a host of other inconveniences that have occurred. The reality is, however, that my heart just hasn’t been in it.

I’m sitting with a lack of motivation at the moment that’s due in part to some imbalanced in my marriage. I’m torn with how much to share on the topic, but my wife and I have some extra challenges that make things difficult at times.

Having a set of goals and working really hard towards them and then realizing that your partner isn’t on the same page can really suck the wind out of the sails.

So, I took a step back to focus on that.

Some of the Challenge

You see, as with any relationship, there are areas where we see eye to eye and then there are some areas where we have completely different outlooks and world views.

She is very much a live for today type of person. I worry about and plan for the future. What’s interesting is how it reverses when it comes to going on adventures. She plans the trip details and packing list and checks everything off. I tend to throw things together-ish and rush out the door. We complement each other well in these areas.

We’re raising two children together. It takes a lot of time and energy and can be quite frustrating but overall, I think we’re doing an OK job. We also complement each other in our family management skills. She teaches independence and respect for one’s environment (including tidying up skills) while I’m the more patient nurturer.

Other areas of our marriage have been non-existent for a couple of years now (for some very good reasons). In this, there is frustration for both of us. Life has become very business-like at times and I feel that it’s starting to take a toll.

Now, normally I just dive into the next task that needs doing and wouldn’t bother her with any of it. She sees right through me. She says it’s the way I carry myself, the way I don’t smile often. This is not the way I want to be. It’s not the way I used to be.

We’ve been asking a lot of questions of ourselves and each other lately. What do you want in life? What makes you happy? Why aren’t you doing those things now?

So, What’s Happening Now?

Obviously, there’s a lot that needs work. I need to focus on being more open about how I’m feeling by being honest with myself as well as my partner. I know that I am not comfortable at this point in my life and change is necessary.

The blog will continue to be an outlet but I may shift focus to more writing about the things I’m doing to bring happiness back into my life. There will still be some finance updates along the way, but maybe more quarterly than monthly. My next post will be an exercise in discovery of the things I find fulfilling and that are a source of joy for me. I also promised to post about the AT trip, so I look forward to that.

Please pardon if I’ve over shared. I”m not here to be a complainer. This is simply my life at the moment and I want to be transparent. It’s better for all of us.

Change begins Within

Peace

-cb3