We'll start catching up on the blog with the beginning of a process of figuring out how much is enough.  Balin and I were typical North Americans - we earned a high wage and we started to accumulate a lot of stuff.  When we moved to the Pacific Northwest we decided to purchase a ski condo at Schweitzer because we were told you needed something to do in the winter.  True enough - winter is long, cold and gray and sitting in your house all winter is not idea.  So we purchased, remodeled a beautiful ski condo that had 6 beds and 3 baths - enough room to sleep a couple of families and their dogs.  

And we did.

For 5 years we went skiing faithfully almost every weekend.  Through rain, sleet, snow, ice, blue bird days and everything in between we were on the mountain.  And we enjoyed it for the time we were there and then one day it became very clear it was no longer where we were supposed to be.  

We were in the process of figuring out what we wanted our life to look like and so far it looked a lot like everyone else's.  Balin was busy traveling weekly, working 50-60 hours a week and then using up the weekend to rest and regenerate.  Thursday I would start packing up for the weekend with meal planning, shopping and getting our house in town ready to leave.  Friday we'd arrive at the condo, unpack and get settled just in time to do it all over again on Sunday.  It was getting so tiring. 

The other piece was that Schweitzer is a very expensive resort to ski at and so the kids weren't always able to find friends who could come up for the weekend to ski as the ticket price was prohibitive.  S&P got to a point where they didn't want to go up unless their friends were going up...which was about 1/2 the time.

At the same time Balin and I were starting to read Mr. Money Mustache, a early adopter and perhaps pioneer in the Financial Independence Retire Early movement.  He was a proponent that you could actually be happier living on less but having more time.  The idea definitely caught my interest.

In the discussions that occurred throughout the year, one of the most dominating ones was, "How much do we need to have Balin quit his job?"  There were a couple of stipulations Balin said in passing that stuck with me and started me thinking.

1st one: If we could pay off our house and not have any payments I would feel much better about quitting my job.

As we looked over our finances, we saw that if we were able to sell our ski condo - actually just sell 1/2 of it - we would be able to pay off our Liberty Lake house and not have a mortgage.

And so we did.  

We found a couple who had friends in our building who were interested in purchasing 1/2 of the condo and using it part time.  It worked out great.  We ended up selling the other half to some of the other owner's friends and were able to extract ourselves completely from the ski condo a year later.

In reflection I've learned a couple of things about myself.  I don't like the cold and dark of winter and being stuck in a small space with not a lot to do doesn't help.  I prefer to be home in winter where I have a plethora of hobbies to keep myself entertained.

If I want to go skiing, I go when there's powder and I pick where I want to go.  I like having the freedom to not have to go to the same place every time.

I like going with other people and having the kids go with friends - we're pretty flexible now.

And like Mr. Money Mustache said, we are just as happy without spending as much.  My other favorite person to quote said something about, "Take care!  Protect yourself against the least bit of greed.  Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot." Luke 12:15