Perfect Winter Day

Today is a beautiful day! It's going to be in the high 40's and all sun with no wind! :-) I really do miss this weather! Ben and I have always been on the fence about moving back to the mid-west, more specifically Wisconsin or Minnesota. Because I grew up in WI on a large horse farm, I am not ignorant to the winters, or the fact that summers there can also be hot and humid. This real winter spell we're having has reminded me how beautiful the winter really is, and that even though it has it's miserable moments, it's a season I miss terribly. I like being outside in the snow and the colder temperatures- I will take skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, etc over the beach and swimming pool. We've been in Virginia nearly 15 years now, and I can say with real conviction that I'm about over it. It's not as though we can pack up and move this year, or the next, but I feel like Ben and I have both reached the point where we're ready to make some real plans to get ourselves back to where we came from... Most of Ben's childhood was in sub-burbs of Minnesota. His family moved to Wisconsin when he was in high school. Just for kicks I looked at some on-lines properties in both WI and MN. Wisconsin has some nice land available that is all set to move into. I even found a couple really nicely put together beef or dairy properties that would not be an unrealistic price range. Although dairy farming is not at all my thought process, the barns etc can easily be converted into things like a boarding kennel- something I wouldn't mind doing. Or simply sheep/beef housing. This one would be at the top end of what we could afford, but wow, how perfect! This one is already completely fenced and has no neighbors! And the thought of owning 90+ acres, wow! How great for trail riding, atving, and snowmobiling! :-) Now the hard part is figuring how to make this really happen. How to get our debt knocked out so that when we sell this place we are not so bogged down with crap-debt that we cannot get the piece of land of our dreams! I believe we are going to have to really crack down on ourselves for the next 5 years. Extras have to go, and Ben and I have to get a real budget put together. Neither of us are good with money... Changing that is one of my goals while Ben is deployed until July. The first thing I have to get over is the fear and hatred I have of money. I hate knowing how much/little we have, I hate knowing how much everything is costing us, and I'm always afraid that we will never be able to reach our real goals because of debt... I need to get over it and instead of pushing it to the back of my mind, deal with it and start to turn our finances around.