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Showing posts from February, 2014

A little decorating around the house....

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We have a large apartment with BIG WHITE walls and light tile floors. That means we need to add color any way we can. Pillows, throws and wall decorations. We obviously are on a budget so are always on the lookout for inexpensive ways to put something on the walls, both for color and sound deadening. In our bedroom we initially hung one of our Artesa plates over our bed since there was already a nail there. (We have plaster walls so we don't want to add a lot of unnecessary holes to be patched.) It was a stop gap measure and one of our readers pointed out that we might want to move it just in case it ever dropped off the wall onto our heads! We did find a better wall for it. Here is what it looked like with the plate and still using our guest mattress as our box springs. Fast forward to a metal bedframe we found for under $300 delivered and a comparison of the blank wall our my new find - metal drapery rod for $16.05, handmade tablecloth for $25. Amazing what a little

How did we move all our stuff?

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I know I've discussed this in various back posts but it was hit or miss. I keep getting questions about how we moved all our stuff and thought I'd put it all in one post. At the Airport Also, note that not everyone moves in suitcases like we did. Many folks ship pallets or shipping containers full of their stuff. Each person must make their own decisions about what is important to THEM. We had made an exploratory trip so had a general idea about what to bring other than clothes. This is what flew with us on American Airlines, December 2013. We flew business class which gave us THREE FREE bags each! We paid $150 for each additional bag, thus our three extra bags cost us $450. Also, by flying business class we had a weight allowance of 70# each bag! FIVE plastic Sterilite footlockers purchased at Wal-Marts in our local area.. We initially thought we could make it with only four but as we continued packing things, five it was! We purchased luggage straps and put one on

Parque El Paraiso - Expat Meet n Greet

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What a great day! It started out drizzly, overcast and stayed gray but we didn't mind. We took a taxi to Parque El Paraiso for our impromptu picnic meet 'n greet with other expats. The weather kept some at home but those of us that ventured out really enjoyed ourselves. We were a diverse group with five of us currently living here, one recently moved, two on their exploratory trip, and four on extended vacations. Home areas ranged from Alaska to Tennessee, California to Vancouver. Oh, and one puppy, Chica, who enjoyed all the attention. There was an amazing array of potluck food which meant no one went home hungry! We will have to do this again and the park is a perfect spot. The park is gorgeous and now on our must see list for anyone coming to town. The conversations flowed for hours, various topics encompassing both Ecuador, past lives, future plans and coincidences. Around four we finally wandered off, leaving the gazebo as clean as we found it. Here are a few pho

Normal? It's all in a day...or two, or three, or more!

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Some things just leave us scratching our heads but we go with the flow and know it will all work out, eventually. We opened our savings account several weeks ago, depositing a check from our US bank as a starter. Each month we will write and deposit a check to cover our anticipated monthly expenses. We will use the local bank's debit card and ATMs to make withdrawals as necessary. Stu got his card and the first time we attempted to use it, everything was in Spanish. We tried the best that we could and he entered what he wanted for his new PIN number. The next screen gave us pause and we cancelled out. We knew we'd be back at the bank to get my debit card and we'd see if we could get help. This week we did just that, got my debit card but this time the clerk called over a gal who spoke some English. She accompanied us outside to the ATM and helped me through putting in MY new PIN number. At the point where we had stopped with Stu's card was when we had to re-ente