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just life weeknotes

weeknotes 28/21

week 28’s notes are being written a bit late, but i didn’t want to let the week pass without marking the fact that we finally did it — we bought a house! :)

we drove all the way to lisbon not quite sure whether everything would work out in the end, but it was fairly straightforward: the legal person read the text out loud, we signed underneath, and passed over the check. we then paid some fees on the way out and done! it felt surreal how quick the whole thing went in the end (despite us having to wait around quite a bit of time). i guess we’re now the owners of a little piece of cement in tavira, and no one can kick us out!

i still have mixed feelings about it. on one hand, i’m reasonably sure this is a good investment, and i’m relieved we won’t be kicked out in the near future as the market is crazy at the moment. on the other hand, so much of our savings are stuck in this house now (and we still owe money to family)… my mind is filled with “what ifs?”: what if the market goes down? what if we need the money suddenly? what if we have to move north?… none of these are unsolvable, but being solvent definitely gives us more freedom to move — which is something we’ve treasured all our lives.

for now, i guess we’ll enjoy this newfound feeling of stability, of knowing where we’ll be for a little while. we’ll finally install some heating in the place and fix the infiltrations, and i might even revamp the garden at some point. looking forward to this new chapter!

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in portugal just life one second everyday

one second everyday – may 2015

so… yeah… where were we? back in may, was it? here it is:

in may, everything was new. we worked on the house, opened a p.o. box, explored our surroundings a little, saw the the slovenian stamp come to life, did another trip north for the race… and then things started to go a bit south with all the postponed work. *sigh* still trying to catch up on that.

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in portugal just life

postlude

and just like that, with a flick of a switch, we turned a page on this electricity drama and moved in.

it’s hard to feel excited after months of anxiously waiting and battling… i think we’re mostly relieved to reach the end of the tunnel and enjoying the stillness. it took a while for it to sink in, but now this land of sunshine and blue skies is starting to feel like our new home and the exploring can finally begin. i’m looking forward to that.

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we’re not bitter though — if anything, this situation has left us determined: we won’t be them. we won’t be the incompetent lot, refusing to apologize or to assume our own faults, hiding behind excuses. we won’t be the postponers, stuck waiting for things to magically happen somehow. in our lives and in our own terms, we shall be hustlers, doers, finishers.

i guess that’s the lesson we took home. oh! and always check that your landlord has aaaaaaaaaall the papers he needs to rent a house. *sigh*

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in portugal just life one second everyday

one second everyday – april 2015

april was the month we finally (finally!) got electricity in the house and moved in… hurray!

it also included lots of family time, a trip to ikea, our 9th anniversary… and a pirate-themed birthday party with treasure hunt included! :D

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foooood

our two favourite food groups

chocolate and coffee! what else do you need? :)