Yes, the rumour is true: we're moving to Wisconsin. (The reason you haven't heard the rumour is because I'm starting it now.)

New Jersey is beautifully sunny. The friends we've made here are connected at our core.

But we just can't afford it.

Moving into [...]]]> I love it when I can make a title out of nothing but song titles.

Yes, the rumour is true: we're moving to Wisconsin. (The reason you haven't heard the rumour is because I'm starting it now.)

New Jersey is beautifully sunny. The friends we've made here are connected at our core.

But we just can't afford it.

Moving into our own home would cost, between first month's rent and security deposit (typically a month and a half's rent) we'd be looking at $3,500 or so to move into a place, not counting utilities, internet, etc.

And then $1,000 minimum a month for a place that was a little too small, or an apartment (hard hard hard for me.)

In Rice Lake, where my Mom lives, we can get a 2 bedroom house, single family dwelling, not condo, duplex, whatever, with a garage and basement, for $525. One month deposit. Some places want a utilities deposit, so it's about $1,400 total to move in. Yeah, utilities, etc. But internet can wait, 'cause the Rice Lake Library was our hangout for a month at a time when we've visited my Mom.

It's been a wonderful (non)winter in Jersey. Just as when we left Montreal, Albuquerque, Denver, St. Paul, and Vancouver, there are people we'll love and miss for the rest of our lives.

But it's time to go.

If you're between Philly and Madison and could bear 4 overnight guests during the 2nd week of April, please give us a shout.

If you've been considering some web work, writing a book, or getting some admin help, and just haven't gotten around to it, we'll need to earn about $1,000 in the next 3 weeks to make this trip and land on our feet without excess stress. Again, give us a shout.

And if you're in Rice Lake and have a spare bed, book case, or chair you'd be willing to let us have or use, um, yeah, that; give us a shout.

Last week our family had dinner with the Vroman family. Jon Vroman is the Co-Founder of the Front Row Foundation. Their mission is to help individuals and families who are braving critical health challenges “experience life in the front row.” They do this by providing front row seats to concerts, sporting events and live performances of our recipients’ choice.

Fiona in her Front Row Shirt

I first became acquainted with Jon through our mutual friend, Hal Elrod. Hal had been a client of mine and referred me to Jon since he also needed some things done that I could assist him with. That was a few years ago and we just got to meet in person for the first time this past week.

Jon and his family reside in South Jersey not far from where we're currently staying. So they invited us over for dinner. Our family, including my son James, had a wonderful evening visiting with Jon and his wife Tatyana. Fiona enjoyed meeting their young son Tiger. We also briefly met Tatyana's mother visiting from Russia. It was a delicious meal and we all had a great time conversing on a variety of topics.

Before we left, Jon took us to the Front Row HQ. Here Fiona was able to put on a cooking show with Tatyana's assistance while Jon filmed. And we all went home with Front Row bracelets, bumper stickers and shirts.

Fiona and Tatyana's cooking show

This is one of the greatest things about our travels - getting to meet in person many that we've known only online. I think we've met about 30 people in the last two years that we previously had known only by phone or email.

Jon filming the cooking show

A fellow traveler, Nathan Agin, made it to Philadelphia last week and we made arrangements to meet him in person finally. We've known Nathan for over a year and have chatted by phone and Skype and worked together on some projects. Since we're still in South Jersey, we were able to meet in person in Haddonfield.

Joel D Canfield and Nathan Agin at Jersey Java and Tea

Nathan has been traveling for over a year nearly free or for very little. He can help you with phenomenal savings on travel. Check out his website for more details.

We had our first stick-to-the-ground snow here in Blackwood New Jersey the other day. Of course it all melted by lunchtime. Fiona was excited anyhow.

We've all suffered from terrible colds: sneezing, coughing, aches, fevers, yuck, yuck, yuck! I think we're almost all well. I hope we can get out this weekend and enjoy the sunshine and [...]]]>

We had our first stick-to-the-ground snow here in Blackwood New Jersey the other day. Of course it all melted by lunchtime. Fiona was excited anyhow.

We've all suffered from terrible colds: sneezing, coughing, aches, fevers, yuck, yuck, yuck! I think we're almost all well. I hope we can get out this weekend and enjoy the sunshine and feel better.

It's different now that we're settled into a place for a bit. There's the everyday work of making a living, cleaning up around the house, making new friends.

I'm glad we have a chance to be in one place for a bit. I'm not sure this is home permanently. Once spring comes we'll have a better idea of where we want to settle longer-term. Or maybe we'll do a bit more traveling. Hard to tell right now.

So I'll just enjoy today - a beautiful, sunny day!

Let me first say that we're enjoying the beautiful fall weather. Seeing all the different colors in trees everywhere is [...]]]> We've been in South New Jersey for nearly three weeks now. You probably thought we fell off the face of the earth since we haven't posted much here lately. No, we didn't. We're alive, and even well!

Let me first say that we're enjoying the beautiful fall weather. Seeing all the different colors in trees everywhere is spectacular! I love that even when it's cold, there's usually sunshine. And it's a nice 55 degrees right now at 5 pm.

So what is going on with us?

In August while we were house sitting for Rita and Carl again in Colorado, we were contacted about coming to New Jersey to house sit for several months. It seemed like this would be a good opportunity for us and arranged to make our way out here. In the meantime we also arranged for the Big Book Release Party on November 11, 2011 in Philadelphia.

As soon as we arrived we realized we wouldn't be able to stay at this assignment. Joel immediately had very bad allergic reactions to what we believe is some sort of hidden molds in the home. We've been told by several locals that this particular area has had mold problems due to flooding. Within a few days Fiona also started having symptoms. We knew we had to make other housing arrangements immediately. And it had to be in this area since the book release party was coming up soon.

Someone in our local Bible Study group was able to loan us an air purification unit for a week or so to help alleviate the symptoms until we could find other accommodations. Within 10 days one of our new friends in the Study group had contacted one of their friends who had some extra rooms available. We talked with them and explained that we needed a place to stay immediately and that if possible, we'd like to work something out to rent their rooms for a while.

So now we're staying with Cheryl and Joel. Yep, there are two Joel's in the household! They are wonderful people and it looks like we'll be with them for a bit.

To add to the fun, we had already invited our son James out to stay with us and join us in the business. We're working out all the details but he'll be joining us shortly. We do have a mailing address in New Jersey now. So if you'd like to send us a letter, just contact us and we'll send that address along!

That's the latest! We hope to travel to various spots here on the East coast while we're in this area. So watch for more...

Adam learns to make crust

Adam and his roommates thought [...]]]> Last night our new friend Adam had us come over so Joel could teach him and some of his friends how we make our home made pizza - from dough made from scratch to the sauce made from scratch. What a lot of fun we all had.

Adam learns to make crust

Adam and his roommates thought this was a special treat. Along with nearly a dozen other friends, it was a night full of pizza making and fun company. These 'boys' actually range from 25 to 35 - right about our older kid's ages who range from 22 to 30.

Adam's really getting into it now!

Matt is married with a teenage daughter. We got to meet Matt's wife as well and had a very enjoyable chat. We certainly think they are pizza pros now! Of course we brought along our baking stone - another kitchen staple that goes with us everyone. It's not only perfect for baking pizza on, we use it for our home made bread.

Matt enjoys the pizza making process!