In June of 2004, we lost our big beautiful home and I was devastated despite its being tarnished with some very unpleasant memories and the fact that the town was starting to build up with lightning speed.
With barely a few grand to our name, we sold off our furniture for next to nothing and packed the little old RV we won on eBay as full as we could. Then one hot and very emotional day, we slowly crept out of the desert. Our first night was spent at a truck stop in Quartzite, Arizona. Trying to sleep in the miserable still heat was nearly impossible.
The next night was spent in Barstow, California in a miserably noisy motel.
The next day we arrived in Merced and broke down. All of Tom’s brothers live in Arizona, except for his youngest brother who lived in nearby Madera. He came and helped us out. Fortunately, we just needed a small part that didn’t cost much and we were on our way once again to spend the last night at a truck stop in NorCal.
The next day, our 10th anniversary, we were off to the 2½-acre parcel of land we’d also won on eBay. Although we would have land payments to make over the years, the idea was for him to find work, then slowly buy enough lumber and supplies to build our own dome house. Because we were so extremely rural, we would have to have a well and provide our own power.
But as hauling up water turned out to be harder than we thought it would be, and as gas prices began to climb and other unforeseen expenses arose, we found that this was just another dream. We also experienced his mother’s selfishness at its worst when we asked for some help, even offering to pay her back in time, but were turned down. Left with no choice, we were forced to abandon the land and our RV. With just enough money for motels, storage, but hardly any at all for food, we were once again back in the city I now believed we’d never escape.
I was enraged that his mother felt that we were no longer worth helping just because we’d needed help in the past. Especially after all we had done for her and the money she had which was quite a bit. Unable to bring myself to keep in touch with people who just didn’t give a damn about us, we decided not to bother and haven’t spoken with her or anyone else in his family for years. Besides, we heard from them less and less anyway once we were far away and not easily accessible to use at will.
There are other reasons I’ve come to resent my mother-in-law, but I can’t write about that here.
My resentment towards God grew even deeper, and I became very depressed. Believing we’d never own a home of our own again and that we would forever have to rent in the city, I cried for months on end.
We lived in motels for 4 months and then we moved into a duplex, and once again our neighbors were the typical loud, rude and obnoxious jerks we seemed to get everywhere we went. Almost a year later we could finally rent a house. It was tiny, old, and tilted, but it was wonderfully detached from others.
I hated the cold and the snow and found that a part of me was glad we didn’t get to build a house in the forest there because of it. While we liked the small-town friendliness, there were also some things we didn’t like about Oregon. They killed you on taxes, and small businesses only provided insurance to employee’s spouses at a hefty price. There were fewer stores and the hours were more restricted.
Shortly after moving into the house, he got a huge raise, and with the cost of living being so low in Oregon, it was the only good thing we had going for us. We may not have been attached to anyone, but there was a lot of barking and a ton of street noise, mostly from car stereos, so the financial peace of mind was nice.
I had begun entering sweepstakes like crazy shortly before moving into the house and was amazed at all I was winning. Every few days I’d win something. Most of the prizes were small, but there were plenty of big ones mixed in as well. A Caribbean cruise, a trip to Italy, thousands of dollars in cash, shopping sprees, guitars and more.
I also “tapped” into my psychic side a little more than usual. I had always had dream premonitions, vibes and that sort of thing. But when Tom pointed out how I seemed to be influencing the outcome of things by my mood, attitude and determination more so than anything else, it opened my eyes and mind to some things I’d never really thought of before. Things in the past that I suddenly saw in a whole new light.
In July of 2007, we left Oregon and headed for Sacramento with the $2,500 I had won, a state a lot of native New Englanders dream of living in.
Just a few months later, we would endure an ordeal that would make the trip from Arizona to Oregon seem like nothing, as stressful as it had been.
With barely a few grand to our name, we sold off our furniture for next to nothing and packed the little old RV we won on eBay as full as we could. Then one hot and very emotional day, we slowly crept out of the desert. Our first night was spent at a truck stop in Quartzite, Arizona. Trying to sleep in the miserable still heat was nearly impossible.
The next night was spent in Barstow, California in a miserably noisy motel.
The next day we arrived in Merced and broke down. All of Tom’s brothers live in Arizona, except for his youngest brother who lived in nearby Madera. He came and helped us out. Fortunately, we just needed a small part that didn’t cost much and we were on our way once again to spend the last night at a truck stop in NorCal.
The next day, our 10th anniversary, we were off to the 2½-acre parcel of land we’d also won on eBay. Although we would have land payments to make over the years, the idea was for him to find work, then slowly buy enough lumber and supplies to build our own dome house. Because we were so extremely rural, we would have to have a well and provide our own power.
But as hauling up water turned out to be harder than we thought it would be, and as gas prices began to climb and other unforeseen expenses arose, we found that this was just another dream. We also experienced his mother’s selfishness at its worst when we asked for some help, even offering to pay her back in time, but were turned down. Left with no choice, we were forced to abandon the land and our RV. With just enough money for motels, storage, but hardly any at all for food, we were once again back in the city I now believed we’d never escape.
I was enraged that his mother felt that we were no longer worth helping just because we’d needed help in the past. Especially after all we had done for her and the money she had which was quite a bit. Unable to bring myself to keep in touch with people who just didn’t give a damn about us, we decided not to bother and haven’t spoken with her or anyone else in his family for years. Besides, we heard from them less and less anyway once we were far away and not easily accessible to use at will.
There are other reasons I’ve come to resent my mother-in-law, but I can’t write about that here.
My resentment towards God grew even deeper, and I became very depressed. Believing we’d never own a home of our own again and that we would forever have to rent in the city, I cried for months on end.
We lived in motels for 4 months and then we moved into a duplex, and once again our neighbors were the typical loud, rude and obnoxious jerks we seemed to get everywhere we went. Almost a year later we could finally rent a house. It was tiny, old, and tilted, but it was wonderfully detached from others.
I hated the cold and the snow and found that a part of me was glad we didn’t get to build a house in the forest there because of it. While we liked the small-town friendliness, there were also some things we didn’t like about Oregon. They killed you on taxes, and small businesses only provided insurance to employee’s spouses at a hefty price. There were fewer stores and the hours were more restricted.
Shortly after moving into the house, he got a huge raise, and with the cost of living being so low in Oregon, it was the only good thing we had going for us. We may not have been attached to anyone, but there was a lot of barking and a ton of street noise, mostly from car stereos, so the financial peace of mind was nice.
I had begun entering sweepstakes like crazy shortly before moving into the house and was amazed at all I was winning. Every few days I’d win something. Most of the prizes were small, but there were plenty of big ones mixed in as well. A Caribbean cruise, a trip to Italy, thousands of dollars in cash, shopping sprees, guitars and more.
I also “tapped” into my psychic side a little more than usual. I had always had dream premonitions, vibes and that sort of thing. But when Tom pointed out how I seemed to be influencing the outcome of things by my mood, attitude and determination more so than anything else, it opened my eyes and mind to some things I’d never really thought of before. Things in the past that I suddenly saw in a whole new light.
In July of 2007, we left Oregon and headed for Sacramento with the $2,500 I had won, a state a lot of native New Englanders dream of living in.
Just a few months later, we would endure an ordeal that would make the trip from Arizona to Oregon seem like nothing, as stressful as it had been.
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