When did you first begin thinking about retirement?

August 29, 2015February 4, 2016 / Laura Lee Carter / 4 Comments

Mike and I had an interesting conversation yesterday about retirement. I was talking about how strange, but wonderful it is living here in the southern Colorado foothills, when I said, “This was really your dream, but I love it!” So he turned to me and asked, “What was your dream?” I was totally stumped.

When I met Mike over ten years ago, I was unemployed after an unfair firing at age 49. I was actively worrying about my next house payment. I don’t recall ever thinking about retirement! In fact, I had only thought so far as to put away as much money as I possibly could. That was about it.

So I asked him when he started thinking about it. He said he began dreaming about it in childhood. That was when he first imagined having a tremendous view in a rural mountainous area. The man has always had so much more vision than myself.

I’m not completely sure why, but I have always had trouble fantasizing something better, and in this way I now see how I have severely limited my options.

Why bring this up? Because I now think it is so important to teach your kids to continue to visualize a better life. If you can’t visualize it, you probably won’t be able to create it. These are the words I live by now:

Abundance is how we live in each moment – the choice to be open, the choice to entertain the possibility that we can have, create and attract what we truly want.

Life in the Colorado clouds

August 19, 2015September 20, 2017 / Laura Lee Carter / 4 Comments

I had a request from a special friend for more photos from our new life at 7,000 feet. We just completed a passive solar home in southern Colorado, and are now gently settling into a whole new way of life, one of amazing peace and ever-changing natural beauty.

On Sunday we had our first official guests, and the sky decided to produce a double rainbow in their honor… we treat our guests right up here!

Then, on the next day we had some cool clouds hanging around the Spanish Peaks.

Some might find so much cloud-watching boring, but at age 62, after moving twice in the past year and building this beautiful passive solar home, we are enjoying the hell out of this!

There’s something so not boring about contentment…

Want to learn more about our journey?

Please follow us on TWITTER!

Only Love…

August 14, 2015January 3, 2023 / Laura Lee Carter / 2 Comments

While I’m talking about songs that are new to me since we headed south to retire, have you heard this marvelous song by Wynonna Judd yet?

This is another one introduced to me by Bob our musical ex-landlord. When we first moved down here last summer his daughter was getting married, so he gave us a recording of all the songs he played at the wedding. What a great idea!

This song captures for me one of the greatest lessons of my life. It took me decades to decide that in the long run, love was the best reason to continue to exist.

Soon after that discovery back in 2004,a wonderful teacher appeared to teach me even more about loving another person well, heart and soul.

Mike is not a perfect person, but he does know how to love others, and I feel so honored that he chose me to love so completely. What luck! Our love story could be any 49-year-old’s dream, which explains why ‘Falling in Love at 49’ on my previous blog “Midlife Crisis Queen” has been enjoyed by over 10,000 readers! Love is certainly lovelier the second time around!

Yep, over ten years later I am even more convinced I hit the jackpot on this one! At least I did get it right here at the end!

You belong somewhere you feel free…

August 13, 2015October 18, 2018 / Laura Lee Carter / 6 Comments

“You belong among the wildflowers. You belong in a boat out at sea. Sail away, kill off the hours. You belong somewhere you feel free…”

Go listen to this song: Wildflowers by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Are you familiar with this song? I wasn’t until I moved to rural Colorado last summer, and our new landlord Bob put it on one his recordings for us. Since then it has become my mantra for choosing to leave suburbia behind forever and live in nature.

This is the first time in my entire life that I have felt truly free, and why not with a view like this out of my picture window?

It admit, it has taken me longer than I ever expected to adjust to life in and then outside of small town USA, but now I cannot even imagine going back to suburbia with all of that noise, pollution, traffic and high anxiety.

I didn’t even know how unhappy and anxious I was until I left it all behind.

A New Best of Boomer Blogs just for YOU!

August 10, 2015August 10, 2015 / Laura Lee Carter / 3 Comments

What have I been doing? Loving life in our new home in the foothills, whenever I can get out of my own way.

Compulsive behavior takes over for both Mike and I when we move into a new space. We have been overdoing it for the past few weeks, and it’s catching up with us!

That’s where the incredible beauty of this place comes in. Check out our sunset last night over the Spanish Peaks, a real attention-grabber!

Every time I look outside I am AMAZED at where I live.

But enough about me, what have the rest of my fellow bloggers been up to?

On The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide, Rita R. Robison, consumer journalist, writes about an Ohio couple who weren’t allowed to have a natural lawn. The St. Albans Township threatened to send someone to mow the lawn accompanied by the police. The couple compromised and used a scythe to cut the height of their lawn down to 8 inches, hoping that would give them time to figure out some other solution. Robison, who’s written about “freedom lawns,” thinks its O.K. to let your lawn turn in to a meadow.

Tom Sightings invites you to see if you can figure out which ’60s icon he’s talking about … before the big reveal. Hint: He’d be the same age as Bob Dylan and Bernie Sanders. Go on over and try it out at Remember Me?

This week Meryl Baer of Six Decades and Counting visited the town she lived in for over 30 years and was pleasantly surprised. The city is experiencing a renaissance and reawakening, a previously neglected center city coming to life. Read her observations in Revisiting My Hometown.

Here’s to having a great new week out there!

Enjoying a lazy day after our second move in a year!

August 5, 2015August 5, 2015 / Laura Lee Carter / 2 Comments

We finally have a day when we feel we can relax a bit, after moving in here last Wednesday. We are beat, and that includes Rasta on Mike’s lap!

There is still stuff stacked everywhere, but we are making progress, and also discovering some cool stuff we haven’t seen in over a year!

We are finding it strange that we have hundreds of sunflowers growing right around our new home, while they are not nearly as common in this area. We’ve decided to take it as a sign of favor from the great spirit… why not?

Click on photos for full-size views, and follow us on TWITTER!

Adventures of the NEW??? Old Farts

Beauty is the garden where hope grows

sustainable living

When did you first begin thinking about retirement?

When I met Mike over ten years ago, I was unemployed after an unfair firing at age 49. I was actively worrying about my next house payment. I don’t recall ever thinking about retirement! In fact, I had only thought so far as to put away as much money as I possibly could. That was about it.

So I asked him when he started thinking about it. He said he began dreaming about it in childhood. That was when he first imagined having a tremendous view in a rural mountainous area. The man has always had so much more vision than myself.

I’m not completely sure why, but I have always had trouble fantasizing something better, and in this way I now see how I have severely limited my options.

Why bring this up? Because I now think it is so important to teach your kids to continue to visualize a better life. If you can’t visualize it, you probably won’t be able to create it. These are the words I live by now:

Abundance is how we live in each moment – the choice to be open, the choice to entertain the possibility that we can have, create and attract what we truly want.

Only Love…

While I’m talking about songs that are new to me since we headed south to retire, have you heard this marvelous song by Wynonna Judd yet?

This is another one introduced to me by Bob our musical ex-landlord. When we first moved down here last summer his daughter was getting married, so he gave us a recording of all the songs he played at the wedding. What a great idea!

This song captures for me one of the greatest lessons of my life. It took me decades to decide that in the long run, love was the best reason to continue to exist.

Soon after that discovery back in 2004,a wonderful teacher appeared to teach me even more about loving another person well, heart and soul.

Yep, over ten years later I am even more convinced I hit the jackpot on this one! At least I did get it right here at the end!

You belong somewhere you feel free…

“You belong among the wildflowers. You belong in a boat out at sea. Sail away, kill off the hours. You belong somewhere you feel free…”

Go listen to this song: Wildflowers by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Are you familiar with this song? I wasn’t until I moved to rural Colorado last summer, and our new landlord Bob put it on one his recordings for us. Since then it has become my mantra for choosing to leave suburbia behind forever and live in nature.

This is the first time in my entire life that I have felt truly free, and why not with a view like this out of my picture window?

It admit, it has taken me longer than I ever expected to adjust to life in and then outside of small town USA, but now I cannot even imagine going back to suburbia with all of that noise, pollution, traffic and high anxiety.

I didn’t even know how unhappy and anxious I was until I left it all behind.

A New Best of Boomer Blogs just for YOU!

What have I been doing? Loving life in our new home in the foothills, whenever I can get out of my own way.

Compulsive behavior takes over for both Mike and I when we move into a new space. We have been overdoing it for the past few weeks, and it’s catching up with us!

That’s where the incredible beauty of this place comes in. Check out our sunset last night over the Spanish Peaks, a real attention-grabber!

Every time I look outside I am AMAZED at where I live.

But enough about me, what have the rest of my fellow bloggers been up to?

Tom Sightings invites you to see if you can figure out which ’60s icon he’s talking about … before the big reveal. Hint: He’d be the same age as Bob Dylan and Bernie Sanders. Go on over and try it out at Remember Me?

This week Meryl Baer of Six Decades and Counting visited the town she lived in for over 30 years and was pleasantly surprised. The city is experiencing a renaissance and reawakening, a previously neglected center city coming to life. Read her observations in Revisiting My Hometown.

Here’s to having a great new week out there!

Enjoying a lazy day after our second move in a year!

We finally have a day when we feel we can relax a bit, after moving in here last Wednesday. We are beat, and that includes Rasta on Mike’s lap!

There is still stuff stacked everywhere, but we are making progress, and also discovering some cool stuff we haven’t seen in over a year!

We are finding it strange that we have hundreds of sunflowers growing right around our new home, while they are not nearly as common in this area. We’ve decided to take it as a sign of favor from the great spirit… why not?

Click on photos for full-size views, and follow us on TWITTER!