Art by Roxanne Sterling 2025
Do people still write blogs? Right now, this is a diary..
My goodness is 11 years since my last entries. I'm going to start with what's going on now.
I am about to sell my old home in Oregon. My divorce settlement connected it. At 63, I am starting a new life.
I will have only 25k to buy a fixer upper. I have spent the largest part of my life living on the west coast. L.A. as a youngin.., Santa Cruz for 30y, as I survived during those years, I spent months here and there..Mendocino, San Francisco, I always returned to Santa Cruz. 18y ago, I moved to Southern Oregon. A long time.
There is no possible way to buy anything on the West Coast in my price range. You see, I simply can not afford much overhead with my current social security payment. It will be all I can handle paying normal bills and food.
So the plan is to buy a super cheap home outright and slowly fix it. My whole life has been leading to this. It's truly my actual factual dream. I plan to make a YouTube series about this very personal adventure into retirement, gardening, and remodeling an old house.
This will be about thriving, dispite limited cash. I am seizing this moment. My works are paying off, I will make the absolute most I can of it. Will I make mistakes? I promise I will.
My starting point as of today is.. We have a buyer.. we are in the 10d waiting period for inspections. They want 45d to close so we are about 2m from payday.
During the last 6 months I had to move back into my old house with my ex-husband to get this house in the best possible shape we could. He is a professional painter, I love painting, but I am sometimes hasty. I cleaned areas of this place that no one has touched since it was built, I cut in and primed, and he did little repairs and painted. I decorated.. it looks great now. More to do here, no doubt, but move in ready.
I am looking in Illinois and Pennsylvania. I had a house, but it looks like it's pending now. I had spent some time doing due diligence on it. It had foundation problems probably better left to a specialist. I never got eyes on the work needed there. I loved the house, tho, I've been seeing myself there for months now. Sigh. I'm willing to believe it's a blessing in disguise that I do have angels looking out for me. Another house in Illinois has my attention as well. Beginning due diligence on that house Monday.
Meanwhile, I need a new SUV. I have a big lovable disobedient rambunctious dog. I can't leave her. Wolf, Shepherd, Red Doberman, Husky. She was kind of a Covid baby. Her socialization didn't happen. She's super attached to me,and moving into a new situation alone isn't something I want either. The logistics of traveling with all my stuff and her.. tricky and expensive.
So I am trying to shop for a car with no money, looking for a house without knowing for CERTAIN that the buyers here won't back out last minute.
I will make this new life happen.. come hell or high water.
The adventure started last year, it continues to require work to get where I'm trying to get to. I hope the work never ends because I am getting good at this.
My YouTube link. This is where (in the future) I will post my home buying/remodeling content..Hoping to monetize that.
https://youtube.com/@laurelcanyonmojo?si=nxrboEe7jx-Ui8ao
Below.. my TicTok.. My last years leading to my divorce, the story leading up to my sisters death shortly after moving all the way to N.J., and my long trip to visit family and friends during my return west. I will still post on TicTok more personal stuff. I have friends there. You're invited.
https://www.tiktok.com/@roxanne.laurelcanyonmojo?_r=1&_t=ZT-93Z4hdIFPgV
Insta and Facebook.. nope
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