yeah, we got home late Thursday night, but we left again on Friday afternoon for a marriage retreat. so tonight I consider us to be home for real.

I can’t say it feels like much of a party, though.
(especially since it feels like I’m getting a cold?!)

that’s why I’m linking us up to the Ultimate Blog Party 2012!

there, now it feels a bit more festive in here.

seriously, though, we were just waiting for all the “welcome back to the real world” comments. (which thankfully we haven’t gotten too much yet at least) the thing is, last I checked, Costa Rica is not part of another planet – it’s right here on our world, Earth. additionally, it was Mr. D’s “real world” in every sense, all sarcasm aside, for the first 20 years of his life, which is still well over half of it

Costa Rica is a part of our real world, whether or not we live there all of the time. our kids have now joined Mr. D in dual citizenship status, which was obviously not without its quirks, but we’re really happy for them to have that, and I’m looking forward to becoming naturalized sometime in the future as well. we found out on this trip that we should apparently be able to count the 6 months that I’ve lived there so far towards the 2 years I need to have under my belt, so I think that is pretty cool!

anyway, if you’re here for the first time, or maybe have been here before but not made it to our “about” page, here’s a bit of a summary of why we blog:

we’re a passionately creative, multi-cultural family who is currently self-employed and location independent. we’re just sharing our crazy journey, and hope it encourages others along the way.

we really do believe that we are all made for adventure, and while that looks different in different lives, we know that God’s dreams and plans for us are often, if not always, much bigger than what we dream for ourselves. we are continuously amazed by his work in our lives.

part of our journey thus far includes our small business identity & graphic design business, which happens to currently be undergoing a bit of restructuring. our heart for Kaleidoscope International has always been to become a well-rounded resource and source of encouragement for small businesses and those looking to self-employment as a way to enable them to spend more time with their families, so we are working on developing that aspect of it more.

another business that we have just begun developing, though it has been in our hearts for many years, is called the Beauty of One. we believe that what we surround ourselves by has a big impact on us, and so we want to make it easy for people to surround themselves by what inspires and encourages them. we create custom inspirational art, as well as sell ready-made art, (all still in the beginning stages) and are building several fun sidelines such as BlankCanvas™ Cards. we cart around a blank canvas with us and use it in pictures when we come across interesting locations on our adventures. this adventure in Costa Rica is by far the most memorable so far!

the blank canvas has become to us a symbol of life, and we want to paint an adventure on it. this summer we hope to involve some of you in that adventure! we anticipate starting to roll out some of the details about that in the coming month, so stay tuned

meanwhile, if you’d like to be part of a fun get-to-know-you activity we’re doing that involves the BlankCanvas™ cards, check it out over here, I haven’t had much time to explain it in detail because of all our recent craziness, so there are still a few spots open!

we’d love to know more about your dreams/adventure, go ahead and introduce yourself!