Time for a change

If you have ever met a Slagle, or more specifically Jerry Slagle, you know that we tend to do things a bit differently.  We are also prone to making radical life changes with incomplete information and without fully thinking things through beforehand.  To outsiders these usually seem to be random and sporadic, but to us Slagles they make perfect sense.  Our closest friends begin to understand this behavior after they have known us for a while, and some have come to rely upon it.  The one certainty about our big decisions is that regardless of the outcome they provide great stories that are retold for years.  Some of them are even inspirational.

In keeping with this family tradition I recently made such a decision.  I bought a sailboat.  I bought a really big sailboat.  I bought a really big sailboat that needs a lot of work, and I'm going to live on it...  Here's why:

1. Life is short, and living on a boat is something I have always wanted to do
2. My friend Brian visited a pair of his friends that are doing this on their boat for a leg of their journey and came back with the conclusion that it is not an impossible dream
3. My job is becoming increasingly desk-oriented and stressful, to which my natural instincts are repelled     
4. After passively perusing craigslist for several months to get an idea of what sort of boats are usually for sale and the price ranges I came across an ad for a Creekmore 45 sailboat with a reasonable price and an intriguing back story.  Despite it needing a lot of work I decided that it was worth the investment.
5. My girlfriend Jennilee (being totally awesome) gave the nod of approval for the future of our relationship to potentially involve living out at sea 
6. I love a challenge, and this seemed right up my alley
7. The idea of doing this gave me butterflies in my stomach, which is almost always a sign that it is the right thing to do.