I looked at the calendar the other day and did a double take as I realized September was half gone! And directly on the heels of that startling ‘discovery’ came the thought that ONE FULL YEAR has gone by! Yep, one year since that nauseating, thrilling, daunting, rollercoaster ride of a day…September 16th 2016, the day we signed on the dotted line and purchased SunCatcher!
What a wonderful year it has been! I can’t begin to express “all the feels” as a friend puts it, but frightening, exciting, fun, exhausting, and full of blessings rank right up there as the top five! How fun it’s been to create a warm, inviting place for people to enjoy while exploring SGI and the surrounding communities. Don and I have experienced renewed energy (OK… I’ll admit it…and periods of exhaustion!) stemming from the hours spent planning and implementing changes in SunCatcher and immense satisfaction regarding some very successful outcomes. We have enjoyed time spent with each other figuring out the next item to build, purchasing others, and timing the next trip to SGI to cart items & supplies down. But, we especially cherish the trips we’ve made south to simply touch the house to remind ourselves it really is “real” and not just a dream!
I have to say the first few months of being away owners were daunting, but now it feels as if we’ve been doing this whole “management of a rental property” thing for years! We have had our share of extremes that included Hermine, a category 1 hurricane that slammed the island the week before sale & possession; wild fires in April that consumed 11 blocks of non-developed land and threatened to consume our property; a blown water heater with renters in place; and finished up with Hurricanes Harvey and then Irma, both of which were catastrophic in size and had threatened our area of Florida! All’s well so far and we have found that together we can, literally and figuratively, weather the storms! Additionally, all things have gone so much better than thought possible due to the fantastic support from our family, friends, even our work families. It’s been an unimagined blessing to have so many people so willing to help: family and friends not only renting, but leaving the house better for having been there; work place support allowing us to go more frequently than dreamed possible; island friends who have stepped in and stepped up to help us while we are so very far away! I can’t begin to name all the names for fear I would leave someone out, but every one of you have been a Godsend to us and for that we thank you all!
Each time we’ve had guests in the house this past year they have opened our eyes to new places, activities, and joys found on SGI and in the surrounding areas that we had yet to discover! Here, I thought I was quite the authority on all things SGI, but actually we had barely touched the tip of that iceberg! Again, a HUGE thank you to all our guests who added such value to our vacation home!
Lastly, THE BEST moments this past year have been the calls, texts, messages, and photos from our guests telling us about their island adventures! It has been an unexpected joy and I don’t think the thrill of witnessing someone else fall in love with this very special place will ever get old…
Hoping the next one will be you!
Sheri~