We did it! We left!

 We did it! We left in April on our family RV adventure together! 

 Our trip started with a few long driving days between dropping off Jordan's pigeons, stopping by to see our sweet piggy girls at their boarding place and a couple minor hick ups. Only a few days in we were still trying to figure out our routine, figure out how to be better organized with 4 people and 2 dogs in a 33 ft RV tiny living space - - but also the first mornings waking up in the RV  all together in a new place we felt overwhelmingly thankful and grateful for this time together.

 We came to this decision to live in the RV/travel for a few months through a lot of prayer and will continue on this path to see where God will plant us permanently also through prayer and his guidance. We do not know where it will be although there are several places we'll be checking out but we have faith and just know that God will let us know and lead us where we are supposed to settle.

The first morning in our RV together - - 

 

Then to California to see family - -  

We played tourist and went to the Zoo, tide pools, and the beach- all of our favorite places. We visited where my Nana and Papa lay to rest at Ft. Rosecrans as well and it was a beautiful gorgeous day up there.

 

My son and I tried a vegan fast-food place we've been wanting to check out - he got the 'burger' and fries and I got the 'chicken' sandwich and fries. Next time I really want to taste one of their many flavors of dairy-free shakes!

https://www.plantpowerfastfood.com/

We had to say good-bye to our sweet buddy boy Rusty at 13 years old at the start of our trip. We were devastated. To say this hurt our families hearts deeply is such an understatement, there are no words. He was our very first dog, first family pet. We adopted him when Jordan was 3 yrs and Teryn was 8. Jordan would always ask when he was tiny how long Rusty would be with us and I would tell him all your childhood- till you are an adult- and he nearly did. Rusty was a family dog- but Jordan's dog, his buddy, sleeping in his room with him. He was always go with the flow as we moved around a lot, and added on farm animals. He was high energy, playful, mischievous and a lover boy. It just doesn't seem real. Loosing a pet-family member is hard but for our son, loosing your best dog friend hits SO very hard. I'm praying for comfort for our family especially Jordan as we grieve our loss and I know God will give us peace and fill us up with the love of knowing we had so many wonderful times and memories.

 

Our first photo of him and the kids after adopting him and bringing him home.

April was a blessed month seeing family and a little heartache too not only loosing our old Rusty pup but saying good bye to family knowing we weren't sure when we'd see them again. But we were in high spirits at the end of the month for the adventure ahead!

Road Trip Saturdays & More RV Progress

 This weekend and last weekend have been road trip Saturdays. Last weekend to Phoenix, this weekend to Tucson. Phoenix was to check out some RV salvage yards which turned out to be a bust but at least we got a day trip date, beautiful scenery, lunch, time together and did find some curtains for the RV and couch pillows.

This weekend to Tucson was to take a tour and visit the pig rescue/sanctuary that our two pig girls will be boarded at while we travel. Ironwood is the largest pig rescue/sanctuary in our state and one of the largest also in the US. They do amazing work helping pot-belly pigs.

You can view some of their resident pigs, and see their pens/fields etc and learn more about them here:

https://www.ironwoodpigs.org/

 

Phoenix trip....saguaro's, Rubio's for lunch, a visit to the Phoenix temple. 

Tucson trip....more saguaro's, visited 600 pigs and met the amazing woman and her husband who run the place as well as took a look at their boarding area and had a LONG drive day but gave hubbie and I lots of time to hang out, talk and laugh. Good thing we love spending time together - between the drive, stops, lunch it was 8 hours we were gone.

 

 RV progress... FLOORING! Front room, entry way, kitchen - - DONE! 

This guy - my husband is truly Mr. Handyman - with everything - he can fix cars, do any kind of home repair - and install flooring! I am so thankful and feel so blessed that he had such a great dad that took the time to teach him these skills to benefit our family. Oh and he's got a HUGE amount of patience for me as I learn. He's the main man here- and I'm the assistant. I sort of feel bad as I just hand him things or hold things or what not (and take pictures of him working!) but he says the job does go quicker with 2 people vs 1 even if I am just the 'helper'!

(Eventually the yuck brownish carpet under the front seats will go- but a project for a later date!)

New entry way and it goes into the kitchen - probably my favorite part of the flooring. Previously there was just carpet until you got fully into the kitchen. But we figured with 2 dogs I needed to be able to walk in and get their leashes off/paws cleaned if need be without standing on carpet. So now we have a little entry way into the RV from the front door.

And we finally built our couch-bed combo this weekend as well. We're still undecided if it actually works in the space or not. Its certainly comfy and gives us a lot of bed room- just not sure if it takes up too much living room.

Week by week making more progress. Day by day things are coming along. We still have a lot to go but we're excited to start our journey together as a family.

Life this Week & Weather

 We've had some weather around here...finally! Rain and rainbows then our first winter storm with snow. I'm  not partial to rain but I do love a good snow! Beautiful, quiet - there's nothing better than being snuggled up inside the warm house, opening all the window blinds and watching the world turn white. And then reality comes into play and I pull up my muck boots and go dig paths for the piggies and bring them out warm drinking water because their water is frozen over! No matter the weather, animals still got to be taken care of on the farm! But I don't mind one bit...I love them all!

Doesn't Scarlett girl look like she's smiling!? I love her cute face. She's not keen on weather....any bad weather really and loves only sunshine!

Our Ro-Ro girl seeing if there are any more hidden treats in her blanket.

Javelina's visited the farm next door to us and we caught a glimpse and a few pics of these cute guys and their little family wandering about!

Snow melted at our house...but still is sticking in town where we shop. Gorgeous snowy lake views.

And some more RV renovation progress....bottom kitchen cabinets done, hardware on, rest of the drawers getting fixed up to go in too.

Accent wall by the front door - DONE. We're loving how it looks with the two tone kitchen greens. Giving our place a bit of texture and color among all the white walls.

Weekend plans....RV work, housework, actual paid work...maybe a family movie, definitely some homemade warm dinners as its still cool out and snuggles with our pups and piggies too!

RV Project - Update

 Not much is 100% completed...but lots of projects are in progress and have been started on the inside of our RV.

 Projects we have been working on:

* Removing 1 twin bed from the back room (going to be future desk/craft area)

* Primed the bathroom, front room, kitchen, part of the hallway

* Wallpaper done on bathroom walls

* Painting done on the kitchen - lighter green on upper cabinets, dark on lower cabinets

* We also painted the entire front room, hallway and kitchen walls - photos to come!

 

1 twin removed - future desk / craft area! 

Still to come: Priming, painting, carpeting, curtains, new wood frame around rear windows.

Bathroom - From yucky wallpaper - to priming - to new wall covering!

We were originally going to wait until WAY down the road to do anything to the bathroom but decided to do the walls & going to get a new mirror.

Still to come: (in the way future) Prime-paint cabinets, new sink, re-do very yellow bathtub/shower.

Kitchen upper cabinets: We sanded, primed and painted - all done!

We primed the front room and hall.

Gorgeous 'black evergreen' for lower kitchen cabinets.

Lower area - green.

We've now just yesterday hung the lower kitchen cabinets and also painted the front room and hallway. All interior painting is done with the exception of the back room. 

Small next project will be adding the covering for our accent wall by the front door- and re-do the kitchen counters as well.

After that we will be replacing the wood beneath the entry way, securing a floor storage - - then finally laying carpet and tile! 

After that we'll move all the furniture from the back room to the front and get started on the back room! While us girls are getting the back room done the boys will be doing the minor mechanical items on their list like a tune up, oil change etc as well as flushing the tanks, cleaning the tanks, they will paint the propane tank, take care of repainting the exterior front door and a bit of the back where paint is chipped. There's a LOT on our list. Plus we are at the same time going through the house and downsizing. Count down has begun and it can feel overwhelming but daily we're making progress and enjoying the process to making our new temporary home a home for our family.

Enjoying the journey and looking forward to the future.

 

Happy New Year! 2021 we're ready for you!

Christmas was quiet but still wonderful just our little family of four together. We didn't get to do our normal Christmas 'events' around town like we usually do but that was okay - we decorated the house, listened to Christmas music and watched Christmas movies and just spent time together. It was a blessing to have a quiet simple day filled with enjoying each others company.

New Years brings for our family many changes for the upcoming year. We were blessed with an older vintage RV, a 1981 Holiday Rambler Presidential 33 ft and we're going to make it our new temporary home on wheels come spring time this year. Our family is off on an adventure for a few months...then back to our beloved farm and homesteading life. 

We have plans to go out to California to see family, head back across Arizona to see more family then hit the road to to New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri. And who knows where else! And of course make stops along the way to explore, take in new sights and enjoy all the beautiful USA has to offer in a few states we've never been to.

Our classy RV definitely needs some interior love and we're ready to take on this project as a family and paint, re carpet, get her all cleaned up and tuned up to get ready to hit the road! 

Here's some before photos....before any updates have been made!

The day we went to go pick her up and drive her home....Classy right!? We love the lines and think the RV is definitely good looking and got some personality compared to new rigs. We officially named her 'Eleanor' (since she's the Presidential model).

Interior - very dark, we're looking forward to lightening it up and replacing the carpet. We already removed the futon/and wood shelf and have a couch/bed for the front living space that will pull out to a queen and also have storage underneath.

Again - more BROWN walls to be painted. And brown cabinets. Kitchen will be sage green cabinets with a butcher block-type look for the counter tops. Not 100% decided if we will immediately replace the backsplash or just wait since its in decent condition.

We even have a tiny bit of counter space! Microwave and stove/oven.

Down the hall is the fridge and freezer/and kitchen cabinets across from the kitchen. Then next is the pull out door and wardrobe cabinets and drawers. Across from the wardrobe is the bathroom/shower. Then in the back is the bedroom with two twin beds.

Tiny bathroom with tub/shower, toilet and upper and lower cabinets.

Back bedroom. Bed on left will be ripped out so it will be a single twin and a desk along that wall. Window tint that is peeling will be taken off and curtains instead of blinds put up.

A few more exteriors:  (hubbie had the front off to get into the engine etc...

Going to repaint these logos. We all love the red-white-blue striping on the side!

The model we have.

We're excited to see where God leads us through our adventure and prayer and being together bonding as a family. We're looking forward to exploring and spending time together before our children are grown/moved out/on their own and living their own lives. There is no better time than NOW to soak up all life has to offer, embrace change and adventure and take a leap of faith...together.