Tight Spaces

I was feeling pretty good about how the RV was organized.  Each cabinet had shelving and I worked around the limited space.  But my biggest frustration had to be the enormously huge PC.  And TV.

When we first moved in, my husband's computer was neatly tucked under the end of the bed.  When he wanted to use it, he pulled out the keyboard and mouse and voila --instant computer.  That's fine for watching movies or surfing the net.  But when it comes to processing pictures, he needed a sturdy flat space.

So now we lost half of our dinette table as he worked on our recent wedding shoot.  My first time working with him as an assistant photographer :) 

That's all well and good, but after he decided the TV-as-monitor wasn't working and bought a new one...and converted the TV to our new XBOX screen; now I had no flat working space.

The kids did their school work on the little bit of dinette space left or scrunched on the little couch.

And don't get me started on the detritus left behind when we had a busy weekend or my husband got home.  Coats, toys and stuff got tossed on the couch, or my bed, or under the tv or...

I felt my stress levels rising.  Thank God we could go to the rec center nearby.  I'd pack the kids up with lunch, school work and bathing suits.  We would be there most of the day.

Then the first cold snap hit.  Now, we've been battling the cold with a couple ceramic electric heaters and staying toasty warm, while stretching the propane.  Condensation was a concern.  I'd wake up in the morning with water running down the walls and soaking the bathmats along the edges.

One particular morning, it froze.  The kids had been complaining of their blankets sticking to the walls as well.

On top of the lack of water and lack of space, I just wanted my kids to be warm.  Was that too much to ask?

What is a girl to do?

Look at new RVs...

Jefferson County Fairgrounds RV park

Out of the limited options for RV parks in Lakewood, the Jefferson County Fairgrounds RV park was our first choice. Wide open spaces (for parking) and close to his work.  It was a great landing pad until we got our footing.

It has power and water, but no sewer.  Only a dump station at the end.  But, I'd been dry-camping for the last several weeks anyway, so no big.

Thankfully, the parking spot was wide open!  Bill eased her in.

There are always trade offs when you make a lifestyle change.  Namely, laundromats and outside showers.

But I wouldn't trade it for the world.

The park is small, but the views are incredible.  We loved our time here.

  

Jessica loves to read on her bunk!

Kyla and Liam are on the top bunks.  They love their cozy spots.

Moving on

We'd been home almost a month and I had reached an equilibrium in my emotions.  Godliness, with contentment, is great.  God had a plan for us and until we left Keenesburg -that was where he wanted us.

Then, we contemplate renting out the house.  After much prayer and deliberation, we put it up on craigslist.  Within four days, I had several calls.  Amazing!  God's timing is always perfect.

After some false starts, we got a young family who wants to buy the house next year.  We filled out a contract.  And just like that, it's time to move.

We buy boxes

And rent a Public Storage unit. (kids are taking pictures now)

So we have the boxes and the storage unit.  Bill took the week off.  We filled the trailer with necessities and boxed the rest.

After a year of planning and six years of yearning to live in an RV, I was finally getting my dream.  And you know what?  I wasn't a roller coaster of emotions.  What is meant to be, will be. 

only place to spread out wet sheets

last bits of chaos

Wouldn't you know it, but my dryer stopped working right before we moved. It would go roundy-roundy, but not heat up.  All the loads of bedding and clothes to clean before moving into the trailer.

We made it work, though, and then gave the whole set away. Moving is never easy.  But at least we didn't have lots of stuff.  Or so I thought.  Until we started packing up and trying to figure out where everything went.

Do toys breed in secret?  I think computer accessories reproduce like rabbits...

In the end, we got it all out and the house turned over in record time.

last morning in Keenesburg

House covered in snow

It had to snow while we moved

Good old truck leaking power steering fluid everywhere

May be little, but she is sufficient for now

And we are off!

Meet Ginger

I'm visiting with a friend in our local Keenesburg thriftstore, "Simpler Times," and I get a phone call from Bill: "Want a new kitten?"

A new cat?  That's the last thing we need...

The Denver Humane Society was having a buy one kitten, get one free sale.  My sister-in-law wanted a new cat, so Bill decided to take the other one.  When I told the kids, they were over the moon. 

Bill has a knack for picking out the best animals.  So he went down to the shelter and chose a five-month-old tortoiseshell.

Petite, but feisty

Curious little cat

After deliberating for a few days, we settled on the name "Ginger."  With her pumpkin-colored eyes and "tortitude," it seemed to fit her well.

Our other cat, Dash, was uncertain of this new intruder.

Jessica likes to dress Dash up.  

Eventually, he got used to her bossing him around.  She's run off all those extra pounds he put on while in Indiana.  Now, they are inseparable.

Tuckered out after a long day of running up and down the trailer

Dash and Ginger add spice to our life, among other smells.  I'm glad she is a part of our family now...

House again, Home again.

Leaving Indiana was bittersweet. 

When I left Colorado in May, I didn’t know what would happen with our Keenesburg house.  I hoped against hope that it would sell. At the very least I was glad to be done with it for the summer. 

But alas, we’d had no offers and only a couple lookers.  The hardest part for my husband was the separation of our family.  He missed us terribly.  With no dog, cats, kids or wife to greet him and no furniture except for the bedroom; it made for a very lonely summer.  He filled the time with Star Wars troops and family events.  He would often stay over at friends’ houses. Geo-baching is hard when you are used to controlled chaos.

Some of our conversations were tense, packed with unresolved emotions and underlying disagreements.  But I pushed it aside and enjoyed the journey.

Our first stop was Naperville, Illinois to visit with his cousin Sherrill Niemann and her family.   I will give the man props for navigating through Chicago traffic with a trailer for the first time in his life.  We dry camped in a neighbor’s driveway for the night and shared a couple meals.  We saw her son, Cale, off to school.  This is his first time on the bus. 

The kids relished the fact that we homeschool and don’t have to worry about getting up so early…

Kids in front of a wagon that sat juxtaposed with the lab.

After a few cups of coffee, we packed up and headed down the road to the Ferme lab –where they experiment with neutrons and electrons.  Quite heady stuff and further reason to marvel at God’s creation.  

Bill unhitched the trailer in the Ferme lab so he could gas up the truck, as most of our driving was on back roads and there were no truck stops available.  It is too nerve wracking with the trailer otherwise.   

We went on to Madison, Wisconsin and stayed overnight in a state-owned camping park.  It was nice to have electricity again to combat the heat.  We rode bikes around and grilled.  So therapeutic after driving through Illinois and the numerous toll roads.  

The next day, we drove through Madison to admire the scenery and sample cheese.  Quite a beautiful town. 

Before leaving out, we used their dump station to flush out the system.  It was Bill’s first real experience emptying the black and gray water tanks.  Not pleasant, but necessary.

Next on the list was a stop over to visit Bill's aunt Peggy in Michigan. 

She loved our trailer!

Next stop: Lake City, Michigan to visit Dave and Joyce Janes: Bill’s surrogate parents, where he spent numerous hours with his best friends.  It is right off of Lake Pepin and home to Laura Ingalls Wilder during her early childhood. 

Sometimes things happen to alter your plans. This something happened a block away from their house.  The steering pump seal blew on the truck.  We were able to limp the truck and park the trailer in their lush backyard; a verdant assimilation of flowers in an incredible array of colors.  The garden in the back overflowed with an assortment of berries, squash and tomatoes.

Dave and Joyce live in a late 1800s house that oozes character out of every pore.  For two days, we enjoyed their wonderful hospitality and the view of Lake Pepin. 

After an expensive fix, we drove over to Pepin to see where Laura lived, after having listened to “Little House in the Big Woods” during our drive.  All the woods are gone and corn fields are now there.  A small cabin sits where her house sat and plaques try to explain what life was like. We took lots of pictures and imagined life back then.  It took about 30 minutes.

We had a quick bite to eat in a local hamburger joint and finished off with big cones of homemade icecream.  Then toured the town where “Grumpy Old Men” was filmed: cute, quaint, and small. 

The thing that surprised me the most was that Lake Pepin is actually a wide spot in the Missisissippi River.   

We said goodbye to our new old friends and trundled down the road.  The unexpected second day in Lake City meant that we couldn’t go on to visit Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.  Our finances had been overly taxed and Bill decided it was safer to head home.   

We did make a brief stop in Walnut Grove, Minnesota for another Laura Ingalls Wilder museum.  

We drove from Michigan to Nebraska in one long haul. Straight to his grandmother's, June "Gigi" Blackburn, house in Grand Island.  

She opened her heart and home up to me during the first years of my marriage to Bill.  Used to wear me out while shopping.  Gigi designed her home using legos as a base.  It is heavily decorated with oriental themed furniture and knick-knacks. Her sunk-in green tub is a favorite among the grand and great-grand kids. Bill remembers visiting her unique home as a kid.  

We stayed for two days before heading back to Colorado.

I dreaded our return because I didn't know how long I would be "stuck" in the Keenesburg house.  We pulled up to the house in the late afternoon.  While the kids burst out of the truck and into the house, I sat in the front seat -not able to put my foot on the sidewalk.  

I wrestled for several moments with pent up emotions until Bill came out and held out his hand.  With a heavy sigh and uncertain heart, I stepped out into the next season of my life.  

A beautiful sunset, on the way to Nebraska,

The last week in Indiana

Sharing the trailer with my husband meant making room on the bed and extra clothes on the floor.  But it also meant sharing the last two months of memories with him.  We swam in the creek several times, roasted marshmallows over the huge bonfire and chased the chickens.  My father hosted a to-do at his house and the whole family came.  It was a wonderful opportunity to say goodbye. 

Having all three of us in the same state is rare, so these moments are precious.

Since the rain had slackened off a bit, my dad decided to burn the huge pile of dead wood he’d collected over the last year. It burned so hot and so high, he wet the leaves and branches around it. 

Papa Scott and Liam

The boys watching Papa keep the fire from burning out of control.

My brother set up an inflatable slide with a pool and a slip-n-slide for all the cousins to play. How wonderful it was to have the whole family together. 

My beautiful sister and I, holding my brother's youngest son, Noah.

Slightly blurry, but me hanging with my bro'!

My lovely step-mom being goofy!

Kara, my gorgeous sister-in-law, with Noah

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Brother-in-laws bonding.

 I'm very close with my family and loved every minute of my time with them.

"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,

   Old Time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today

   Tomorrow will be dying." 

(First Stanza of Robert Herrick's poem, "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time.") 

Chicago

I picked Bill up at the Midway airport in Chicago a few days before we were scheduled to leave. While there, we decided to visit Legoland, IKEA and eat an authentic Chicago pizza. 

 Can I just mention the amount of construction Chicago has? An insane amount.

We loved Legoland, though a tad overpriced for the amusements included...

Downtown Chicago at night

Kids are standing in front of a LEGO replica of downtown Chicago

Indiana Jones is in the background...

Waiting to see a 3-D movie

 Then we experienced an authentic Chicago pizza...which I didn't get a picture of.  We found a local pizzeria that the Legoland staff recommended.  The pizza itself was so big, it barely fit on the table.  Thick and hearty, we agreed that it was some of the best pizza we'd ever tasted. 

!

Bill is glad to be with his family!

After a fun-filled day acquiring my DH and exploring Chicago, we drove back to Indiana in the dark.  Somehow, we got onto the skybridge that overlooks the downtown area and paid through the nose for tolls.  Unbelievable... 

We resolved to check the map and talk with locals next time to avoid the heaviest tolls.

Despite the expensive tolls, we had a great time.  Best of all, DH was with us.  We were a whole family once more!

No Fear

     "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (1 Timothy 1:7)

     So here is our house. Months after we finished the interior and put it up on the market.  Long after we were supposed to be gone.  With no furniture in the house except camp chairs and cots for the kids (we kept our master bedroom furniture).  Trying to be faithful to the Father every step of our journey.

     Purging, packing, and planning --the theme of my life since September 2010, when I felt God prompting me to prepare for moving. 

     While I stayed in Indiana enjoying a respite, my DH stayed here trying to sell the house.  We had plenty of lookers, but no buyers.

     Then Bill flew out to Indiana around the middle of August and we took our time coming back to Colorado.  I dreaded returning.  After all my hard work and effort.  All the hours poured into paring down our furniture, getting rid of everything except the bare necessities.  It all seemed wasted.

      We decided to list the house on the MLS using a flat-fee service, in which a Realtor posts our information for a flat fee.  We could afford $400 out of pocket versus $5000.  Through August, September, and now October, our house has been listed on the MLS.  With only two phone calls.  How depressing.  There were times I wanted to throw in the towel.  Just refill the house with furniture and stick it out.  But every time I went back to God, he made it abundantly clear that Keenesburg wasn't in our future.

     What to do?  Well, since the real estate market is soft and the rental market is strong... we decided to become landlords and rent out the house.  After much prayer and deliberation, I crafted an ad and posted it on craigslist.  Within an hour, I had two phone calls and an email.  Within four days, I had countless phone calls and emails.

     Apparently, this was the right door.  So currently, we are screening potential tenants.  Is it nerve-wracking? Oh, yea.  Am I sure I want to be a landlord?  No.  But do I feel this was the right decision?  Absolutely.

     What did I gain from the trip to Indiana and several "wasted" months of trying to sell the house?

     My husband.

     Being in Colorado by himself made him realize what was most important: his family.  Within a couple weeks of our return, he assumed the finances and started paying the bills; for the first time in our 16 1/2 years of marriage.  He scaled back his outside commitments, re focused his passion and energy toward our financial future and began including the family in all his hobbies.

     As hard as it has been to wait on the Lord and wonder at what was happening, I look back over the summer and realize that God had a plan which didn't include selling the house.  It was a means to his end.  But he has opened the door for us to leave via turning the house into a rental.

     Financially, this makes sense for our family.  We don't lose the money and time we invested and learn a whole lot about being prudent.  As nerve-wracking as looking for the right tenant is, I have absolute peace about God's plan for our future.  No fear.

   Next post:  About our fun journey traveling from Indiana to Colorado!

Papa Scott and the power outage

The kids and I spent a couple days with my dad, Scott Caviness, and his wife, Yvette.  They live in South Bend and have things like books stores and a mall nearby.  As much as I loved being in the rural community, I did miss city amenities.

The day we came to stay at Papa Scott and Mema's house, there was a big storm that knocked the power out for blocks around.  Fortunate for us, the weather was just right.  Unfortunate for us, the pump for their well was electric.

So no water.

Their neighbors, however, had a hot tub full of chlorinated water.  So Dad and I schlepped 5-gallon buckets back and forth until each toilet (3) had a full tank and then some.  Plus, some wash water. We used bottled water for drinking.

His refurbished generator kept the air conditioning going and sometimes the TV (for XBOX games).  But the most entertaining aspect were the two chipmunks that Maizy, their farm kitty, brought in for a present.  Wasn't that nice of her?  She does it so often, they are used to the sound of skittering feet.  Sometimes the chipmunk makes it out alive, but other times it meets a watery grave in the toilet (while trying to escape).

Papa Scott also introduced us to a new math game for our homeschooling ventures: poker.  One rule I made the kids repeat: "Poker is a great way to lose money."  And my dad's rule: "The trick is to always stay in the game."

We won some and we lost some...

Hamburgers at Papa's!

Sassy Kyla doesn't like taking pictures