My Goal –

Found this good one while scrolling Facebook…
I have to share it.

It’s just… Perfectly stated.

Ready. Set. Go.

Step 7 — Packed with solar christmas lights and all

We have just about everything packed…. kids are comfortable with the set up… they know what to touch.. what not to touch.. we’ve talked about emergency exits…

The kids even helped me cook on the mini grill.. just for fun… 😀  And per usual… they had to share strawberries too 🙂

Moved sleeping bags 15 times before deciding on a final location…   So funny…..

I’m almost ready to say.. we’re 95% packed
We are… dare I say… we are almost ready…..

🙂

Leaving. Emotions. Whoa.

People keep asking me “Are you excited about your trip?” —

How can I answer that question….. My emotions are going haywire and have been for weeks… months… 🙂

I feel excited and thrilled.
I feel nervous and uncertain.
I feel scared and anxious.
I feel joy and gratitude.
I feel hesitant and cautious.
I feel content and blessed.
I feel timid and aware.
I feel hopeful and ready.

 

Nothing is better than seeing new things and having experiences though in my mind…. so the only way this whole trip could be categorized in a higher level…. is if I had a NEWER motor home that ran off earth friendly fuel/solar power and somehow had unlimited funds to do this sort of “fun” figuring it out as we go forever….

Cheers ~

Memoir – What Happens When You Get Rid of All Your Stuff (Article)

I have always felt this urge to get rid of “STUFF” and to have LESS of “stuff” around me.

I am OK with only a few things….

I like to have the basic needs met but everything else is just filling up space around me and usually overwhelms me and I want it gone, want it out of my sight so I do not have to worry about rearranging it or cleaning it….

Moving a family of 4 into a 28 foot MH is a feat to accomplish.

I minimalized everything. Bathroom stuff all in one tiny tote. Emergency kit full of band aids and medicines readily available….. Kitchen stuff GONE…. Hand held can opener, no toaster, one big pot, one frying pan, a couple spices to season with, mini bags of flour/salt/sugar, paper plates and lightweight easy fix meals…

I couldn’t give up the coffee pot or the French press…. THAT is something that adds ‘value’ to my life… DAILY.

This article was TOO GOOD not to share….

(sometimes I fall upon one and share it here… THIS is one of those times).

When deciding what to “keep” and what to “give away” I had to look at each item and decide if it was truly worth adding it as weight to our motor home…..

Most of my keepsakes are pictures. Printed pictures. Of memories.
Other must haves – Art and Educational things for the kids (books, papers, paints, workbooks, flashcards, etc)
The kids all have enough outfits to last us a few weeks without getting to a washing machine and honestly I think even THAT is too many outfits…. (I might just toss outfits as they get dirty along the way and let them dress in their “play” clothes for the first part of the trip)..

Towels….. Microfiber super soakers do a WORLD of wonderful things…. They’re small and work miracles… so YESSSSSSS… No space hogging towels lingering around.
I kept 2 glass/ceramic dishes that were my mothers…. They came all the way here from New York with me and They will make the journey back…. But if you’ve ever cooked in a real glass dish VERSUS a cheap metal pan… *sigh* you know the difference…. 🙂

I narrowed down their toys so easily that I amazed myself. BOOKS took precedence over toys.
AND they have their hand held video games to keep them company too….
I kept a couple hoodies, a few pairs of pants, and one winter coat for them all….
Everything else went on it’s merry way out the door to be donated to someone else who doesn’t have ENOUGH STUFF yet.

I would much rather have empty cabinets than look in my motor home and try to “figure out” where I’m going to put something…..

Crazy that we’re doing this again.

Hope for a safe trip. Hope for no break downs. Hope for no mega issues.

STEP 4 — Playing….. Rearranging… Still Packing….

When the kids go INSIDE the RV.. they want to PLAY… while I am trying to clean, plan, rearrange, and figure out where we’re putting things, how I’m organizing the cabinets… etc… they want to just go play up on my bed (above the cab) and check out their beds….
I love it.
They love it.
It’s happening and I am blessed.
Wishing for good things and a happy safe summer….
🙂

Last year when we made this trip (opposite direction, different route) —- I learned SO QUICKLY what I wished I had… and what I wished I hadn’t brought…..

This year I assume I will again learn beyond my own understanding (during and after the trip)

But basically I didn’t have enough FLASHLIGHTS — 3 kids — in an RV — I need MEGA amounts of cheap flashlights for them to “play” with and have to help them feel comfortable….

And second… I need to get myself a good LANTERN…. Something that SITS on the table while I do the Mom duties (whatever they may be at the time)…. and gives off enough light to make the kids not be scared outside at night…

The little push lights are a given too.. I had those before.. and they were worth every penny… They were super cheap (80 cents a piece) so I got myself about 10 of them to place all over the RV…

Selling or Giving Away EVERYTHING Again

We did this last year when we were leaving New York….

I had a yard sale. and another yard sale. And then got to the point where I wanted STUFF gone.

 

So GONE it went.

 

 

This year it is very different.  I did not actually buy most of the things around us….  I had so many things donated that I have tried to donate things back out and really am not asking for much when it comes to selling things….  Every single dollar counts but I don’t want to “make something” from nothing.   I appreciate all the generosity from this city…. the people here really helped us with the transition into the city.   I have one of the best landlords I have ever met and couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to surround myself with in the past 11 months…..    I am truly sad and have cried my fair share of tears about leaving a place where we can live in peace, feel safe, and comfortable.   Without a select few helping hands to reach out and say “What can I do to help?” — this year would have been VERY difficult.   The stress of trying to “make it” and be able to just get by would have overwhelmed me…..  But it didn’t…… The people in this city are willing to help when they see someone who needs a little lift up.   They have services here for families in need.  We fell into that category but I made too much money to qualify for any ‘assistance’.   We were blessed with help in more ways than I can count and no amount of THANK YOU will cover my gratitude.

The commute every single day was exhausting and I’m mostly GLAD that it is over….     WHO would have thought?!!!??  A school district without a school bus system….. (It wasn’t on my list of questions to ask when I started researching the area/schools).  I learned.  Oh, how I learned.  AND — I love learning… so all is well.

I look around our house right now and sigh a bit of relief.   More than half of our “STUFF” is gone….   I have packed up some brand new clothes (donated to us) and am sending them to New York so they’re there for us when we arrive……   I have packed up the motor home….  decorated it slightly with some dollar store stickers and homemade curtains from my Nana who wished me well on my way 11 months ago. She helped me ‘decorate’ the travel trailer that we drove all the way here… and put her heart and soul into the curtains we now have….. (I’m a “THROW IT TOGETHER AND JUST PUT IT UP” kind of person and she’s the “Let me measure this 10 times, cut it once, sew it… ooops the stitch is crooked… take stitch out… re-sew it…. and it’s PERFECTLY MADE” kind of person)

I look around and we no longer have chairs to sit at to eat dinner… (we’ve been having “picnics” on a blanket in the living room — or just going outside to eat — or going in the camper to giggle at our upcoming adventure)

I look around the bedrooms and only my bed is left (I have someone coming to take it the day we leave) — My kids have had BRAND NEW BEDS the entire time we were here… and it was WONDERFUL… but they usually didn’t sleep in their beds anyway… I’d put them to sleep in the beds but they’d end up on the floor in front of the fan or in the hallway or in the bathtub or in the closet or at the foot of my bed or in bed with me… etc….. I would find them all over in different places… OTHER THAN in their nice new beds. 🙂

I look around and see only a few toys lingering around. I see only a couple outfits. I no longer see decorations on the walls. I no longer see papers of artwork all over the place. I miss my pictures (obsessed with pictures only SLIGHTLY)……. I have to go out to the motor home to get my ‘picture fix’.

The garage is empty…. The back yard is empty….
The bathrooms are pretty much empty….. The cupboards are almost empty….

Living “Less Is More” — is my favorite way to live.

Cheers ~

What “GROUP” do we fit in?

We are not FULL TIMING around America for an indefinite time….
We are not JUST CAMPING for a short time with plans to return “home”….

We are actually…. Selling EVERYTHING (GIVING IT AWAY) —- Breaking our lease at our current resindence…. Stopping the electric, the internet, and re-routing our mail to a relatives dwelling….

We are relocating to another part of the country and we do anticipate it taking a few weeks (if not more) to get there… We are planning on doing some “schooling” while on the road — but are we technically ROAD SCHOOLERS? Are we road schooling at ages 6,5, and 3? Road schooling because the adventures are in themselves school lessons? Can they take it all in and grasp what’s in front of them? Hopefully they remember it all with the insane amount of picture taking I will do….

But basically…..

We will not have a house to move back into when we reach our destination.

SO — our HOME for an undecided amount of time — will be this Happy Home On Wheels 😀

Some (MOST) think that this is completely nuts and don’t understand WHY anyone would WANT TO live in a tiny house much less think that it is GOING TO BE FUN….

My reply — Less is More. We do so much better when we own less STUFF. We tend to fill our space with STUFF so if there is less space… there will inevitably be less stuff. I also think this is temporary and there’s an end in sight (even though I have no clue what’s in store for us)….. (I stay hopeful for all good things)

But back to my original thought …..

What group are we in? Are we “Full Timers, a Family on the Road”??? What exactly makes one a ‘full timer’ -vs- not a ‘full timer’

Why We Do Hugs. A LOT.

My children are growing up at warp speeds.

 

Their little chubby baby toes on chucky legs under a baby blanket are now morphed into a pair of young child’s running, climbing, kicking, twirling and dirty/happy feet.

 

Time is fleeting.  Anyone who has children will tell you.   “They grow up so fast, so enjoy this while you can”.  so oh my… we do.   We do. We DO.

We do HUGS.  And I mean a lot.  We do hugs when they’re upset, we do SCOOP UP and coddle while twirling away the tears from  a minor boo-boo.  We do hugs in the store when it’s too crowded.  We do hugs before school.  We do hugs as soon as we see each other after school.  We do hugs while playing outside. We do hugs when they’re in trouble. We do hugs before bed time.  We do hugs during family movie night.    We do hugs while cooking, while cleaning, while packing, while attempting homework.   We do hugs at the dinner table… multiple times during a meal.  We do hugs while we dance. We do hugs while we brush our teeth.  We do hugs while laying sprawled out on the floor building massive towers out of Legos.

My most favorite HUG of the day though has to be the FIRST one of the day.   When their little sleepy eyes come walking out wrapped up in their favorite fuzzy blanket…. Their eyes are searching for me.  When they find me, they smile a little hidden smile and some days rush over while others they meander on up onto my lap.    They KNOW that EVERY SINGLE MORNING they will be getting a “good morning hug” from me.  They know if they try to skip out on this particular hug that I will hunt them down and GET that HUG out of them one way or another (my oldest sometimes plays this game when he wakes up and isn’t too groggy still because he actually enjoys the chase/play part of this all).  I honestly LIVE for this hug.   The hug that I feel like I NEED in order to get myself through the day.  The hug to start all other hugs in motion.  The hug that says we are beginning a new day and I want to start fresh (just in case yesterday was a rough day).   This is by far my favorite hug of the day because it marks the start of the day.  I awake before the children (ALMOST) always……   I am usually awake before the sun comes up and happily downing my first cup of morning coffee.    I wait and preoccupy myself with reading a book (How many people ACTUALLY read REAL PAPER BOOKS anymore!?!!??) — Or checking emails, FB, Blogs, News, Research, or just lay and breathe and take in all the quiet (the “calm before the storm” I call it).  Either way… that’s my ‘down’ time and ‘me’ time.   And I welcome the “start” of the day with those precious faces every single morning.

I spent 2 mornings away from the 3 Happy Hooligans when I had offered to volunteer on an Island off the coast of Maine in 2013…..   I truly missed those morning HUGS more than words can ever describe.

Being a mother has changed me in ways that I never deemed possible and I enjoy every single challenging and exhausting moment of it.   You know what makes it all worth it in the end?

Those hugs.

 

 

Who is the last person you HUGGED ???   Go Hug Someone Today.  (Not a stranger on the street though please… I mean someone you know who you haven’t hugged in far too long)…..

****Have you ever seen this guy? Or someone who copied his idea? He held a sign up that said “FREE HUGS” and gave away hugs…. HOW MANY OF US would feel truly blessed with a free hug today?? ****

Go Hug someone today… Someone who needs it… Someone who thinks they don’t need it.. but hug them anyway.

 
Happy Day —-

Cheers ~

 

 

Simplicity. Less is More.

I want simple.
I want less STUFF.
I want more TIME.

I want to unschool.
I want to homeschool.
I want my children to mostly if not entirely self direct their own learning by the time they’re 16.

I want a small house. (in the country)
I want said small house to have solar, wind, and water power.
I want a garden. (not just a garden but a greenhouse to sustain our family)
I want produce that does not have the MONSANTO genetics seeds. I want produce with REAL nutrients.
I want to spend nights outside looking at the stars, having camp fires, and learning/teaching constellations.
I want free range chickens again. (with an ‘easily moveable’ coop to reposition their bedtime place every week or so)

I want more books..
I want less mindless TV (I love TV but only if it’s teaching something)
I want more legos for my oldest boy, dress up and music for my girlie girl, and cuddle time for my ‘baby’ who is almost 3.

I want more sleep.
I want more hugs.
I want a grocery store that does not have an entire isle devoted to cereal choices…….

OK …. I could make an “I want….” list that goes on and on and on and … ON…… forever.

so —-

I just want today. To be perfect. TODAY. To be healthy. To be safe. To be content….

And it is —– As long as my 3 Happy Hooligans are with me… and we’re playing/laughing/learning/growing.

Appreciating the moment. Even the stressful (loud, headache causing) moments.

That’s all I want. It’s honestly all I need. Simplicity.