Honey, I'm hooommmeee!!!

Ok, so here's a twist for you.  This isn't Mellie, it's the other half.  I have no idea if that's what we're called, but it definitely isn't the better half.  So I'll just introduce myself...hi, I'm Trent, the guy with the best souvenirs on the planet.  Some bring back T-shirts, some bring back shells from the beach.  Newp, I brought back an RV.  It didn't fit in my luggage so I had to drive it.  Which, in retrospect, is a good thing since the airlines routinely lose my bags anyway.  I can't imagine having to explain to my wife that U.S. Air lost the RV...it should be shipped here by next Thursday...ya, that'd go over well.

At any rate, I drove our new vehicle back the 1200 miles from Houston to our lovely abode...without a stitch of RV driving experience.  Aren't you glad you didn't see me on the road?  Maybe you did, as maybe you're the guy that was hiding in my blind spot when I tried to make a lane change, and I almost ran you off the road.  Oops, sorry, if that's the case.  Now I know why I always hear my dad (the truck driver) complain about small cars playing hind-and-seek in his blind spot.  (No cars were clobbered in driving the RV home, if you're curious).

You may be wondering why we have this new RV.  If that's the case, I'll tell you.  If it's not the case, I'll tell you anyway.  The wife and I have been mulling over the thought of selling the house and traveling in an RV across the country, following my jobs.  I travel pretty much everywhere, and Mellie could just hop into the RV and go with me where ever my jobs take me.  Pack the dogs, pack a lunch, and hit the road.  I was a good plan, until the house tax value came back.  Poof, plan go buh bye.

That's ok though, because near the beginning of the RV planning, a God-thought popped into my head about an RV outreach/ministry.  It involves traveling to where ever my jobs are and bringing God's love to God's people in whatever way we can.  Cooking food and passing it out for free, helping out at soup kitchens, clothes/food drives for shelters and orphanages, helping out at natural disaster sites.  Whatever opportunities God gives us is what we can do.  We don't need to live on the road full time to be able to help when ever the opportunity arises.  All we have to do is be willing to do it.

There's a bit more to the plan than what I've described above, but that's the start of it.  Where it leads us only God knows, but I for one am up for the adventure.  Besides, if we travel a lot, maybe one day I'll finally figure out what that little red switch on the driver's side door actually does...

Not on the road yet

When we first started thinking about and praying about buying an RV, I started poring over full timer RV blogs. Many of them raised questions we hadn't considered, some gave us a moment's pause, but a general consensus on ALL the blogs was to live the RV lifestyle you must, must, must be flexible. Your time must be flexible, your attitude, your storage needs, your plans...all must be flexible. Well anyone that knows me can probably imagine the laugh out loud that I did when I read that! I.despise.loathe.detest.limbo. After putting up with Uncle Sam's jello plans for almost two decades, I can say without a doubt that while I've become good at being flexible, I do still despise the need to be flexible.

So our first flexibility moment has already happened. The guy Trent bought the RV from had to go out of town for business so my darling husband is sitting on his hands in a hotel room until tomorrow night when said dude man returns home, and has a chance to empty the coach. The man obviously had no idea it would sell as quickly as it did, because it's still jammed pack full of their stuff. Trent did have to make a trip to Wal-Mart tonight (which seems to be a friend to most RV'rs) to get some RV grade toilet paper, a pillow and sheets (I told him to get cheap, generic ones because I've seen his decorating 'style' and we can get real matching stuff later!). These are all things one doesn't need when traveling by plane, and since we didn't have any idea if we'd actually be able to buy this thing, that was his mode of transportation this week.

Wow, rambly way of saying....I'm okay with flexible. I wish there were a way for me to be there with him so we could make the drive home together, but that wasn't possible. So I am anxiously awaiting his return, and will be praying that all goes well for him. I also made sure he had the numbers for the RV clubs for discounted gas, campgrounds, emergency service, and everything else I can think of! I've also been scrambling around here trying to work out the new budget with a new mortgage and all that goes with it. We had planned to sell the house and just live in the RV, but with a tax assessment that came in much lower than expected that won't be possible for a while, so this old girl is gonna have to be creative!

Just look at that counter space is what Trent says. I'm excited that it has a convection microwave!

 Sofa folds out into a queen air mattress bed. The dinette does that typical RV thing and folds down into a full size bed, so yes, we can have folks along, but still I'd have to like you A LOT.

Select number queen bed for our room, YAY! and there is a carpeted ledge where we'll put the doggy beds, but if this week is any indication, those two are going to cozy themselves right up under my knees - bed hogs!

Man, oh man, am I looking forward to this!

And I haven't even gone into the reasons for WHY we're doing this. That requires an entry all its own, so I'll be back!

Could it be? Could it be??

It's been a horrific week for my allergies. I took Trent to the airport Sunday morning, and before I could get home, I had sneezed my way through a stack of napkins that I keep in the car. I slept through most of Sunday, only stirring from the couch when Linus told me he had to go out to potty or barked that JoJo has once again gone potty somewhere in the house. Monday, I took the day off as the allergies were still trying to kill me, being smart enough to set my alarm for hourly walks with the dogs. Only one accident from JoJo the patience testing dog. I was feeling right proud of him, so I guess it really is the little things.

Trent has been working in Texas this week. I honestly don't know the name of the town. It's the same place that he's had so many problems with for the past few weeks, and all I can remember is that it's an ExxonMobile job. I do know it's about two hours away from Katy, Texas, which is another small town I'm told, but that tidbit sticks out for me because it's where he went yesterday to look at a used RV.

Check it out here....  2010 Canyon Star. It's a different model than what we've been looking at, no garage, no room for a washer/dryer, but it has the cargo capacity that he needs for his work tools so no need for the garage right now. And the price is right, well right for us, so that we don't have to sell the house to pay for the moving house! So we secured the loan through USAA, Trent is calling to set up insurance with one of the many quotes he's gotten recently, and if all goes well with the loan, the payoff of the guy's loan, and whatever else needs to happen, he'll start driving it home tomorrow.

So we're almost new proud owners of our first motor home!

Settling in, mostly

JoJo has now been with us for 24 hours. I think we're ALL wide eyed, looking at each other, wondering what in the world we just got ourselves into! He wouldn't leave the front door for the first three hours, hoping his foster mom would come back any minute to rescue him.

So Trent sat right there with him until he was ready to venture round the house. Linus was awfully curious, and couldn't understand why that dog wasn't excited to be here, and why he didn't want to play!

Once he figured out that no one was coming to save him, he did what he seems to do best...pooped on the carpet. I'm seriously considering putting him in a diaper because I'm beyond tired of his messes. Although I'm entirely thankful that Trent is in town because as soon as I start gagging from the smell, he (grudgingly) cleans up the mess. That dog might want to learn how to do that stuff outside if he plans to hang here for too long.

They did get kinda close, but never close enough to touch (and in hindsight, that was such a peaceful time).

Last night it was entirely too cute if you ask me when they both wanted to be close to Trent....

And then this morning.....oh, they woke up and start fighting like brothers. Joy. They fought over food, attention, toys, a piece of pine straw, whatever. They play fought when they weren't really fighting. the only difference being that Linus wasn't howling in pain because JoJo wouldn't let go of his long ears. It was right exhausting today. Enough so that we've made an appointment for a doggy behavioral expert to come in and help us. She'll be here next Tuesday if we live that long. Wish us luck!

Doggy news

Linus, our My adorable spoiled pup is about to become a brother. That dog of mine is some kind of high maintenance thang, and he sure does wear me out most days. We adopted him from a place that rescued him from a puppy mill. He was seriously scared of EVERYTHING when I first met him. Here we are six months later, and he's finally stopped barking at his shadow. Oh the progress. If he weren't so dagum cute, I'd be tempted to leave him in the front yard when he goes to eating my mulch which ends up being a trip to the vet because the mulch is bigger than he is!

Yeah, I love him. So much so in fact that we are adopting another little guy just so he has someone to keep him company. I sure hope they don't decide to have a mulch eating party, because my benevolence only goes so far. The lady from the shelter brought JoJo over yesterday so she could see how the two get along, and Linus quick like let JoJo know who's house it is, and that his gracious heart is the only reason he was invited in. JoJo promptly pooped on Linus' favorite spot, and they became fast friends. Oh, for the love of mice and children, what am I getting myself into? It's not like Trent is here doing the week, so it's me against the doggy population. Sure hope this was a good idea, and really I hope JoJo takes to Trent, so I don't have two mopley dogs following me around all the time. 

Meet JoJo, who's first point of business is to head to the groomers...

Trent went and picked out his leash and collar today - skulls and bones...really?!

A step toward RV Central

Okay, okay, it's been a while, don't nag. So much has happened, but I'll just tell you where we are now and where we're heading soonish. We ended up in small-town USA after Trent retired from the Navy, and here we are three years later, and is anyone surprised that we are itching to move again!? Guess that comes from never being too stationary while he was playing reindeer games for Uncle Sam. Soooo, he has a really great job with Siemens - loves it, loves traveling to different places, working on (yeah, I get a glazed over expression when he starts talking about what he actually does). So we've decided that we're going to sell the house, buy an RV and travel where ever it is that he needs to go for a job. He's been coast to coast and everywhere in between since taking this position. And my job hasn't changed, I still work from the spare bedroom in my pjs, so it won't be that difficult to take it on the road.

Today we sold his truck because we won't be able to tow it behind the RV. That money pays off the credit card and one of my student loans, and puts some in savings for last minute repairs/maintenance on the house before putting it on the market. I have to tell you that selling the truck was All God. We prayed about selling it for a few weeks. Finally settled on doing it. The man took it in for a good washing and detailing yesterday and brought it home quick like so we could take pictures of it before the torrential rains started (ain't that the way it always goes when you take the car to the car wash?!). I posted it on FB hoping to get some local bites, and then for giggles, we decided to put it on Craigslist, and I did notice that it was pretty high priced compared to some of the other vehicles being posted, but hey, it's free to post. Off to bed we went, only to wake up this morning to ten emails of people begging to take the truck off our hands. We had to figure out right quick how to accept cashier's check or whatever, how to transfer the paperwork, and Oh yeah, where did we put the title again?! So the morning was spent responding to folks, setting up appointments, talking to the notary, and prayer asking God to show us the right person. The first guy that wanted to see it came, drove it, crawled under it, in it, all around it, and offered us a price that was $200 less than what we posted it for, which was actually $200 more than what we expected to sell it for. So I throw up a silent prayer and asked God if this was the man we were supposed to sell it. The man says I have cash. Well yes Lord, I think you're right, this is the man!!

So today we are one step closer to getting the RV, pretty exciting stuff if you ask me!