3rd Anniversary!

Woah, where did three years go? Well maybe not, but it sure feels like the last three years have flown by, yet it doesn't seem like it has only been three years. Makes sense, right?

This was our first "home" together 2010

Levi and I have been together since a good part of our childhood, I remember talking to a certain someone when I was 12 years old. (Yes I will be locking our children in the trailer until they turn 18, heck maybe even 21!) But what is different about these last 3 years is they have had a purpose. Before we said our vows it was just a relationship, something that we could throw down the drain, stomp on it a few times and it would eventually wash away. It was miniscule to the big picture of things that we had going on in that moment. Levi was trying to figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with mine and the big picture all we could see was what our individual future's held. That was until we said our vows. On August 21, 2010 ( It was supposed to be the 22nd representing over 6 years together, but the 22nd was a Sunday, so the 21st had to work) I started the first day of the rest of my life. Well we both did, together. After that day and everyday since then it has been about us, us as a whole, a family that revolves around one another at all times. No more being selfish and thinking of what I want, it's about us together and what is best for our family. We can no longer throw this relationship down the drain if something isn't working, we have to get out the tools and actually fix it. No amount of stomping is going to get this to go away, this is the real deal, we are in it for the long haul!

With that said where are we today? Well, I am no longer providing for our family like I was when we first got married when Levi was still in Line school. I was the one working night shift, picking up other shifts, and trying to work as much as possible to make ends meet. Once Levi finished school he tried to find work. He failed, work is damn hard to find in the Northwest, but he gave it his best shot and went to over 5 interviews hoping to someday get that call. We then lived in our little toy hauler, something like 25 ft with our two dogs, in the yard of the farm house while Levi worked around the farm. I was still a CNA and my hunny was a farmer! Things worked, it wasn't what we envisioned, but it worked. We were happy and content with life with a secret hope that someday Levi would get that job call and our real future could start. After a few months past, the hope of the dream job was slowly diminishing, there wasn't much we could do but just wait and we began asking ourselves if maybe it wasn't for us. Maybe this was the life we were supposed to lead, working on the farm and staying here and raising a family close to friends and family. So that's what we did. We began house shopping and I applied for Midwifery school. Big decisions, but it felt right. And just like that 2 days before we were to sign the papers for our new house Levi got the phone call. And just like that we dropped everything we ever knew and hit the road to this promise of an amazing future, to this job that meant so much to Levi, to a new adventure.

We have been in the Midwest for over 2 years now. I laugh when I say that because it is actually starting to feel like "home." Sure it doesn't have the beautiful mountains we used to go snowmobiling in together, or the Colombia river we spent so many summer's together on the boat, or our friends and family, but Iowa has us now. We are here with our family, and this is our life now. Iowa may not have been our first choice of locations, California was rather high on my list, but truthfully Iowa hasn't been all that bad. We have been forced to rely on one another. Ever gotten in a fight with your significant other and ran to your friend or Mother to cool off some steam? Ya, we don't have that here. We have each other and 400 sq ft. of living space. I tend to get over fights awfully quickly around here :) After all slamming the bedroom door that is 10 ft away from my Husband does not make me feel accomplished, or would running away to the closest gas station clerk who I am sure would just love to know I am fighting with my Husband. So anyways, we get over it. We don't run from problems anymore we work through them. This to me is the biggest and most fortunate part Iowa has been to our marriage. No one is here to help us. We are young, probably still pretty dumb, and we have to do this together!

So now that I have rambled for quite sometime, I will leave saying this. The last 3 years have done nothing but make us grow together as a family. Sue things have changed, a ton, but I can honestly say I love my Husband a lot more than I did three years ago. I am not sure if I just fall in love with him more everyday, or if I actually know how to love him now, either way it is more than it was then!
From small town Washington to big city Iowa, 3 years has been fun. Here's to four and many more to come!

August 21, 2010. We said "I do"

And this is us now. Three years and many memories later!

Introduction and where we are now!

Greetings friends, family, and followers,

Here is my attempt number 3,000 at staring and keeping a blog up to date so we will see how this goes. I always love reading other's blogs, and always have a vision to have my own awesome blog, it just seems so dang hard to keep up, so we will see how this goes.

A little back story on us is we are high school sweet hearts, traveling 1500 miles from home, living in a 39ft fith wheel, raising our family, and traveling through this so called life. My Husband(Levi) and I got married in August 2010(p.s. our anniversary is comeing up) and hit the road shortly after. Our travel's started with two furry kids and took us all over the Midwest while Levi was trying to find work. We traveled to California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico signing the books as we went. When that adventure got us nowhere in the world of work for Levi, we went back home to Washington to work on my family farm in hopes that a job opportunity would pop up sometime. Only a few short months later we found out we were expecting out little Knox! Shortly after this Levi got a phone call on a Thursday explaining that he had a job and he was to be at work on Monday! I tried doing the math, but that was 3 short days to move our whole lives 1500 miles away to somewhere most have never thought to think of... IOWA!

And so here we are somewhere around 2.5 years later with a 20 month old(Knox) and another baby on the way! These last 3 years have been nothing but a crazy adventure. We have physically lived in 4 different states, Iowa, South Dakota, Illinois, and Minnesota. Iowa has been the primary state Levi has worked in the most and I think I have lost track of all of the different towns we have stayed in, but we have finally began to call it home! We have met some awesome people on our travels and seen some amazing country.

Currently we are in Altoona, IA where we just got the trailer set up yesterday hoping to be here throughout the winter. This is only one of very few RV parks in Iowa that are open year round so we are really hoping to be able to stay here through the winter in hopes that Levi doesn't get a job move. After all we never really know what tomorrow holds!

Levi is currently a 5th step apprentice meaning he has only 2 more steps to go before he becomes a Journeyman Lineman. Yay! At this point we aren't sure how much longer this may take, it all depends how fast he is able to get all of his hot time (working with powerlines energized, yes kind of a scary thought) but we are shooting for another year or two. After he Journey's out our future is up in the air. We may stay in or around Iowa for a while as there is a ton of work here, or we may start tramping around visiting California, Oregon, maybe back home to Washington, or even to Hawaii for a few years. The future is totally up in the air and we will worry about that when it get's here. For now we go where we are sent and where the work is at that moment.

As far as the rest of life goes living in a trailer with a 20 month old is quite interesting. We spend a lot of time outside talking and meeting with neighbors and exploring what we can around the various of places we stay. Knox is quite the social butterfly so I can always count on him meeting someone new each day. I have yet to come to terms how it will be with 2 little's under two in a 5th wheel(in the middle of winter) but hopefully that transition will be easy when it gets here.

A little about myself would be that I was once a CNA (certified nursing assistant) with aspirations to become a CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife) who became a stay at home Mom when we hit the road. At this point I am focused on raising and growing our family while we travel. But someday I will hit the books again and get my Midwife degree that I have always dreamt of getting. I enjoy my hobby photography on the side, and often get my sewing machine out to keep busy when boredom hits. Who am I kidding though, between raising kids, cooking, cleaning, and maintaining a household free time is seldom spoken of :)

I am sure my little's nap is going to end shortly so that is all for now. I hope you enjoy our travels as I update with our gypsy life and completely random thoughts as we go through each day. Good bye for now!

This is what my Husband does! Climbing poles for a living :)  

Here is our new spot for our 5th wheel. Never a picture in Iowa without a corn field in the background!

Here is our current set up. Yes, we call it home!

Our family who will soon add another to the picture.

Knox at 16 months

 

Thanks for reading and I will be back with more shortly :)