Carpet out, Hardwood in!

Replacing the carpet in our 5th wheel.


Kids, pets, work boots, mud, dust, and more kids. Our carpet which I am sure had to be the cheapest carpet known to mankind, had taken quite a bit of abuse in 2 years. It was tramped down, dirty, and if I am going to be honest, it stunk!

So we got a wild hair and instead of me continuing to shampoo it every week (which I highly recommend against doing) we pulled it out! it was fairly easy pulling the carpet out. It had a thin pad underneath of it, and was only really attached around the edges. Once the carpet was out we placed a thin barrier and started laying snap in laminate.


Progress

We ended up choosing a laminate that came in 3 different sizes, that way we could try to eliminate cutting as much as possible with all of the funky angels we had to deal with. After about 4 hours we had it all in and all of the dust vacuumed up. We love how it turned out! We even tried moving the slides in right after wards to make sure we didn't have any issues, and all was fine!



Final transformation

 After looking at the photo you might notice we also tore out the bar. When we first got our trailer, we though the bar was a great little extra seating/storage area. And it was in the beginning, but now that we had two kids it just became in the way. The kids always had to run around it, and taking it out helped create an open floor space again. It was attached pretty dang well, but after a little pulling and hammering Hubby got it to come loose!

Well, that's our carpet to laminate floor transformation. If you are thinking about redoing your floors in your trailer of 5th wheel and have any questions leave a comment and I will help with what I can! Thank for reading :) 

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'

We made it!!
Midwest to the west coast --3 days and 1700 miles.

The road trip went pretty smoothly. Friday the 13th, we took off and drove to stay the first night in Laramie, Wy. Grabbed a hotel and got back on the road early morning. The second day we landed a little outside of Vegas, with no hotel rooms, or any campgrounds in sight we parked for the night near a casino. It was a bit adventurous you could say. We all piled on sweats in case it got to cold and hit the sack. It ended up working out perfectly and again we got up bright and early to hit the road again. We puled into Long Beach early after noon and our destination was made... for the mean time!

Once we got settled into a very small park (outside of Compton haha) we decided to do a bit of exploring. We decided it was impossible to get anywhere without a little guidance from some friends that are staying there. Certain stores and areas to avoid, ect. We landed at Seal beach for a little beach time. The kiddos had a blast and despite a little storm blowing in, they had a great first beach trip!

Seal Beach Day 1

Levi ended up signing the books early Monday morning. We ran a few errands and then ended back at the beach for day 2! We spent a little more time there that day. The kids splashed in the waves, chased seagulls, and slid down a big sand bank.


Seal Beach Day 2



Tuesday, Levi ended up getting a call for a job in Lancaster, CA. So we packed back up the 5ver, slid in and hit the road. Once we navigated through lunch hour traffic, we made our way north through some California mountains and ended up in Acton, CA. They had a few different parks to choose from. Once park was very big with big spots and lots of room for the kids to run, but we had zero cell service there. So we headed into town to the Californian Rv. Its a small park, small spots, and everything is on a big hill. But it is nice, and has a pool, so this is where we ended up!

Pool/Hot tub Acton, CA

Wednesday morning was the first day for Levi on the job. He showed up and realized that the job call was working on huge transmission towers bigger than he has ever dreamt of working on. Its not the type of work he came here to do, so he ended up turning down the call.
So... Wed evening, Levi and his buddy started the drive to local 1245 which is in Riverside, CA to sign the books there. They are hoping to get another call out in a couple of days to work out of the northern CA hall.

The kiddos and I have enjoyed a down day today, getting the trailer all clean and caught up on laundry. The last few days have flown by, and I am sure the next couple that follow will too.
We will be hanging out here in Acton until Levi gets another call out. It could be a few days, or even weeks. But for now we are enjoying the time and soaking up the Cali sun, even if it is cold here up in the mountains :)

New Chapter- JOURNEYMAN LINEMAN

LEVI IS A JOURNEYMAN!!!!

What a whirlwind these last few years have been. It has been 4 years and 6 months since we picked up our lives in Washington and hit the road for a better opportunity. We have experienced so much in these last 4 years that I don't even think I could summarize half of it in a blog post. There has been so much we have experienced, so much we have sacrificed, and so much time we have lived a different lifestyle than most.. So many memories! 

This first long journey of many has ended with a Journeyman Lineman ticket in his hand!

 

 

He has worked so incredibly hard for this day, and it is finally here! Despite all of the nerves he had, he did outstanding on his test scoring a 92. I am so PROUD of him. Never giving up on a dream no matter how far it seemed sometimes or how hard it go. HE DID IT!

 



This is the moment we have waited for and looked forward to for so many years. The little ticket in his hands is the proof of hard work, dedication, and now freedom! This opens so many opportunities for us and we cannot wait to see where the road takes us.

First things first, Levi will be headed to work tomorrow for his first day as a Journeyman and his last day working in Iowa! He gets to grab his bag of tools and DRAG!

We will spend the rest of the day on Thursday packing up the trailer and tying up all loose ends here and then hit the road early Friday morning headed for sunshine! We plan to roll into California on Sunday and signing the working books in local 47 in southern California on Monday. The next few weeks will be full of new, crazy, and a whole lot of memories.

To end the day today had a great farewell with a line of storms that rolled through here today. It was a perfect farewell storm for Iowa. We have so many memories here, and have really had a great time here, but we are so ready to be saying goodbye to one chapter and hello to our next! 

Where we are, and what the next few weeks will bring....

Iowa Summer

Hello to my blog that I awfully neglect. I am hoping that in the next few weeks I will start writing a lot more here, as I hope to have a lot more things to update on instead of just the same ol "stuck in the Midwest" posts.



So where are we now... We are twirling our thumbs and waiting on the next few weeks to pass. Or more currently windows open, kids playing outside, bidding farewell to our last days in Iowa.
 Our time in the Midwest is diminishing right in front of our eyes. We have officially been in the Midwest (Iowa mostly, South Dakoda, Minnesota, and Illinois) for the last 4 years and 4 months. Levi has obviously spent 99.5% of that time working, and not just working, but working his butt off to get us to this very point in our lives. He has put in 9,500 total hours and counting since becoming an apprentice for Missouri Valley. Those hours are what he has worked his tail off, and have all been put towards learning the trade and becoming the best Jouneyman Lineman that he can. He has worked for many different contractors and dozens of different crews all helping and grooming him into the Lineman he has become! To say I am proud would be an understatement, he deserves the next few weeks to go smoothly, he really has earned it.

So in the next few weeks, Levi will have completed all of his hot time needed to take the Jouneyman Lineman test. That is 800 hours of working with "hot" or live wires. The Journeyman's test is his last step before he receives his Journeyman Lineman card. The card that holds all merit for his future. It's a huge test for him, and I know he is already sweating bullets, so keep him in your thoughts these next few weeks!

Once Levi passes his test (yes babe we all have faith :) the rest of the journey will be up in the air. We have a calling to head back West especially with the brutality of winter quickly approaching. I think I can speak for both of us when I say we have no intentions on ever spending another -20 degrees winter in a camper. It is just not a whole lot of fun for anyone!

Where we end up, we honestly have no idea. That will be all of the fun that this adventure takes us on. With Levi becoming a Jouneyman it allows us the freedom for us to go anywhere in the 50 states to work at anytime. All he does is "drag up" pack his tools and pull in the slides and we will be on our way to someplace new. The union works by allowing employers or contractors to call for Lineman off of books from Local Union halls. Once Levi signs his name on the books, he just waits for a call from a new employer and then he heads for the first day on a new job. No contracts, no formality of employers, and no need to stay someplace we don't enjoy. That is the beauty of it all.

The future really is up in the air, and we have no idea where we will be or what it holds, all I do know is that these last 4 years have truly been unforgettable, allowing us an adventure we could have never imagined, meeting many friends, and making many unforgettable memories along the way. It will be bittersweet saying good-bye to this place, but as all goodbyes go, the hello to somewhere new will be even sweeter :)

I'll be back in a couple of weeks with a bit more of an update on where we are headed! Knox keeps on telling us we are headed to the beach with his trucks, I can only hope to make that little dream a reality in the short future :)

It comes in 3's!

It's been a while, and I will have a big update soon, but for now.... The good ol 3's!

The kiddos are both sick. We took a visit to OK last weekend and ended up catching some crud (which happens anytime we go anywhere!) As soon as I think they are getting a little better it seems to get worse. I'm hoping the remainder will be short lived, and everyone will be healthy by this weekend when we have wonderful weather coming our way! 50's and 60's in the forecast!! We haven't seen those numbers for a few very long cold months!
So that was #1.. sick kiddos!

#2, we arrived home with a frozen black tank. Not a huge problem, except when you still need to use the black tank and it is now full.... big problem! Levi had a rain day this morning and spent the entire evening trying to get it to empty without any luck. Hopefully we will get in thawed out soon before we have any other problems, but still frusterating when you have to use the toilet sparingly, escpally with a toddler and my bladder who seems to have never recovered after Zoeys pregnancy!

#3- Levi ran to get a heater to help thaw the pipes, while leaving he got rearended in the car :P I had to load one sleepy kiddo up and another who refused to move quickly and put shoes on to run and give him the updated insurance card since the one he had expired the end of Janaury. Side note: woops! Make sure current insurance cards are located IN the vehicle.. that would help in times like this ;) So now we get to deal with car repairs, or I do, since it is impossible for Levi to get any of that accomplished with work.

It's 2015!

It's a new year!

The days are long and the years are short.... Seems to be very fitting!

We are back in Altoona for now. We had a few months last year when we were traveling around, staying at a couple different campgrounds around Iowa, but eventually ended up back in Altoona where we have spent the winter. It's been a fairly rough winter, I can't say it has been the worst once since we have been in Iowa, but its definitely not been the best! It's been cold, and we have all been stuck inside for most of the time, but I think we are all surviving! I say this after we have ran out of propane in the middle of the night woken up to a 40 degree trailer, had our hose and water pipes freeze up multiple times in December, and currently are dealing with a frozen black tank, which I hope thaws soon, very soon.... it's very full! Winters are so rough in 5th wheels. We have ironed out most of our kinks from the last couple of years, but it never matters how prepared we are something will always go wrong.

The kiddos celebrated their birthday's in January. Knox is 3, and Zoey turned One! We had a great little birthday party with friends(yay we made friends) and grandma Wendy was here to visit.
Grandma's visit was short, but full of fun for the kids. It was somewhere around -20 out during her whole visit so being stuck inside was what we did. She read at least 5,000 books to the kids and I got to enjoy making dinner without one at my feet and another needing something ever few seconds. It was a great little visit.


Levi is currently a 7th step apprentice, the final step of the apprenticeship, and waiting on about 400 more hot hours (hours incurred while working on live wires) to go until he has completed the apprenticeship and can take the Journeyman's test. We are at a safe place right now, just patiently waiting on the hours to come in. If things stay steady it is looking like late summer- early winter time frame for him to be done with his hours. As far as what's in store then, we are not really sure. Once he gets his Jorneymans ticket we are free to roam wherever our little gypsy hearts want to go. So many options, and as much as we can talk and plan for it, we wont know what happens until it gets here!
So for now we are working on contentment. Being content with where we are in life, with our home, and our little wonderful life we have. I cannot wait for the new adventures that await us, but for now we will continue to enjoy Iowa and this chapter of the book :)