Life never quite goes how we plan...

Well hello there,

Lets start from the beginning of the last 12 months...

2016 was quite a year for us. We started the year in California. Malibu, Santa Monica, and then north to Northridge, CA. The months flew by and before we knew it we were planning a trip back "home" for the summer. Our hopes were that Levi could get work close to home in Washington while we waited for the arrival of our lovely new Mr.H. That didn't quite go as planned and he ended up working about 8 hours from home over in Seattle area. He liked it there, but before to long he was dragging up at the beginning of September to come home and wait patiently for the arrival of the new babe. September 7th, came and as quickly as the rest of them Hendrix Clay slipped into the world adding another precious little boy to our family.

We were blessed to spend the next few days and weeks with our family surrounding us, but before to long it was time to hit the road again. And back to California dreaming we went! When Hendrix was two weeks old we took off and headed back to SoCal. The books moved fairly quickly and Levi was able to take a call a few days after we arrived. Little did we know this was where all of the fun for the next few months would start.

After being settled for a bit in the trailer we decided since we were planning on staying in southern California for the next year or so that we might as well rent a house and see how we would like living in California "permanently." So we did! We found a cute little rental that was pretty central to job locations and we moved on in. Little did we know that this year was the completely wrong year to be stuck in southern California without a job. Levi got layed off at the end of November, and the work books loaded on up placing Levi 200+ spots until he would get a call out for a job. We sat patiently and waited hoping for the books to open up and something come available, but it just wasn't happening.

While we waited, Levi took a couple of vacations and signed the books in other states just to see if something else would come up before California opened up. He signed in Washington, Oregon, Northern California, and even a few states towards the east coast. More weeks passed without even 1 call to turn down. After this much time had passed we were back to the drawing board.

Beginning of January came, hello 2017! While we had a home full of visitors Levi took a call in Portland Oregon on a Friday. Sunday morning he headed out bright and early to make the 16 hour drive to work on Monday. He showed up, loved the area and the work... so guess what, we packed it all up and moved again!

Since Levi took the call in Oregon, he is not able to keep his name on the books down in California, so with this happening he would of had no chance at all in getting a call out of southern California until probably late spring. That would have been another 3+ months without work, so this was the only thing that made sense for us as a family at the time. And yes me and the kids could have stayed in California while Levi worked up here, but double living expenses and a 16 hour time difference between us just isn't what we do as a family.

I used the two weeks that Levi was gone working in Oregon to get rid of all of the household furnishings, pack back up the trailer and be ready to hit the road with our lifeline of a trailer packed behind us.

Lesson learned... no house buying for us in California... that has been crossed off of our list!

The road trip to Oregon was pretty uneventful. We took our time with a 4 month old who wants nothing to do with his car seat made a 16 hour trip turn into 48 hours. It was a LONG trip! But we made it. As of the end of January we are now happily settled in Oregon just outside of Portland.

It is beautiful here and reminds us a lot like "home." Levi is enjoying work everyday even if he does have to work in the rain (sorry love.)

Its been a little bit of an adjustment getting our 400 sq ft to work in the trailer again. Three kiddos sure do seem to make the walls grow closer, but we are together and honestly that is all that matters.

At this point we have no idea how much longer we are going to do this travelling gig. Our original plan was to be settled by now. 5 years ago I would have laughed at you if you would have told me we would still be living in our trailer with three kiddos. But this is life, and we plan to make the best of it even if we do only have 400 sq ft to work with!

I'm not sure where the road will take us next, we have some checkpoints in mind, but for now we live day by day knowing that our plan and HIS plan coincide and we always end up right where we are meant to be. For now, its Oregon <3

Happy 2017! Here's to another great year full of travels and memories!

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 :)

We hit the road again!

Nothing like packing up, finding a safe home for everything, pulling in the slides, and hooking up. We hit the road!
Hubby had been working about 45 minutes from our last location so the commute wasn't too bad. Once his show up moved further north he was commuting 1.5 hours so a 12 hour work day was turning into 15hours! That's a long day! One of the reason's we have a 5th wheel is to not have to have the long drives, so we hooked up and hit the road hoping to find a new spot to call home for a bit.
The first park we came to and where we had planned to stay as it is only 5 minutes from show up was just not going to work. It was small and not many people there which was great, but it all went downhill from there. 30 Amps hook up's- not going to work with 2 AC's and W/d. Bugs galore! Standing water in the sewer pipe's, and not a spot big enough for us. So we hit the pavement again and headed further east. Google was showing us 2 more options close together and a bit of a drive from where we were. We decided to check them out after shuffling kids around because Knox wanted so badly to ride in the car. We passed the first option and it looked full so decided to check out the second. Pulled in and was welcomed by a bar/office. Hmmmm. Quick look around showed a huge college party going on, and a cramped camprground with spots right on top of eachother. We asked if they had any spots open and were shown the one right by the highway, that would have taken a serious job to try and get the trailer backed in, so we passed.
We ran back up the road to option #3. It looked nicer, and we noticed a couple IBEW stickers already set up. We figured this would work just fine until we realized the only other full hook up spots were backwards and n a huge incline. There was no way we could get our sewer hooked up. The guy offered to dump us everyday, but with a kiddo in Cloth diapers and 4 showers a day that just wouldn't work. So after it being a long day we dedided to let the jacks down and call it a day. We went on a nice hike and enjoyed the surroundings all evening. It was a beautiful "steam" that they call a river, with a ton of hiking trailes. Knox had a blast.

Sausage & Kale Deliciousness!

Time to share my favorite dinner recipe.... ever!

A while back my Husband found an article in Men's Health Magazine on Kale. We of course having lived sheltered childhoods and had never heard of it(it doesn't help that last time we visited home we could not find Kale anywhere in the grocery stores, gotta love small town BFN), so I have to admit I was completely hesitant to cook with it. Since making this recipe Kale is a weekly staple here! I took the recipe in the magazine and altered it to fit our needs better and keep it so I could remember how to make it without following a recipe. If you know me you know I hate recipes and very, very rarely even attempt to follow them. So without further ado... Sausage and Kale Deliciousness!

What you need:

Bunch of Kale
Sausage: I usually use Kielbasa, but ground Italian sausage works well too
Noodles: I use whatever we have on hand, tonight it was spinach stuffed pillows, but I usually use chees stuffed tortellini
1 Lemon
Some grated Parm Cheese
Coconut oil or Olive oil
Optional: Butter, Mushrooms, Onion

Ingredients

Starting off I chop up the sausage and mushrooms and sauté them.

While this is happening I bring a pot of water to boil for the noodles, and tear up the Kale. (Add in  removing Kitty from the counter 500 times, ha!)



Tear Kale in small pieces removing the stem, add coconut oil to help wilt

Once the sausage is done, transfer it to a paper towel to soak up some grease. Add noodles to the water and cook until done.
Place Kale on medium heat and stir frequently to wilt.

Yum!

At this point I take 1/4 cup of water from the noodles and add into the kale This helps it wilt. Once the kale is mostly finished I add back in the sausage and continue cooking for a few.

Then once your noodles are done add them too, you will need a big pan/pot at this point! Turn off the heat.
The recipe finishes off by adding the juice of the lemon, a handful of parm cheese and a TBSP of butter if wanted. Stir and say ta-da! Dinner is served.

We eat this weekly, it is seriously delicious! No spices or flavoring needed, The lemon gives it the perfect mild taste! My Hubby who isn't exactly a fan of "healthier" foods has said that it is one of his favorites. It is light and delicious!

Dinner served!

Tonight it was paired with a new favorite here of baked potato pieces topped with cottage cheese. Don't knock that until you try it, because it too is amazing!

The recipe is no exact science. Take the ingredients and make it something of your own. You won't regret it :)

A blog? Oh ya, I have a blog! :)

Always good intentions, but never enough time. <<Story of my life!
I suck at blogging. I suck so bad at blogging that in my free time tonight after both kids finally went to sleep it took me over an hour to try and remember my e-mail address associated with this blog so I could sign in and create a new post. Pretty bad, huh? Anyhow, it is now May and we have so much to catch up on.

First up, Zoey Lucille. With Lineman-Daughter fashion, Zoey was welcomed into our little world in the middle of a storm on January 17th, right here in our little home. It was -20 degrees with snow blowing sideways. Traffic was backed up on the interstate for hours and many people stranded with roadways impassible. Sounds a little drastic, but hey the news was even saying so. Thankfully our Midwife and Doula were able to make it in plenty of time, even if their commute did take 4 times longer than usual. Her birth story will be saved for another post, but for a few short details. She slipped into the world at 4AM weighing 8lbs 8oz and 21.75in long. Big brother woke up to meet his new sister and we got to share the early morning hours of a family of four.

Zoey Lou, at an hour young

 

 The last four months (has it really been that long already?) we have been getting used to being a family of four, making memories and adjustments as needed. Knox slid into the big brother role fairly well, he loves his Sissy, but still isn't too sure what to do with her yet. She currently watches him attentively and will try to roll or scoot her way towards him whenever he is near. They are pretty darn cute!
Knox is very much a two year old right now. I am pretty sure we have our hands full with this one, and believe it or not I think he may be payback from my teenage years, woops! He sure does keep us on our toes, as we still try to learn how this parenting gig works. We are in the midst of potty training, all of course all on his watch. Some day's he just wants to poop on the floor, well most days, but hopefully that too will pass with time :)

 

 

 

We are still at Griff's RV park in Altoona, IA. We had to make a few small moves here in this park to make room for the seasonal snow birds as they returned, but have settled back in nicely with the big open field behind us and Knox's pond with fishies just a quick walk away. We plan to be here until Levi heads somewhere else. He's still currently working about 45 minutes away, so not too bad of a commute. There is talk we might have a move coming up, but for now we're still here. We have almost been here a year now, the longest period we have ever stayed at a park, so I'm glad we like it! :)

2 yr old attention span fishing :)

As far as other news goes.... Levi is currently a 6th step apprentice, will turn 7 here soon, so he still has a bit to go in the apprenticeship before we see the finish line. I couldn't be more proud of him for the hours he puts in and still coming home with a smile on his face. We sure do appreciate his sacrifice, So much that I let him buy a new car!! I got major wife brownie points there :)

We have had a few visitors this year, two Grandma's got to come meet Zoey and spend some time with us. We took a little weekend getaway to Oklahoma, adding a few more states to Knox's traveled list and adding Zoey's first ones! We had a fun time visiting the Sahara sand dunes and driving though the lovely Kansas and Oklahoma. Not so much the driving parts, but the kids didn't do too bad, after all we drove most of it at night!

We have been enjoying the nice spring days, and trying to get out of the house during the rainy ones. We have had a few tornado warnings, but nothing too exciting. Last weekend we had to wake the kids up around midnight while the sirens were going off to head to the shelter. The storm ended up being nothing at all and we had two cranky kids for the majority of the rest of the night. Note to self, don't wake kids up until the last minute!

Spring Days!

We did some rearranging in the 5th wheel also. The kids both got new beds in hopes to get some of ours back. Knox seems to like to play jump jump and trains on his more than sleeping in it, but its a process in the works!

The everything room..Living/bedroom/playroom



And last but not least, Kitty Kitty- who has yet to be given a proper name, joined us. Knox and her have yet to work out an agreement on sleep/play time, and how to play nicely all of the time, but they are working on it. She is a mixture of a dog and a human stuck in a beautiful little kitty's body. She is quite the little ball of fur. We were hesitant getting a cat living in a trailer and all, but with her non allergenic coat, and the ease of her being bale to take care of herself an not need a potty break while I am busy taking care of kids, she is a great addition to the family! 

Kitty Kitty can climb walls!

 

That's all for now folks! I'll be back in another 5 months or whenever I remember about our blog again. Hopefully it won't be too long :)

Family photo!

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 :)