Our plan...to have fewer plans

Well...we made it! We've been working tirelessly since April to pack up our home in Colorado, purge about half of our stuff in an effort to simplify our life, and plan our big adventure! So far, we've made it to Texas! 

Check out our caravan here! 

I am sure some people are confused about what the heck we are doing...rightfully so. Hopefully I can answer some of those FAQ's here...but the journey will continue throughout the next year, and I'll make updates as much as possible. We look forward to sharing it with you and staying in touch as much as possible! 

It all started about a year ago. Kipper and I began actively reflecting on two things...

1) How it feels to raise a family...away from our immediate family.

AND 

2) What it would be like to simplify, travel and focus on learning how to be more present in our experiences. How do we get off this fast-moving train?

You know, that train we all get on that includes a job, school, running errands...the crazy train most of us ride when our kids become school-age. We run from one awesome activity to another, while balancing a work schedule, a healthy diet, a marriage, making sure everyone gets a shower, and put to bed on time...then we wake up and do it again the next day. Sometimes we forget to "feel" it. Sometimes I look up and days, weeks, months and even years have gone by...and I find myself wondering, "where did the time go?" Don't get me wrong here...I appreciate this train very much. I realize it's a privilege to offer my kids a ticket on this train...and I actually love the train...but sometimes I want to get off for a minute, enjoy the view and hear the silence.  

For years, it's been a difficult decision to stay in Colorado, and we still struggle with what to do, especially since having our boys. But, we literally LOVE the mountains and have always wanted it to be home for our kids. Also, we've met amazing people there, and feel like we have a "Colorado family" and appreciate those relationships very much. It's a tough call to make as a parent...obviously the people in our lives are the most important part of everything. We are not us without our loved ones...and we feel painfully distant from our Texas family. But...when we are in Colorado hiking, biking, skiing, fishing in clear mountain rivers and camping under huge pines and aspens...we feel at home and so grateful for the beauty and for the appreciation for nature our kids learn. It makes for a hard decision about where to live full-time. 

So...for now, we are jumping off the train for one year in an effort to regain some focus and figure out what to do next. 

Keeping our two goals in mind - we plan to spend quality time with loved ones, and since we also have a huge desire to show our kids the amazing world around them...and homeschool is just more interesting when you're standing in the middle of a national park...we also bought an 1971 Airstream Overlander, and plan to do some travel throughout the year. 

We rented out our suburbia home in Colorado to a wonderful family moving from Tulsa for one year. We bought a little house in Denton, Texas, and plan to move into it by September and use it as home-base while we travel. (In the meantime, we are staying in Fort Worth at Mom & Trey's house, while they spend a month in Montana. We're also spending some time at the Perry's & Reid's in Denton...it's been fun!) We plan to return to our home in Colorado at the end of this year. 

Why Denton? We bought a little house in Denton for several reasons. 1. We love that Denton is where a few of our favorite friends and family live, and we want to be closer to everyone in Texas. 2. We've wanted an investment property for awhile...but haven't been able to afford one in Colorado...and we have three kids who might go to college, which scares my bank account right out of its pants. 3. We love Denton...It's a fun combination of small-town Texas and quirky art folks...with a few college kids thrown in, which is fun to watch. We think it has an interesting future, and eventually we'll offer it to renters in the coming years. Plus, there's a cute little square with an ice cream shop and a burger place that appreciates old-time country music...the good stuff. So, it's a no-brainer.

So far in Texas, we've spend LOADS of time with loved ones...and it's been so great. Unfortunately it has included a little poison ivy and one trip to the ER for a minor concussion for Bodhi...but all is ok and it's been mostly good! Plus, there's plenty of Tex-Mex here to make it all better. ;)

Lots of pool days...thank goodness pools are everywhere here! The average temperature stays around 100 degrees...

We surprised my mom with a big party for her 60th birthday...

We are enjoying the sunflowers, which have been in full bloom! 

We saw the parade in downtown Denton...

We went to the drive-in movie theater to see the Minion movie!

Lots of snow cones...

And good laughs...

Sawyer loves Luke almost as much as he loves his Daddy...

A trip to Legoland for Bodhi's birthday...

Worked on the ranch...

Owen likes to "drive" up the driveway...he's pretty good! 

Sawyer celebrated his 2nd birthday in the Stockyards and road the train three times. He is still asking to go back and do it again...he also had donuts for breakfast. Sawyer's vocabulary has exploded in the last month and you can carry on conversations with him now...it's amazing so much fun to listen to him try and pronounce words like alligator and Minion. And, he has peed in the potty twice. Yay! 

 Hurricane Harbor! 

Lots of snacks after pool time...check out how beautiful Brielle is! She is happy, healthy and growing fast. What a gift it has been to see her doing so well...cherishing every moment with her! 

Bodhi loves all babies...but aside from Sawyer, I'm not sure I've ever seen him love another like he loves little Presley. 

The House aka "Home-base"- The Denton house is little two-bedroom bungalow near the square, which we are renovating. See before pics below and standby for the transformation. We are taking it down to the bones, which we've discovered are made of beautiful shiplap wood, so we're leaving most of that exposed. It needed all new electrical wiring and will eventually need new exterior siding and central air/heat (coming soon). It's a labor of love...but we're having a lot of fun with it. 

The exterior will eventually be replaced and the porch will be extended out. Keep watching! Here's a before pic of the living room...

And here's an after pic of it after we pulled up the carpet and pulled off the wood paneling. The entire house is made out of this solid wood shiplap, and it's been a fun surprise to discover. 

We are covering some of it with drywall entirely, some of it with half drywall (and chair rail molding) and some of it is staying exposed.

The Airstream Project - We bought the Airstream on Ebay and it had been used as a "guest room" for a few years. For the most part, it works great and just needs a little love on the inside. So, it's getting an interior paint job, some new upholstery and a few updates to plumbing and electrical. It also has a new custom bunk bed built in, thanks to Bobbi (Ryan's mom...aka amazing furniture maker!) There's a full kitchen and bathroom, and it will make for a cozy bonding experience for all of us. 

For now, we have it parked in the Perry's driveway.  Here are some pics of the interior before we started working on it. 

So far, Kipper has done some "behind the scenes" improvements, and I have started giving it a new paint job inside. 

You can see the difference in color better in this close-up. 

I have some upholstery and more paint to work on, so I'll keep the pics coming! 

Travel

Our first adventure will begin Sept 1st. We plan to head Northwest from Denton through a few national parks, aiming for the northern California coast. Then, we will camp down highway 1, ending up in San Diego to visit the Launais'. We'll park in their driveway, pack up the tent and head south to camp in the Baja for a few days...then back to SD, then back east to Denton by the middle of October. 

We'll be in Denton through Thanksgiving...then we plan to head east along the gulf coast to the Florida Keys for the month of December. My Mom & Trey rent a home there Dec - Feb...and they have a big driveway to park the Airstream right next to the ocean canal...not too shabby! I'm a little terrified that the iguanas will try and take up residence with us...but I suppose it's a trade-off I'm willing to make.

Beyond that...we're still planning but hope to make it up to the east coast in the spring. 

Homeschool

The next question most people ask me is "What about school?" I love the idea of homeschooling the boys on this adventure because it's an opportunity to teach them reading, writing, math, social studies and science on the open road, or in our own kitchen, in the middle of an art museum, standing in the middle of a national park or wherever our lesson plans take us. Bottom line...this year is going to be about "cherishing every moment in an unscheduled, untimed, open-minded, living each day to its fullest" kind of way. Sometimes that will mean we do lessons for four hours in the morning, and sometimes that means we may stay up until 10pm reading a book...and sometimes that means our history report will be on someone who inspires us along the way. Some of it will be structured...and some of it will be created as we go. I will keep records of their attendance and they will be assessed accordingly after this year, and my intention is to keep them on track with their grade (Kindergarten & 3rd grade) but how we reach that goal will be...well, an adventure. I'm expecting it to be the best and hardest thing I've ever done...which means it's probably going to be worth it. 

So, that's our plan. We are excited, somehow feeling scared and content at the same time (is that possible?!) and will stay in touch along the way. We send our love, miss those we haven't seen in awhile and hope to see everyone soon! 

Stay tuned! 

PS, I have no idea why this blog post has white text boxes in it...but please ignore those ;)