RV Storage Ideas

The RV life, for our family, is all about freedom and possibilities. We can go anywhere, do anything, at any time!   Faith, Family, Fun is our motto.  For me, it’s also about spontaneity, you know … winging it”.  I’m neither an planner, nor an organizer.  Dan is the thinker of the family.  He tends to … Read more

Frenemies!!!

YES! I agree 100% but I still have toxic people in my outer circle – not my inner circle as my inner circle is a place of peace and love and support and Zen! It was weeded out long ago and many of these people were family! It took me a long time to let … Read more

The Power Of Doing!

I’m just going to put it all out there for you right now, no beating around the bush, no denial.   I’m a hot mess at the moment.  An emotional, wet noodle of a frame.   I hope you are sitting down, cuz this one’s coming hard and fast.  It’s freakin almost June and my kids are not even close to finishing the school year.  I’m experiencing an emotion I rarely, if ever, feel.  Envy. I’m envious of all you moms whose kids are sent off for their schooling from Aug-June!   This is crazy ironic because all year I laugh at you.  I crack up at the back-to-school resolutions ya’ll make (been there, done that).  I get all giddy when I’m waking in the morning and leisurely getting the kids up, eating an un-rushed, healthy breakfast, starting school in our pj’s.  But today, today, I’m not giddy. No, not at all.  I’m actually freaking out.  You all are done, we are not!  What does this mean?  How can this be?

Well, I’ll tell you what this means, and how this can be…  We had just a little too much fun this school year.  It means that we will be doing school through the summer.  It means that while we don’t get a 3 month break from school, we do get a lot of little breaks throughout the year!  The way I see it, life is merely a brief journey, a foray, a blink of an eye and I refuse to waste it doing the mundane, the boring.  School, for our kids, is exciting and new everyday.  This year alone, our kids have learned not only the basics of Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, but also how this knowledge is implemented in REAL LIFE.  They have learned how to lay down wood floors, how to measure and cut the trim boards with a table saw, how to calculate the amount of flooring for a given area.  The kids have learned how to seed a yard and how to add a sprinkler system.  They all can calculate the approximate cost of any trip given the mileage and the exorbitant price of gas. The are blogging, they are writing, they are being interviewed, & they are reading.  In fact, 4 of the kids were given an assignment by their current kayaking coach, to read The Psychology of Winning.  They have learned that life isn’t a cookie cutter neighborhood, where everyone is expected to be the same.  Life is as individual as each beholder!  There is no HOA where you are told how you can and cannot color your life.  It can be as wonderful or as miserable as you make it.   All our kids know this.  The winners in life, the truly successful are those whose attitude screams positivity, screams risk taker, screams against the grain.

You know, we have a no complaining rule in our household.  If you don’t like something, change it.  If something isn’t working for you, fix it.  Complaining breeds whiners, which in turn breeds losers in the game of life.  Complaining sets the mentality that you expect others to do for you; when in fact, you ought to be doing for others.  In this journey of life, there are always people who have more and there are always people who have less.  Our goals are not to increase our possessions, to hoard material things, to have the nicest house or the newest cars; on the contrary, our goals are loftier.  Our goals are to be happy with what we have, to be thankful and to be exponentially more generous than we even believe we can be to those who are less fortunate.  One of the greatest lessons in life for our kids is to be doers.  Doers get out, they make a difference in the world, they are not single minded, they are open minded, they do for themselves and for others!  Doers don’t complain, they fix, they change, they adapt.  And they learn from all experiences.

So,in actuality, in reality, what this means is that we’ve done exactly what we set out to do … and that is to continue our children’s education in life.  And, here is where I might stray from friend to traitor, but straight A’s and book smarts only get you so far.  To succeed in life you must have zeal, you must have dreams, you must have knowledge, you must have street smarts, you must have a positive attitude, you must be willing to fall on your face in epic failure, you must be able to control the mind game that is strife and trouble.   And, most importantly, you have to accept happiness.  Sounds weird, eh?  Sounds silly to say you have to accept happiness, but it’s the God’s honest truth.  Happiness is not a lazy state.  Happiness is an outlook.  Happiness comes from the deep recesses of your psyche.  It’s not popping pills and it’s not skating through life.  Happiness is taking the good with the bad and rolling with it.  If’s self-confidence & self-love. It’s actual, true self-esteem, not the kind you get for winning awards for attending., but rather the kind that you achieve after working hard for success.  In short, happiness is a choice and a reflection of strength!


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Reality is Fully Negotiable!

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black and white.” – Mark Jenkins

The above quote made me think. It made me think really hard. There is so much wonderful happening in our lives right now that it is hard to imagine not having taken this leap of faith, this calculated, yet, life-altering, heavy on the risks, journey. Yet, I do, however seldom, question our decision in the dark recesses of my mind, late at night while listening to the even breathing of the people I love more than I could ever express, more than life itself. Perhaps occasionally I allow my mind to wander to the criticisms of others. Perhaps, occasionally, I let the hooks of indoctrination pull me back into the societal norms, the empty promises echoed by the “real world”. I do this, of course, because I am a mom. My children have been entrusted into the care of Dan and myself by God Himself. There is no more important facet of my life than to raise the most amazing, giving, kind, loving, productive and happy people the world has ever seen. My desire isn’t to raise lawyers and doctors. My goal is not to have wealthy children, who have all the luxuries the world can offer. Not even close. My deepest desire, my whole reason for being is to raise 12 children who will grow to be individuals who change the world.  Literally change the world.

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Because You Dream, You Live

We are all so very blessed, we Americans, we live in the greatest country in the world. We are afforded freedoms that others can’t even conjure to dream of. One of the greatest freedoms Americans have is the ability to chase our dreams and our fantasies. And, here in the US no one person has the same dream or fantasy as another. They are as snowflakes, some similar, but none exact. Dreams are like the people of America, diverse. Not everyone dreams of being a doctor. Not everyone fantasizes about traveling. Not everyone dreams of getting married or having children. Not everyone goes to college. Not everyone goes to church. Not everyone lives in the city. And, not everyone takes the chance to chase their dreams and fantasies, some may not even have grandiose ideas of the ideal. But if you have ever said the words, “I wish I could do that,” know that no-one is going to hand it to you on a silver platter, if you want something, you must go after it! It takes, sweat, determination and a complete disregard for the fears that block and blind.

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Fun Loving, Stress-Free Parenting

397698_502543319796553_72659358_nIt’s been forever since I wrote a blog, and so much has happened that would appear to demand a blog! First, and best of all, Coby was born! What an incredible and amazing birth his was. Now I can truly say I’ve delivered every way possible … and SURVIVED! But even more amazing is who he is. He is the sweetest, cutest, chubbiest, most adorable baby in the world! Seriously, he’s not even 3 months old and he’s pushing 15 lbs!! Adored and cherished by all, he is nothing short of a miracle.

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The Ties That Bind

Man oh man, what a week I’ve had. To put this in perspective, I’m 36 weeks pregnant and my entire summer of emotional drama pales in comparison to what has transpired over the last 10 days. I feel like a wet noodle. I’m actually surprised and utterly shocked that the decision to sell our home has left me totally conflicted in my feelings.

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