Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Special Announcement!!

WE ARE OFFICIALLY FULL-TIME RVers! :)

I know that I have left ya'll hanging for a long time.  I am sorry.  :)  I wanted to make sure that this was ACTUALLY going to happen before I shared this really exciting step in our lives as a family.

About 6 months ago, we went on an AWESOME family vacation in West Cliffe, Colorado, at Horn Creek Family Camp.  We were there for about 10 days.  Todd and I did not have ANY responsibilities, but to play and spend time with our children, and spending time in the Word, and relaxing. :)  It was wonderful, but what we walked away from it with has been life changing to say the least!

It made us realize how quickly our children really are growing up so fast.  This time that we have with them is so precious and it is something that we do not want to take for granted.  It made us realize how busy our lives were with SO many activities and running the roads, work, school, chores, and other things that fill our schedule, that we felt that time was running away from us and fast.  I still can not believe that my oldest child is 13 and going through puberty!!  I still remember giving birth to him! :)

Anyway, since we started homeschooling about 9 years ago, I had always dreamed of doing history on the road.  I wanted to SHOW my children marvels of this great nation, (Grand Canyon, Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, etc...), and WALK on the battlefields where brave American soldiers fought and died for our freedom, (Gettysburg, Bunker Hill, Lexington, Concord), and to TASTE all the interesting foods in our culture, (hot dogs in New York, pizza in Chicago, lobster from Maine or Gumbo from Louisiana), but to also HEAR the accents from the deep southerner, to the serious northerner!

Todd and I talked a lot on the way home from that Colorado trip, and we talked about how we could make this dream a reality.  Before we knew it, we were researching RVs, and learning about this amazing lifestyle!  We found an amazing website, familiesontheroad.com and learned SO much from the people who are doing this and LOVING it.

Now, I know that you might be thinking that we have lost our minds.  I pray that you understand our heart in this.  Our motivation is to teach our children U. S. History in the next 2-3 years, in the best way possible.  Meanwhile, we are sacrificing what might seem like a lot, but in the end, we pray, it will be absolutely worth it.                            
The amount of time that we get to spend as a family is something that I consider priceless! :)  No amount of money, or trophies, or stuff in a house can measure to the time we will spend on the road with our kids.

Todd will be working in his office which is also in the back bedroom of the RV, while the kids and I get our school done and visit the museums, zoos, historic monuments and sites.  We will only travel on Saturdays for a maximum of 5 hours, so that we can prepare to go to church on Sunday and plan for the following work week.  We will stay at RV Parks, National and State Parks for at least a  week at a time.  This way, Todd can work Monday through Friday, and the kids still have their structure for the week too!  As long as Todd has a phone and internet connection, he can work!   It has been fun to see this transition in technology and upgrading, to allow him to accomplish this goal.

Well, that is it in a nut shell!  :)
Please pray for us, that the Lord would give us wonderful renters for our home.  Hopefully, soon, we will hit the road for San Antonio, TX and study Texas history!

Blessings,
Steph

4 comments:

  1. Welcome to the crazy adventure!! Hope to see you on the road!!

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  2. this is cool! I kept wanting you to get on Facebook so I could feel like "i know you" again! I think about you often... wondering what your adult life is like.
    So, yes, this is cool! I'd love to follow you on your adventures and pray for you as well.
    I admire your adventure! My family is definitely sucked into the "rat race". My husband and I both have jobs and both my girls go to public school. Definitely not the life that I had "planned". To live on the road with my family seems like a wonderful life... but just a dream in my world. So, I can dream through you! =) I can't wait for more blogging!

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  3. So excited for you, Steph!

    My name is Stephanie too and our family just embarked on a 1-year trip across America too. Maybe we can meet up? :)

    You can find us at: http://giveeveryday.com/.

    stephanie@giveeveryday.com

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  4. I found your blog from the Boyinks and excited that you are sharing your journey! We are finally in the planning/research stage (primarily 5th wheel and truck search). We have 4 kids under 12 and homeschool as well. We finally said, why are we waiting? Let's take the steps and see if the Lord opens some doors...He sure has! Hopefully we can meet up one day and I suppose I will have to start a blog too :) Shalom, Jeff

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