Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Enjoying the Journey of Life!

Life is funny.

Life brings changes.

For us, change is starting to become come place.......and we are adapting much easier.

Long story short, we have decided to stop traveling full-time.  I know....SHOCKER!

Our decision to travel and explore this wonderful country, has always been a family decision.  We were regularly asking the kids how they liked it, and if they wanted to keep on going.  Every now and then, one of them might have a bad, boring, or lonely kind of day, and want to go home to see their friends or family.  Recently, those feelings started happening more often....even with ME! ;)

I honestly thought I would never have a house again!  I thought I could live in our RV home forever!

But.  As the Lord does, SO many times, HE changed my perspective and gave me new eyes to see.  HE also started working on my kids' desires.

So, we are home. :)  It is a good thing.

We are paying off debt, saving money and seeing friends and family.  We are signing up for camps, sports and home school classes.  We are back in our community and our comfort zone.

We come back home with a fresh perspective, too.

We are blessed.  I mean, really blessed.
We have traveled FULL-TIME, for almost 3 years, as a family, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.  We have experienced this country first-hand and enjoyed so many "firsts!"

We realize the precious time we have been given, but also realize how precious our family and friends are to us as well.

We will miss our friends on the road,( PLEASE come see us!), and we hope to travel again in the future.

Life is funny.  But, life is so good. :)

Here are just a few of our most favorite times on the road:


Many factory tours....



 National Monuments that take your breath away...



Good Ole' Faithful.....



Driving on the GOLDEN Gate Bridge!



Landscapes and natural wonders.....



Laura Ingalls Wilder's home....



Todd skydiving on his 40th birthday!



Countless sunsets...



Trying to hug a Redwood :) 



Sledding at White Sands....



Rock climbing.....



Totally amazing sights....



Tons of hiking trails- CONQUERED!


We have experienced life in its fullest capacity.  Together.   We are so grateful!!

"Happy Trails to you......Until we meet again....."


Blessings,
Steph

8 comments:

  1. We have been following your blog for a long time. We may have met you at Orlando Thousand trails, not sure. We know how it feels to go from fulltiming back to regular home owners. For some reason, when we moved back into the house, we felt so much more appreciative and good about it then when we left. We now are adjusted back to regular stationary living knowing that we can always make some long RV trips if we so desire. There is something be said for stability at least for us, getting back in our home church, etc...

    The Latil's

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  2. Hi Goldens

    I know you are glad to get back to a stationary life, but oh what an adventure you all had!! Those are valuable life long memories for sure. The Jarod/Carol Young family kept me up to date before I discovered your blog a few weeks ago of which I had fun reading.

    Met a good friend of yours recently Mickie R. Her son is courting my girlfriend Christi's niece and we can't be more pleased as he is an incredible young man. And yes, I myself am excited to see God working in a relationship of my own!

    And welcome back to Texas!
    Paul Lawson

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  3. I get it, but ohhh, we are sad; so very glad that at least your 'home' is somewhere that we love - look for company to move in now and again!!! ROFL!!!!
    We are so thankful that we got to meet you on the road, and hope that we can stay in touch!!! :)
    Much <3, The Ticknors

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  4. The road will be a little lonelier without you!!! Looking forward to the next phase of your life adventure!

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  5. Wow, it looks like you and your family had an amazing time and made the most of your traveling adventures! We are new to full-timing (just one month in), but I am sure there will come a day when I am ready to settle down again, too. Blessing to you! -Anna

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  6. Big news, indeed!! Praying the transition for you guys continues to be smooth! And...hope our paths cross again some day! :)

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  7. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and in your case, it happened to make you and your family stronger than before. I'm glad that everything went well. I think “...paying off debt, saving money...” are the greatest improvement in a person's life. We know how difficult it is to handle debt; it can cause stress and can even ruin life and relationships. Abolishing it in our lives will be a great relief, and I hope you'll accomplish it soon. >Allan Morais< @ PaddonYorke.com

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  8. Your memories and the time you spent with your children are priceless, and no one can take them away. I think it was a wise decision for now. I only wish we could have met up on the road again. Paul and I both had surgery, still need a lot of followup for both of us, so I will not be blogging again until probably the first of the year or so. Keep in touch, we love your entire family.

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