And...

Winter is back!

Lately, in pictures

Mason jar to-go cup!

Morning coffee

My favorite Fall mix!

My grandmother passed away. She was 96 years old and a beautiful lady! 

While it is a very sad occasion, I did get to spend time with my little sister and my favorite 3 year old. They flew into Austin and spent a couple of nights with us before we drove down to the Valley. And one "must stop" is Torchy's!

This photo is blown up large and hanging in my Grandma's house. We were going to try and recreate the photo but never did... Kelli is missing in this photo cause she wasn't born yet! It was the first time in over 30 years that all the cousins were together.

My brother and dad

I got to see family I haven't seen in a long time!  And yes, we ate Mexican food!

My mom, me, Kelli and Kenzie

My cousin, Tracy and my brother... I think they look a lot alike!

Leaving the Valley... I miss those palm trees!

My dad's name scratched into a mirror

My mom made fried apple pies... they were so good!

I love open shelving in the kitchen... in photos. Thought I'd try it to see if I like it in real life!

Memories...

I'm really enjoying looking back into our blogs and on my calendar to see what we were doing a year ago "today". We have such great memories from our year of travel!

While we have slow down our lives tremendously, we are still making memories right where we are! Here's what we've been doing lately...

• After a spending a fantastic summer with my 8-year-old niece, our lives have quieted down  alot; but we also have our freedom somewhat back (still have a puppy to deal with). 
• We kayaked twice this summer on Inks Lake... once with my niece and once, just David and I. Inks Lake is only a short drive from our house. 
• We've explored eateries here in our small town and still have more to try!
• We boarded Sadie for a whole day (& night) and started our day with breakfast at Bluebonnet Cafe. Then enjoyed the Hill Country driving over to New Braunfels on the backroads. We spent 3 hours floating on the Comal River that was just divine! The water was the perfect temperature and you can see to the bottom the water is so pretty and clear! From there we headed back north with no plans for dinner but were looking for something. We saw that Buc-ees was just up ahead and decided to stop in and check it out. We'd heard cool things about Buc-ees. It was... HUGE! Once home, we learned that this is the largest convenience store in the world..."In May 2012, the company opened its largest store in New Braunfels, Texas on Interstate 35 and FM 306. The New Braunfels flagship is the largest convenience store in the world at 68,000 square feet. The store features 60 fuel pumps, 31 cash registers, 4 Icee machines, 80 soda fountain dispensers, tubing and water gear for the Guadalupe River, and a farmer's market that features Grade 1 fruit and produce." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buc-ee's). They serve food in there but do not have any seating to enjoy it! From there, we took another new-to-us back road headed to Pecan Street Brewing for dinner. We've had this on our list to visit... Cute, cute place with friendly wait staff. They brew their own beer and David tried their most popular and really enjoyed it. 
• David has found some online work that he can do from home and is enjoying exploring that... It's not a whole lotta work but gives him something to do and gives us a bit of spending $$.
• Work on the house has halted and will pick back up come Fall when we can enjoy having the windows open. We have two more rooms we want to paint!
• Sadie has been a whole lot more work than we had anticipated! We've had 5 dogs between us and none of them have been as high maintenance and stubborn as this little lady. We've determined that she needs more space and/or other dogs for the energy that she has! The lack of outdoor space for a large dog was a concern when we got her, but we are glad we did as the circumstances she came from we've come to realize weren't the best. So we look at it as rescuing her and give her a healthier start over in her life.

We are in the process of making a "new" bucket list. I have my 52 things list that I made on my birthday last year that has pretty much been at a standstill... but I will update that on my upcoming birthday.

We have dreams of doing a bit more travel soon and have realized we love the traveling part of RV'ing, just not the traveling in an RV full-time part. So we are trying to compromise and figure out what it is we want to do!

Lately...

If you look closely, you can see Sadie on the glider... This is my view in the early mornings.

This happened... so fun!

The second she mentioned her "dream" of riding a horse, D was gonna make it happen!

Summer of bravery and determination!

bravery and determination, continued...

Loving this! All from 3 of our hens!

Favorite things Friday...

floral views on my walks...

scent I'm enjoying...

our comfy bed. every. single. night. I get excited to sleep here!

watching how the day rises to meet the sun from this vantage point...

my gypsy flags on our porch...

the different ways the sun comes into our home...

and this crazy gal...

Movin' on...

to our new adventure! Small town living!

We've put a contract on a house in a town with a population of around 6000 people. We both grew up in small towns and before our road trip adventure lived in a very small town but came to the 'burbs of Austin to do all of our shopping and most of our dining (although our little town did have its share of great places to eat - read MEXICAN FOOD). But it's been a while since we lived in what we call a self-sustaining small town (has everything we NEED to live with no true need to drive into the big city). Our last house was only about a 20-minute drive here so we've visited often and have always loved this little town.

After much drama on an offer on a house on an acre just outside the town, we put an offer on an older home inside the city and they've accepted it! The one-acre house outside of town? We found out at the last minute that the HOA "rules" didn't allow chickens? Really? But we can have chickens in town...

We have a quick closing date (20 days!) and are having fun browsing craigslist for furniture (we have none). Yesterday we went and saw 4 items at different places/homes and bought all four of them! So we now have a couch, chair for the living room, coffee table and lawn mower! The only pieces of furniture we kept from our previous home (stored at my parents house) are family treasures - a shelving unit that was my Grandma's and a hope chest and little hallway table that was David's mom's. We also have some smaller unique items that we saved that would have been hard to replace. We got a storage unit to hold all of the "new stuff" until we can move in.

The house as far as we can see is in great shape... needs paint and "our stuff" but it has great wood floors in the main living areas... gorgeous terrazzo tile in the entry and lots of character. And we can have chickens (one of our true desires) again. It is also within walking distance to HEB, Whataburger! and several other places. Notice how I list the important things first!

We've been through the house-buying/selling process enough to know that it's not a done deal til everything is signed, so here's hoping it all goes through!

Happenings...

http://www.theartjournaler.com/

Still playing the waiting game here... Waiting on our payoff to be able to buy another house... waiting for "our house" to come on the market... We are trying to savor the mild before the wild.

We have decided to leave the "way too crowded" Austin area and look for a home in a nearby small town. 

The housing market in Austin is crazy right now! Decent homes are under contract usually within 2-3 days of going on the market! I recently read of another couple looking for an Austin home (although we aren't looking in the Austin market but in the 'burbs of Austin).

Links hubs has emailed me recently... 

He misses having a friend like this.

Can you tell we are shopping for a home?

I don't think we want to live here... 

Good reads recently...

When I started looking thru my reader for those items I had "starred" they were mostly food-related! I do love to cook and bake and eat!

Now I want to buy a fresh coconut! 

David and I are sauce people... so this Cilantro Mayo caught my eye!

We like Mexican food too...

I like this sideboard and also want to try the blender pancakes from Heather.

I love it when I connect with the writing of someone. This young woman is my son's age, but I've connected with her on several of her posts. Her and her husband are new to the Austin area and also shopping for home! It is fun to read about her adventures in Austin as her new hometown (she is a native Texan though).

I haven't given up blogging for good... yet. Several times I've thought of something I want to write about but give up before my fingers actually hit the keyboard. BUT I am a bit bored with the waiting game so thought I might write a few things now and then to give me something to do!

So... what have we been up to since our late November arrival in Central Texas?

• established a temporary "residence" at an RV park in East Central Austin
• tossed our arrival/departure checklists (just kidding)
• spent some time with our boys and my parents over the holidays
• enjoyed having our oldest here in Austin with the other three of "us"
• got caught up with our best friends; I've finally has some girl time and it is wonderful!
• ate some GREAT food! 

Rudy's BBQ

Frank

Fresh made tortillas from HEB

Baby A's

Chuy's

• got back into a routine
• patiently wait for our mortgagee to finish up her refinance so we can start looking for a house!

David has been spending time figuring out what it is he wants to do... as in a job. He's applied for some jobs - some he's interested in; some he's thinking he will get interview experience out of. He's been diligently working out - running and working out at the gym here in the park.

We've taken advantage of the hot tub. It's has been unusually cold here and the hot water feels wonderful! We've been experimenting with how to best warm up our tin can home against the cold temps. It's mostly warm... but we also bundle up at night!

We've also browsed homes for sale online while we wait for our monies to be freed. We are debt free and are planning on staying that way paying cash for our next home! It seems like there are a good amount in the price range and size we are looking at. 

I've knitted... 

Here are four of the 9 cowls I've made

and crocheted... 

Cameron wearing a hat I crocheted

 and cooked... 

My new favorite breakfast

and did a little cleaning here and there. I got my hairs cut... 

Simple and slow living at its best!

Currently

listening... to the sound of rain hitting our roof

loving... the coziness of our tiny house

thinking... ahead to the freedom of choosing where to live and build our lives

working... on still being in the present

wanting... to live authentically

needing... some Mexican food!

reading... Far From Home and the Power of a Praying Wife

creating... a crocheted beanie for my oldest and knitted drop stitch cowls

pondering... whether to keep blogging or not.

Slowin' down...

We are back HOME! We made quick tracks and arrived in the Austin area the day after Thanksgiving. My sweet mom saved us some turkey leftovers and we heated them up just a few short minutes after arriving at their house! We tried to find an RV park but none of them had open spots until today!

So we enjoyed a relaxing weekend at my parents house. They live in a rural area and have a very long driveway so we were able to park the rig and truck there... and sleep in the house! Our youngest son came over on Saturday and spent all afternoon and evening with us... working a bit and watching football. We also got to skype with these two cuties! We haven't had good enough wifi to skype with them on the road, so it was fun catching up with them!

Today we arrived at an RV park in East Central Austin that is just our style. And the biggest surprise... Green Gate Farms is right across the street! I volunteered at Johnson's Backyard Garden a couple of years ago and loved it and the veggies I got "paid" with. We are hoping to do a bit of volunteering at Green Gate Farms as well!

Nothing has felt more right than pulling into the Austin area. Except when we moved here from Colorado. =) I think we've slowly realized how stressful the towing part was for both of us. David never was fully confident and then after the blow out, that confidence was at an all-time low. I wasn't comfortable knowing he wasn't. The best part about that was we did a lot of praying!

We've had one meal out of Tex Mex food... and it was SO GOOD! We've enjoyed my mom's cooking as well! We have a long list of places we want to go to, but keep reminding ourselves we don't have to do it all in a week's time!

We are settling in and excited to see what we get to do next!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Currently

...reading The Power of Half... The concept is an honorable one... the reading is slow as they tell everything leading up to it. And this is a very wealthy family... giving up half still leaves them with more than most of the middle class.

...traveling through Florida

...wearing my ruffled overalls and braids

...needing a Starbucks seasonal drink and some fried shrimp (not at the same sitting)

...wanting a simple Christmas season

...looking forward to seeing our family and friends this holiday season

...eating beef carnitas tacos tonite!

...drinking water and sweet iced tea

...listening to GAC when we get it. None of the previous campgrounds with cable had GAC until we get to Florida!

...creating a scarf

...watching Survivor, Amazing Race, The Voice, Duck Dynasty (Love Uncle Si)

enjoying the warmth of the sunshine!

Change is in the air...

I've heard (and I'm sure you have too) that the only constant is change. We experience a change in seasons faithfully every year... but not only a change in seasons but changes within seasons. We've been experiencing the changes in nature with the coming of Fall... And we've experienced the newness of it over and over as we've driven south. One of our favorite drives recently was thru South Carolina. I know that SC is not a "known" beautiful Fall place but it was gorgeous! And we are so blessed to be able to experience it!

Change is in the air for David and I too! We are headed back home soon! Actually we are headed that way right now... and will be there before Christmas... Well before Christmas. Our extended stay in Wilmington took the wind out of our sails so to speak. We'd been missing home before our blow out accident and that was just what we needed to put our priorities back in the place they belong. In my last post I talked about being tired of chasing the dream life and stopping to building one... Well, I heard a song on the radio recently during our drive... It's an old Ronnie Milsap song... Smoky Mountain Rain... One line in it is "I've had a change of dreams I'm comin' home".  That pretty much says it!

One thing we've struggled with is feeling somewhat "obligated" to our readers... when you share an adventure with the public, other people who have similar dreams say they are "living vicariously thru you"... so being the people pleasers we are, we don't want to let those people down. But then we start talking about not living our lives for others, but living the life that we are meant to live and what is pleasing to God. We can only hope that our adventure inspires and gives our readers courage to do what it is they dream about.

I started this blog a little late in the game to reflect on how I see this adventure and how it changes me... While the traveling adventure may be coming to a close, I hope and pray that my life is always an adventure. So for the time being, I hope to continue blogging here about our new adventure (whatever that may be). 

Lady in waiting...

Waiting on

... our truck to be fixed. Parts have been ordered.
... the insurance claims adjustor to check out our rig, then for
... the collision center to give it a look over with a fine tooth comb to make sure everything is okay
... the hurricane/tropical storm to get by us. It's raining and a bit windy now.

We ended up returning our rental car for the weekend so that we are not responsible should something happen during the storm. So we are kinda stuck in the hotel. There's quite a bit within walking distance, but it's raining so our "outside time" is limited.

My waiting time is not wasted... I've finished knitting a scarf and have started a cowl. Although I only brought one skein of yarn with me from the rig, so I'm hoping that lasts until we can get back out to the rig to get more yarn. I'm also reading... and playing cards on my phone... and of course staying caught up on storm news and internets! Oh yea... there's also a Shipping Wars marathon this afternoon!

Perfect?

And our life right now is FAR from perfect! We had a blow out yesterday of our front driver side tire on the truck. You can read the details here. So at this point we are sitting in a hotel room waiting. I have a feeling we are going to be doing a lot of waiting in the next few weeks!

Blessedly we are both okay, no physical injuries or soreness whatsoever; we are by the ocean; we have a place to sleep and bathe and eat until our rig is "cleared" for living in; and we have lots of people praying for our situation! And we are trying to be aware of why God has us here in this place at this time.

Currently...

The first official week of Autumn...

Current location:: Lewisburg, PA home of my dear friend, Kristen

Current drink:: Haven't had one yet, but since it's the first week of Autumn I must do my best to get one! Pumpkin Spice Latte with one pump of white chocolate!

Current food (addiction):: Pumpkin roll! We had this at Kristen's house for dessert one evening and it is SO GOOD!

Current wishlist:: Texas! Pumpkin Spice Latte, Coconut Peanut Butter, Fall mix of candy corn and peanuts

Current triumph:: running 2.5 miles!

Current blessing:: Being able to meet some longtime online friends!

Current "outfit":: PPP bloomers and t-shirts! It's been chilly lately and I love wearing my comfy PPP bloomers!

Current creative endeavor:: cushion covers for our dinette bench, a ribbon mobile/wall hanging, a gift

Current excitement:: Being able to "reveal" our redecorated home!