Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough. --Oprah Winfrey We had a GREAT Thanksgiving on the road. Luckily, since we were in Texas, we even had some family to spend it with!
Here were some of the highlights and some things we recommend:
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You can't be unhappy in the middle of a big, beautiful river. |
The Video of Pics and Fun Stuff We've Done | The Video Where Ammon and Shanae Talk About Life in Texas So Far |
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“The trouble with simple living is that, though it can be joyful, rich, and creative, it isn’t simple.”
-Doris Janzen Longacre
- Today we are sitting in a Comfort Suites hotel room in the UFO capital (Roswell, NM), as we complete our first week of travel. It's been a high-intensity week full of lots of time in van, super cool locations and crappy fast food. Moving from place to place every day or two would not be long term sustainable for us. Fun, but too much to keep up with school and work.
Our first stop was in the Phoenix, Arizona area. We got to stay with family and spend some with them and some friends in the area. We couldn't have asked for a better time there - it was the perfect start to our journey.
It was while unloading stuff on our first day that we starting thinking stuff like, "why did we bring a crock pot?" We specifically purchased a small crock pot, so proud of our great idea thinking how effective it would be for us to have it on the road. Easy meals and a small foot print. Well, with everything fitting inside that van every tiny space matters - even the space of a small crock pot. So, seven hours into our trip and we've already donated our special travel crock pot.
It wasn't until next day that we decided to donate a backpack we brought. And really we mean Ammon here. It was a really cool waterproof backpack though. Plus it rolled up really small. But it's gone now.
Next stop was Tuscon, AZ. We stayed in an AIRBNB with Tim and Holly. A small two bedroom house behind their house Upon arrival, it seemed pretty questionable, but ended up being a highlight for the kids. Still not sure why, but they loved this place. Probably because they left out Halloween candy for us and an arrowhead necklace as a gift - simple things I guess.
And if we thought that place was questionable, Shanae got her first taste of Hostel life at our next stop near Alamogordo, NM. Sharing a bathroom and kitchen, bunk beds make from 2x4's, mattresses that felt like old hideabed mattresses. and dog friendly to the point of having dogs begging for your oatmeal breakfast were just a few of the fun parts of this hostel stay. The people we met were amazing though and make all the weirdness completely worth it.
Which brings us to Roswell, NM. We were happy to find more comfy beds and a private bathroom here. On our way here we had our first literal "road" schooling experience as the boys did home school in van on the 3 hour drive from Alamogordo - which actually worked out pretty awesome somehow.
Unloading our van here and doing laundry we again had another crock pot moment. We've shed another 8 articles of clothing between us (which significant for the limited number we already have) and 1/3 of the Legos. We also said goodbye to 3 pillows.
It's been an amazing week 1. We feel very fortunate for this opportunity and all the amazing people we've been able to spend time with and meet along the way. We stayed in Queen Creek, AZ, Tucson, AZ, Cloudcroft, NM, Roswell, NM and we leave for Texas in the morning. This week we visited Saguaro National Park, Tombstone, AZ, White Sands National Monument, Carlsbad Cavern National Park and of course the Roswell UFO Museum.
Our first stop was in the Phoenix, Arizona area. We got to stay with family and spend some with them and some friends in the area. We couldn't have asked for a better time there - it was the perfect start to our journey.
It was while unloading stuff on our first day that we starting thinking stuff like, "why did we bring a crock pot?" We specifically purchased a small crock pot, so proud of our great idea thinking how effective it would be for us to have it on the road. Easy meals and a small foot print. Well, with everything fitting inside that van every tiny space matters - even the space of a small crock pot. So, seven hours into our trip and we've already donated our special travel crock pot.
It wasn't until next day that we decided to donate a backpack we brought. And really we mean Ammon here. It was a really cool waterproof backpack though. Plus it rolled up really small. But it's gone now.
Next stop was Tuscon, AZ. We stayed in an AIRBNB with Tim and Holly. A small two bedroom house behind their house Upon arrival, it seemed pretty questionable, but ended up being a highlight for the kids. Still not sure why, but they loved this place. Probably because they left out Halloween candy for us and an arrowhead necklace as a gift - simple things I guess.
And if we thought that place was questionable, Shanae got her first taste of Hostel life at our next stop near Alamogordo, NM. Sharing a bathroom and kitchen, bunk beds make from 2x4's, mattresses that felt like old hideabed mattresses. and dog friendly to the point of having dogs begging for your oatmeal breakfast were just a few of the fun parts of this hostel stay. The people we met were amazing though and make all the weirdness completely worth it.
Which brings us to Roswell, NM. We were happy to find more comfy beds and a private bathroom here. On our way here we had our first literal "road" schooling experience as the boys did home school in van on the 3 hour drive from Alamogordo - which actually worked out pretty awesome somehow.
Unloading our van here and doing laundry we again had another crock pot moment. We've shed another 8 articles of clothing between us (which significant for the limited number we already have) and 1/3 of the Legos. We also said goodbye to 3 pillows.
It's been an amazing week 1. We feel very fortunate for this opportunity and all the amazing people we've been able to spend time with and meet along the way. We stayed in Queen Creek, AZ, Tucson, AZ, Cloudcroft, NM, Roswell, NM and we leave for Texas in the morning. This week we visited Saguaro National Park, Tombstone, AZ, White Sands National Monument, Carlsbad Cavern National Park and of course the Roswell UFO Museum.
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Do not give up, the beginning is always the hardest.
-Riza Budiman
12 days to New Braunfels, TX
The blog title is meant to be funny because I CANNOT TELL YOU how many times we were asked,
"You're STILL here?" Apparently, everyone is really excited for us or can't wait to get us the heck outta town. We go with the former! On Friday night, we said goodbye to friends and family and, you know, that's horribly difficult. We will miss them SO much.
It was a game of hurry up and wait and the day finally came... We were VERY confident...in fact, too confident. We only started packing the night before. Ammon was adamant that we could 100% fit our stuff into the van with NO car topper or hitch luggage rack even with ALL the Posh stuff I had to pack to run my business. (Watch THIS VIDEO to see what all I brought with me.) So, assured of our amazingness, we waited until the morning of... you know... always a good idea. Here is what it looked like...
"You're STILL here?" Apparently, everyone is really excited for us or can't wait to get us the heck outta town. We go with the former! On Friday night, we said goodbye to friends and family and, you know, that's horribly difficult. We will miss them SO much.
It was a game of hurry up and wait and the day finally came... We were VERY confident...in fact, too confident. We only started packing the night before. Ammon was adamant that we could 100% fit our stuff into the van with NO car topper or hitch luggage rack even with ALL the Posh stuff I had to pack to run my business. (Watch THIS VIDEO to see what all I brought with me.) So, assured of our amazingness, we waited until the morning of... you know... always a good idea. Here is what it looked like...
We were still undeterred. We had the kids start taking trips of stuff down to the van. Shanae was cleaning the kitchen/checking all the drawers etc... when Chase came up and said, "Dad said I can't take anything else down, there's no more room." ummm..... Ok..... So, here is what it looked like down in the parking lot.
It did MOSTLY end up working... but, maybe we could use some improvement...
It actually did get better the next time we packed it but... seriously... It's TIGHT people. So, as I'm sure you can ALL imagine, now that we are living life easy and breezy, everyone is 100% perfectly happy and stress-free. Here is our 1st family photo on the road.
But, even though reality isn't always pretty, it is REAL. This is a REAL life experience and adventure. We are not afraid to try and we are not afraid to fail. So... onward. Mohanna led the way. South... Arizona is our 1st stop. We will be sharing our journey (hopefully) about once a week.
Love,
the Araves
Here is the 1st planned leg of our journey! Be watching for updates as we travel across the Southwest!
"At some point, you have to let go of what you thought should happen and live in what is happening."
-Unknown
So, funny story.
We HURRIED through selling our house and getting rid of all of our stuff. We rented a place in town for the rest of football, SPECIFICALLY for this teenager. We paid for our current rental until October 21st so we would be here through the end of the season. Well, as life would have it, he broke his pinky in a particularly weird spot so he is most likely out for the season. Sidenote- people feel really bad for you when you call the Dr. as a "cash patient." We are self-employed- Health share programs for the win. So...we hurried up to WAIT. And wait we will. It wasn't supposed to happen this way BUT, we are living life. We do have some things happening before the anticipated launch date, some mundane, some AWESOME!
We are really grateful that his finger will be fine. We are happy and healthy. We are pushing on in spite of what "SHOULD be happening" and we are living in what's happening. Chase is still happy to spend time with his team and at orchestra. We are busy and the time will pass quickly. Hurry up and WAIT!
We HURRIED through selling our house and getting rid of all of our stuff. We rented a place in town for the rest of football, SPECIFICALLY for this teenager. We paid for our current rental until October 21st so we would be here through the end of the season. Well, as life would have it, he broke his pinky in a particularly weird spot so he is most likely out for the season. Sidenote- people feel really bad for you when you call the Dr. as a "cash patient." We are self-employed- Health share programs for the win. So...we hurried up to WAIT. And wait we will. It wasn't supposed to happen this way BUT, we are living life. We do have some things happening before the anticipated launch date, some mundane, some AWESOME!
- Chase getting his braces off
- Dentist Appointments
- Shanae renewing her licence while we still have an address
- Ammon and the boys at Disney
- Shanae in Hawaii then Vegas with Posh
- Ammon speaking at Weber State University about entrepreneurship
- We HAVE to decide what to do about our mail
- Homeschooling... yeah, we need to do another post about that...so far mostly good
We are really grateful that his finger will be fine. We are happy and healthy. We are pushing on in spite of what "SHOULD be happening" and we are living in what's happening. Chase is still happy to spend time with his team and at orchestra. We are busy and the time will pass quickly. Hurry up and WAIT!
"Wherever we are together, that is home"
We moved into our 1st rental. We will be here in town until Chase is done with football towards the end of October. We are comfortable here. It is clean and we have plenty of space! Check out the tour!
"If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting the rest of our lives."
So, in theory, we were ready.
Warning... there are swear words... Something this intense requires it...
In reality, it is quite a job to go through EVERYTHING. You guys, it just kept going! There was NO END to all the stuff. Here is how it went.
All of that was just the "getting rid of stuff" part. Our van battery started acting up. We replaced it. Then, the car ALARM (not like the ding of the door, but the after-market alarm) started blaring randomly when we would open a door or while we were driving etc...you can see what Ammon did to it above!
We really wanted to leave the house clean and ready for the family that bought our home. So, THE DAY BEFORE WE MOVED OUT (so close to being in the clear,) we put our oven on self-clean. It locked. Stopped. Fried some electrical component inside. That's STILL not resolved friends. Bless the people who moved in. They have no oven for like 2 more weeks.
Shanae cried. Chase had amazing neighbor friends. We miss the chickens. We miss sending our kids to school every day. It was hard. BUT... it is awesome. We feel strong. We feel brave. We are ready to coddiwomple!
Warning... there are swear words... Something this intense requires it...
In reality, it is quite a job to go through EVERYTHING. You guys, it just kept going! There was NO END to all the stuff. Here is how it went.
- We did an initial run-through of the whole house and assessed. We did our 1st round of items that didn't make the cut. 5 piles: Sell, Donate, Store, Take, Trash
- We did a 2nd go around and started selling on the local yardsale sites. We're still thinking we're ahead of the game. (FALSE- we were not... we learned that later)
- People started stopping by and purchasing items right off the wall... now that's a weird feeling
- Cue Shanae's 1st breakdown
- Begin indoor yard sale,
- Pack, Clean, Sort, Pack, Clean, Sort (you get the idea)
- ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!!! We have to be out a week early! GIVE ALL THE SH#% AWAY!
- GIVE IT AWAY!
- Nobody leaves the house without ARMS FULL of our stuff
- Outdoor "yard sale" becomes "FREE-TAKE ME." We leave it all out there- when we came back later, most of it was gone
- Our neighbors help us haul the rest to donation
All of that was just the "getting rid of stuff" part. Our van battery started acting up. We replaced it. Then, the car ALARM (not like the ding of the door, but the after-market alarm) started blaring randomly when we would open a door or while we were driving etc...you can see what Ammon did to it above!
We really wanted to leave the house clean and ready for the family that bought our home. So, THE DAY BEFORE WE MOVED OUT (so close to being in the clear,) we put our oven on self-clean. It locked. Stopped. Fried some electrical component inside. That's STILL not resolved friends. Bless the people who moved in. They have no oven for like 2 more weeks.
Shanae cried. Chase had amazing neighbor friends. We miss the chickens. We miss sending our kids to school every day. It was hard. BUT... it is awesome. We feel strong. We feel brave. We are ready to coddiwomple!
I want to live a simple life without stress or worry. I don't need a lot of stuff. I just want to be happy.
- Unkown
Getting rid of most everything you've accumulated over 37 and 35 years, 15 years of marriage and 3 kids is a VERY interesting process. We moved out of our house and we are keeping a few things in storage... What are they? Watch to find out. What would you keep? And how did my high school sweatshirt make the cut?
Here's a list of what we are keeping in storage:
Here's a list of what we are keeping in storage:
- 1 Bike
- Electric piano
- Smoker grill
- 1 Set of kids lefty golf clubs
- 1 Safe - 17' x 17' x 13"
- 1 Kitchen box (kitchen aid mixer, 3 knifes & measuring cups) - 17" x 14" x 11"
- 1 Modern art picture - 20" x 30"
- 1 Box of quilts/blankets - 20" x 19" x 15"
- 1 Box of kids keepsakes - 12" x 12" x 11"
- 1 Box of year books, pictures & other random keepsakes - 12" x 12" x 11"
- 1 Box of Shanae's awards and keepsakes - 20" x 14" x 13"
- Tool bag - 12" x 8" x 6"
- Cordless drill, battery and charger
- Socket and wrench set - 16" x 12" x 9"
- Rainbow vacuum
- Photo tote - 21" x 16" x 16"
- 1 Guitar
- Christmas Ornament Tote - 12" x 16" x 6"
Us.
Family of 5, all boys, all crazy, all the time. We live life partially-examined and partially on the road-vagabonding.Thanks for stopping in to check on us.
Business.
Dude! Vagabonding requires funding. Check out what we do below!