Recently we have taken an interest in full time RV'ing. We started looking online to get an idea of how much it would cost us to get started. As many of you know, my wife is a stay at home mom so saving for this journey on one income will be a challange for us and already is but that seems to part of the transition and God preparing us for this lifestyle. Overcoming the obstacles will be a great beginning to this journey and a preparation for the lifestyle itself. We are excited to plan for a free life living on the open road. One obstacle has been opposing family members which I'm sure many of you know something about. "How will you be able to make it?" "When will we get to see you?", etc What led to this decision was the way God has worked in our lives seeing all things that have happend the last several years leading to this point and how it has somewhat prepared us. If you don't already know, about a year ago we felt called to pack up and move to a small little town named Grundy. We learned so much while we were there! We weren't sure how long we would be staying so instead of signing a lease, we rented a room at a little inn where we could pay by the month. This was a tiny space, big enough for the two of us and Maddy who was only five months old at the time, but we knew that making the decision to move there required a lot of downsizing. What was funny was that even though all we brought was what we could pack into our tiny ford we still ended up bringing way too much. You would be surprised what you can make fit into a small space when you really want it to! What was even funnier was four months later when we moved to Ohio for a job opportunity, we had to downsize even more because we could not figure out how we made it all fit the first time, haha! Although I'm sure that there will be times that we're not so prepared for, we don't give up easy! If you want to follow along with our journey- the saving, preparing, and getting started be sure to subscribe to email notifications so you won't miss when we post!

When we got our dog blu a few months ago we kept going back and fourth with whether it was a good idea to add a dog to our family when our daughter was still so little. For the first four months of her life we had two dogs, (if you are new to the blog go back and read about that story), but now she recently turned a year old so we weren't sure how she would do with one after not being around them for so long. I can't say it was love at first sight for the two of them, it took a few weeks for them to warm up to each other, but now they are best friends and we definitely don't regret our decision.

We are in no way experts on this subject but we thought it would be fun to make a little list of reasons why you should get your child a dog.

1. Teach them responsibility: Maddy is only 14 months but we all know children copy every little thing that you do. So when she sees me and my husband caring for blu feeding, walking, bathing, etc. we can see her absorbing what we are doing and as she gets older she will be able to take over some of the responsibility.

2. They will learn to share: Right now, it feels like we are in a never ending cycle of Maddy and Blu stealing each other's toys, food, etc but I know that one day this will get better as they both get older. This is also good for us because it will prepare Maddy for a future sibling ;)

3. They will learn respect: Maddy and Blu are always on rolling around on the floor together and chasing each other around but there are some times when neither of them want to be bothered so having a dog I think would teach a child to learn to respect other people and their personal space. This can also teach them that trust needs to be earned.

4. To keep them active: You can usually find Maddy outside barefooted and running around so I don't think we have anything to worry about right now but as she gets older I know that having a dog as a pet will help keep her moving around. There are so many things  you can do for fun exercise with a dog like going to a dog park, playing frisbee, going on a hike, and even just taking them out for a walk to potty will be so good for motivating us to be a more active family. 

5. They will always have a best friend: Everyone says "a dog is a man's best friend" but in our case "a dog is a girl's best friend" is so true. As they grow together through the years I know Blu will always be there through Maddisons good days and bad days.

"Be patient with yourself, nothing in nature blooms all year."

 Life is so funny the way that it can be so good and so hard all at once. This season of life is just that. Things have been so difficult for me emotionally for no particular reason. Life is so good in so many ways. I have a roof over my head, food (too much haha) in my belly, a car to get to and from where I need to go and my sweet little family. My husband works so hard for us so that I get to spend every single day watching our daughter grow up. With everything God has given me, I should walk around with a smile on my face all the time. I should feel less disconnected (I'm sure that has something to do with being away from our extended family) I should fail less at being the wife and mother I want to be. I should devote more time to God. But I do fail multiple times a day at each of these things and I constantly knit-pick every mistake I make. I think that this is all just a part of learning and growing but I'm desperately trying to find a healthy middle ground but I can't seem to get to that point and it's so frustrating so in the mean time I am just going to tape this quote all over my house as a constant reminder to be patient with myself. 

Do you ever have these random moments when you are looking at your child and it hits you that this tiny human is mine? Of course  I don't mean that I don't realise this all of the time,  I know Maddy is mine, but I mean that heart fluttering, butterflies in your stomach kind of feeling. The first part of mine and her daddy's relationship was when he was recovering from drug addiction. Anyone who has gone through this knows how rough those first few months can be and are. You are finally having to deal with life and all of the raw emotions you have been choosing to run from.  One day I came home from work and saw a piece of paper laying on the table. The words "LOVE ME" were written on it. I don't even know if he remembers it but those words have stuck with me. Over the years, when we have agruments, they sometimes find their way back into my head and I thank God for that because those are the times that, even in the heat of the moment, I remember what is important. I fail daily at being the wife God has called me to be and that I so desperately WANT to be but when I look at this little girl I see the fruits of that love. I see that 21 year old version of Shane and that 20 year old version of myself and how I felt that same heart fluttering, butterflies in your stomach feeling when I looked at him.