documenting overload... pictures and videos coming soon.

hey! hey! hey!

We're back.  We cut the trip a little early (no Zions or Bryce Canyon) for a dozen different reasons, but not because we weren't having the best time ever.  If I could rate our 2 week (2180 mile) tour, I would give it 4.5 stars and a 9 out of 10 rating.  Almost perfect... and that was really without any prep or knowledge of what we were going to do or how we would do it.  Honestly, it was so much more fun than I was expecting it to be (it's all about low expectations, people.)

This long road trip has been planned for quite some time, but not with the bus.  The tennis tournament in Palm Springs and Ben's orthodontist appointment in Vegas have been set for a couple of months.  But looking back now, I can't believe we actually pulled off the bus trip.  I thought it could happen.  And that's why I bought it when I did (duh) but getting the registration done, the couch and mattresses in and being able to camp like we did worked out perfectly.

What I didn't plan for was the digital world and how I would document it along the way.  You seriously have no idea what I am dealing with currently when it comes to plugging into the internet world.  I currently have a $10 a month phone plan.  I can talk and text.  It's the most basic phone ever.  It's not a flip, so I CAN connect to wifi when I have it, but except for the 2 nights we spent in Palm Springs (at an RV resort) and the two mini-stops we made to McDs for ice cream, I was unplugged the entire 2 weeks.  Aaron has an older iphone, so I was posting insta pictures and updating my facebook page from his phone.  He was a total sport about it, but because we were on the road and at the beach, neither of us could really even charge our phones.. so it was kind of comical.  At the beach (no electricity) he would take his phone to the camp ranger and have him charge it for a couple of hours... and then I would take a few pictures and upload them and in 30 minutes his phone was dead again, so that was a big "problem" when trying to update our audience.

The fact is, I didn't expect an audience besides a few friends who knew we were going before hand.  I set up a new instagram and facebook page just for our travels while we were on the road.  And hey! We've got 800 fb followers in a weeks time and just by word of mouth.  I love you guys!  More than half of you are people we don't know... so I am looking forward to making new friends!  But I really wasn't expecting the private messages we got (75 in the first few nights.)  I will answer all of your questions soon, I promise.

So, now that we're home, I will be blogging and documenting our trip properly.  Not a single picture or video from my phone has been uploaded, so that will happen soon.  Aaron's phone storage is so completely full and then I ended up buying a small digital camera at walmart and we're overloaded there too.  I took video when I could, but not as much as I should have ESPECIALLY when it came to the interactions we had with total strangers.  I am going to need to figure out how to ask them to come on camera with us because our convos with people at the gas stations and camp grounds were seriously my favorite thing about the trip.  I will tell you about them later.  SO MUCH FUN.  I think it surprised Aaron how much fun it would be to laugh and talk with total strangers..

Oh, and about blogging.  My laptop that I am typing from right now is missing two keys.  I am so ghetto, folks.  I will figure out what kind of budget I have and what I can buy to run this new adventure like a business, because that's exactly what it is.  It's a way I can work while raising and homeschooling 6 kids.  Obviously they come first and we will do what works for us and our family best, but if I can make money along the way while including a fanbase, I am totally going to do it.  Traveling in this bus with my fam and running it as a business is really a combination of all my best talents.  I am super excited about it and will plan on running a Kickstarter soon.  I need to figure out HOW I will pitch it (ideas?) but I want to start before we do the official remodel.

I will do a bunch of interior pictures and videos of the bus and give you an idea of my remodeling plans as we go... the first thing we will do is gut the rubber flooring and put in wood.  We've already been to a few flooring places to price out what we'll need for our 300 square foot palace.  I am really excited that we have people who will be with us from the beginning.  Thank you so much for following along and cheering us on.  You guys are so aweshum.  And that trip completely refueled my plans for what we want to do this next year (and beyond.)

Oh, an update on our marriage-- we're still completely different but that's what makes us great.  Aaron was so unbelievably amazing on this trip... dancing and talking and laughing with everyone.  We had some serious conversations on the drive and really everywhere we stayed.  And I feel closer to him today than I did two weeks ago or two years ago.  I know that as I am true to myself and stick up for what I believe in, he will be more likely to be himself and stick up for what he believes in.  And we will work together, no matter what.  We are a strong team and there is really no one else I would want to share a family and adventure with.  He is so cool.  I am excited for you to get to know him better-- as well as my awesome kids.  They are the best travelers, the best of friends and really just the coolest kids on the planet.  Love them to pieces.

So, all in all.  I need to figure out my game plan before we hit the road this summer.  I need better equipment.  I will NEED the internet and probably a new phone..  and I will need to carve in the time to document it properly.  I wish I would have been able to figure that out before our first trip, but at the same time, I am really glad I didn't because we spent some serious quality time together as a family.  We have a no-screens rule on the bus which means besides Dad's phone which got us to and from locations (and allowed Mom to post a picture or two on the internet) we we're completely unplugged.  We watched zero movies, tv.. the kids played zero video games or apps.  We brought books, a microscope, a telescope and played a ton of board games together.  We told stories around the fires and stayed up late talking about our fears and dreams and laughed so much.  Such good times.

When we finally got to our house in Vegas, Aaron and I pulled our mattresses in our old bedroom and had the kids all sleep in the loft together... and what happened every night?  The kids did NOT want to leave us.  They missed all sleeping together.  One night when Zack and Simon went to sleep at their best friends house, Ben and Luke came into our room and said, "Let's get the girls to sleep and then we can just sit around and... talk."  It was the end of our trip and it summed up exactly what I wanted our kids to experience... just wanting and asking to be together.  We totally put the girls to sleep and the four of us stayed up, talking in the dark.  It was so priceless.  Yes, I wish our discussions were recorded, but the fact that they were just ours was so special too..  It was the perfect intro vacation for what is to come.

My laundry is all clean from the trip, but it's still in the bus so we need to unload and get settled before I can document like I want to..  Stayed tuned and thank you so much for all your love and support.

Indian Wells (Indio, CA)

If I had better internet connections, my pictures would be in the right places... but for now, just scroll to the bottom.  Sorry!

Attending the BNP Paribas tennis open has been a "thing" for Aaron the past few years.  We were only a few hours away in Vegas and it's a cheap (professional) tournament in the beautiful Palm Springs weather.  Aaron missed it last year because we had a beautiful baby girl the same weekend.  This year, we made it a family trip.

We had no problem parking the bus at the tournament.  I dropped Aaron and the kids off at the front gate and then used the RV parking across the street.  It's typically $20 to park a car, but the RV parking was wide open and they didn't charge us anything.  It's amazing how many RV parks and motorohomes there are here in Palm Springs!

We sat through one tennis match before everyone was too hot (actually, Roma and the baby didn't even make it that long.) So we found a perfect place in the middle of the arena with shade, grass and big screens to watch the games all around.  All of the kids ended up there eventually, although I give props to Ben for sticking with Aaron for a couple of hours.

Around lunch, we left Aaron to meet up with some of his buddies and headed back to the Indian Waters Resort.  We made these reservations several weeks ago and figured we'd camp it out, if we didn't have an actual trailor or rv (or bus) to sleep in.  We paid about $40 a night for a full-hookup grass site..  It's big and has plenty of room for another car or tent, if the kids chose to sleep outside.  It beats any other $100+ hotel room in this area, for sure.  And right now, the rates are even higher because of the tennis tourney.

This resort is so nice.  Two big heated pools, a spa, two pool tables, ping pong, tennis courts, work out room, laundry, nice heated bathrooms with big showers, shuffleboard, bean bag toss, game room with tv, movies and books to read.  It's been fun to hang here and put our feet up while Aaron does his thing down the street.

Yesterday was kind of a bitter-sweet day for me.  I mean, it was a really great day.  The kids and I had so much fun together, playing games, swimming, picnicking at our site, just enjoying the sunshine and breeze.  I loved mingling with the older residents (many of them have been here since December and just park it all winter long..)  Everyone was so complimentary about the kids.  And I have to admit, they were so well-behaved and sweet.  We swam and played until dark and then showered and changed into pjs and slippers before we headed back to the bus for bedtime.  Everyone was exhausted, so we cuddled up and read together.  And the four littles were asleep in the first chapter.  Ben and Luke wanted to wait up until Aaron got back, but I didn't have it in me, I was just too tired.  As I finally laid down and closed my eyes, I couldn't help but think about how perfect this day had been, except for the fact that Aaron wasn't with us.  I know I could HANDLE my kids on the road, and I know they would absolutely love our experiences, but if Aaron isn't with us, there will always be a sadness about it.  We need to decide exactly what we want to do and why before we buy another house.

Today Aaron is back with us and we are headed to the beach... we are so close to our favorite camping spot on the beach that we just couldn't start driving north until we've seen it.  Carpinteria, here we come.

our second night including a domestic abuse call to the cops

So.. our plans quickly changed for our second night in the bus when Aaron's parents texted and cancelled our weekend in Taylor.  His mom was sick and they didn't think it would be smart if we went to visit them.  So we changed courses to drove towards the Grand Canyon.  I told Aaron that I would stay wherever he wanted, it was up to him..  and he wanted to get a hotel.  So he booked it about an hour away and we checked in early and went swimming and relaxed in our room..  We had dinner out of the cooler and totally chilled, which was just what the doctor ordered.

I think we all fell asleep early, probably 9pm again because we were so exhausted from the hike.  But Eden really didn't sleep well in the room.  Her top teeth were coming in and we didn't bring in a fan or her play pen, which was a mistake.  I was awake most of the night with her.

At 4am, I heard someone fighting outside our door.  It was a couple screaming about how much they hated each other.  And then I heard him hitting her.  Several times.  She was crying and he continued to belittle her and hit her again.  I got up to the peephole to see if I could see them, but couldn't.  So I called the cops.  It was only a few minutes of fighting, but my kids were all awake and heard the commotion.  Eden was crying while I was on the phone so Ben got up to help and Aaron (being the slow reactor that he is) was just putting two and two together.  Within a few minutes, the cops were knocking on our hotel room door to get the full story.  Apparently the couple wasn't even staying at our hotel, just came in through the front doors.  He was arrested (and she was taken into custody) and we were all safe to go back to sleep around 6am. The poor cop said nothing ever happens in Blanding, ID and it was the first arrest he's made in months. What are the chances we happen to be in the very spot of action? I swear I attract drama. It's one of my best qualities.

It was a sad experience to hear something so violent, but we talked to the kids about when and why we should call the cops. And then we started laughing because our night in the bus was more relaxing than our night in the hotel room.  But the hotel waffles and eggs were awesome, so once we were all fed with a warm breakfast, we were on the road again.  It took us about 5 hours to get to the Grand Canyon.  And that needs it's own post...

living the dream

During the first month of our marriage, after we finally opened a checking account together, Aaron said something like, "Sharing a bank account with you scares me." I was totally offended because I am very responsible with money.  I had two jobs at 14, worked my way through high school while getting good grades, got a scholarship to college and never had a credit card or took out a penny of student loans.  My older siblings were taking out loans from my savings account while I was still a teenager.  After I turned 16, I had the money to pay for my own car and went to my parents with my decision.  My dad said I couldn't buy it because he needed me to have that money in my account... (I don't have any memories of ever asking for my parents for anything and when I was a senior, I remember offering to pay for my brother and my high school registration and year book because my parents had two missionaries out and several kids a home still.)  Anyway, looking back, I think that was a mistake that my dad wouldn't let me buy my own car.  I know he'd still make the same decision today (say, if I went to him and asked him if I should buy a bus) because he's extremely reserved when making any purchases.  But I think the best thing a parent can do for their child is to let them make decisions and learn from their mistakes early.  Who knows, maybe if I would have purchased that GeoTracker back in 1998, I wouldn't be in this mess I am right now at age 35.  This is the first vehicle I've every purchased on my own.. and I had to take out a loan to do it.

During our almost 15 years of marriage, money has never been an issue between us.  Aaron is extremely frugal too and I love that about him.  We drove around 1983 Buick LeSabre for the first year of our marriage until we were able to pay cash for our first Honda because we didn't want to go into any debt when purchasing anything.  We were both able to get our undergraduate degrees with two kids in tow without taking out any student loans. The only thing we've done without cash paying for it upfront was law school for Aaron and our first home purchase.  Oh and getting a school bus.  

Debt is really scary to me.  We use credit cards, but have never carried over a balance a single month in our marriage.  I am proud of that.  Aaron's been a practicing attorney for almost 8 years and although he's had a good paycheck at times, he's also had some stressful months of unemployment.  He was laid off from his job exactly a year ago, just before Eden was born.  We knew it was coming and neither of us were scared because we had a cushion.  We've been living off that cushion for the past year and still have a little wiggle room.  Yes, we are currently living with my parents, but that's only because we're still paying a mortgage on our home until it sells.  We have been able to make things stretch without borrowing anything or asking anyone for financial assistance.   If we need to ask anyone for money, we will go to our 13 year old first who also has his own bank account and debit card.  Luke and Zack also have accounts through our bank and they pay for every Lego set themselves.  We do not pay them allowance, but the do have the opportunity to earn up to $15 a month if they don't eat candy or drink soda.  They are hard workers and don't ask me to purchase anything for them.  And I have no issues with them going into a store and getting whatever they want, as long as it comes out of their own account.  It's their money and one of the beautiful things I've seen as we've given them the freedom to spend is that they chose not to.

Neither Aaron or I spend money on anything unless it's necessary.  UNLESS, it's for family fun.  We will splurge on a vacation or a trip to the movies.  We buy season passes to the museums and waterparks.  We both agree that spending time with our kids is the most important thing we can do as parents.  We buy 100% of their clothes and shoes at thrift stores (yes, even my girls) and we don't buy toys for them.  But we do take them on vacation and when we're on vacation, we try our best to set a budget and stick to it. 

While Aaron has been self-employed this past year, we have been able to live with Vacation-Aaron everyday.  Vacation Aaron is so much more fun to hang out with than Working-Aaron.  Working-Aaron is an extremely nice guy, but he's tired and somewhat depressed.  He doesn't have a spring in his step.  This is the main reason I talked him into starting his own firm because I knew that if we were smart, we could have the best of both worlds.  For the past 5 months, Aaron has been doing most of his work from home, via the internet and it's been so wonderful, but it's not like pulling in a regular paycheck.  He is not a salesman and doesn't want me promoting his business in any way, so he's looking at starting a new full-time job at the end of the month.  I am excited for him.  I think this will be a good thing for our family, but I did try my best to convince him there are other avenues.  I am an entrepreneur at heart and I always thought I would team up well with someone who was willing to take risks (because I admire people who work hard to work for themselves, even if it doesn't pay off in the end.) But I also realize that Aaron, being the way he is, is such a blessing for our family.  

I bought the bus from a homeschooling family who had the intentions doing what we hope to do to it.. convert it and travel as a family.  I could tell the husband was heartbroken that he had to get rid of it.  The wife and I spoke quite a bit about why she wouldn't let him do it and I could tell she was a lot like my husband.  I could see the stress in her eyes and that conversation made me so grateful that my husband DOESN'T fly by the seat of his pants.  His slow-decision making flaw has blessed my life.  I've often wondered what my life would be like if I had a husband who lived more on the edge (I've wanted to do something like this for over 5 years, yo.) and sometimes I resent the fact that he "holds me back" but ultimately, I am extremely grateful for a responsible guy.  During his childhood, he moved every 2 years and he wants something more stable for his family.  I am currently typing from the home I lived in at age 5.  I never remember moving or starting a new school or having to make new friends.  So we are both kind of wanting what we didn't get as a child.  And that balance is good for our kids, I think.  We will chose to settle somewhere in the middle by buying another home (eventually) and then traveling in our bus on the weekends.  Sounds like a dream life, if you ask me.  

the Book of Benjamin (and our experience while reading the Book of Mormon from cover to cover.)

I've had a lot of kind feedback about our christmas letter and just wanted to say thank you.  The idea came about a week before it was written, totally out of the blue.  i wanted to do some kind of story-form letter because our year felt like we had a story to tell, but I never was able to put it in "once upon a time" format.  When the idea came to write it in scripture from Ben's perspective, it wrote itself.  Well, until the last few verses.  I was seriously stuck on those last few verses for a week.  I got so annoyed by it that I almost didn't finish..

Thinking back to it now, I realize I was stuck on what to say about myself and what to say about Aaron.. and how to end it on a positive note without saying our lives kind of suck.  But I honestly couldn't get it right.. and not to be too picky or anything, but it still isn't right.  One night I just filled in a bunch of words and called it good enough.  But then there was that last verse.. I seriously couldn't close it with anything spiritual.  I tried.  But I literally could not write something cheesy about God or Christmas or my testimony without it sounding in-authentic.  I have a really hard time with typical church phrases.  I needed it to be how I really felt, and the only thing I could end it with was that the scriptures helped us feel better about our lives.  And they really (truly) have.

reading scriptures as a family was truly our biggest and best accomplishment of 2014.  We read almost every day of the year for a good hour or more.  Because Aaron was home and because our kids schedules were flexible, it seemed like stopping after a couple of chapters wasn't good enough.  Sometimes I literally hated it.  But it became just an amazing thing for us, even when it was hard at the same time.  Especially when it was hard.

There were days that were so difficult that we sat down to read twice, morning and night because we didn't know how else to feel peace.  And when we didn't read, I can promise you, we felt it.  There was a literal tangible power that came into our home when we read together.  Answers to prayers came, our hearts were softened, we found direction and we genuinely felt more love for each other and for our neighbors.  It was a year that changed the way we read as a family..  and I hope it's something we're able to build on every year from here on out..

We didn't have a chart, we didn't set goals of when to finish by, we didn't care how much we read everyday.  We read through the entire Book of Mormon, then studied by topics, then read stories and parables from the Bible, and then started the Book of Mormon again.

After struggling to write one chapter about the happenings of my family, I honestly DO NOT SEE how someone (JS) could have written the Book of Mormon without divine guidance.  I love to write and it comes naturally to me, but I cannot fathom trying to write the entire book.. it really doesn't even seem possible.  I have thought it through over and over and I want my kids to read it with an open mind, really developing a testimony of their own.  In my mind, it has to be true.  It's powerful and brings good and wholesome feelings in our home.  The storyline is phenomenal.  The lessons extremely valuable.  The writing beautiful.  I have grown the really love the Book of Mormon through this experience and I would challenge anyone who's struggling with their own testimony to read it consistently and see how the feel.  It's been an incredible experience for our family.