2 Begin Again

An epic journey to start over

Patience!

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It has been a bit since a post. We came to a stand still on the apartment after getting the call that our newest grand baby was arriving a little early. We traveled back to Oregon to meet our newest addition and could not be more tickled. We arrived back here in Montana three days ago, to a MUD MESS! It has rained pretty much non-stop while we were gone. I want to say I heard something like this is the wettest Spring in a 50+ years. We proceeded to get the U-Haul truck stuck and once again was completely in awe of the wonderful help we received, when we made a call for help. Yet, another contact and awesome customer service experience for rural America. Work on the apartment has begun again this week with tape, mud and texture. We made that a family effort, and the kids “got a lot accomplished”. We now have a shop full of our personal belongings, so we need to get that some what organized. Our septic tank began installation while we were gone, but has had to be put on hold until we get a little bit of dry weather. We have not yet heard from our well contractor. We were hoping for first of June for that to begin, but will just keep our fingers crossed that we see them soon. We had the footprint of the home site dug out while we were gone also. So exciting to see that each day on my morning walk. It gives me a since of being able to see the home in my mind. Definitely adds to the mud however (lol). The last picture is a great example of what our youngest daughter looks like on a daily! Her very favorite place to play is the mud puddles which sometimes involves dumping water over her head and that is how it dries. I think she will be a pretty cute gray haired lady some day! lol

Ughhhh Sheetrock!

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Two weeks since last post! Last week was a little bit of a crazy week. I took Hailey back to Oregon on Monday, so that she could stay with our granddaughter each evening while her daddy is at work and her mama has to be on bed rest. Gonna get that little one to cook just a little bit longer before we welcome him into this great big world. Drove back to Montana on Wednesday!

Chad continued work on the apartment and had sheetrock delivered Thursday. As of today we are almost done (I use we very lightly)! We have the kitchen cabinets and appliances ordered and will pick those up on Monday. While we are in the big town, we will pick up tape, texture and paint. Still looking to have this project done by the end of May, so that when we return from Oregon and welcoming our 3rd grand baby we will have a completed temporary home to move into.

Lets just talk about sheet rock for one second! Seriously people, why the hell do we think, oh no big deal we got this! My husband is a strong SOB and I am by no means whimpy, but for the love of muscles that shit is heavy. My hard head came in quite handy as I was holding sheetrock on the ceiling. Every muscle in my upper body is screaming, BUT it is almost done! Thank you lord!!!!

We hiked to Antelope Lake, this is a view of Lake Pend Oreille on the way up.

We have officially finished school up for the year for the two littles, Ms. Hailey still has some to go, but cruising right along. I am continually at awe at how much the kids just love being. The dirt, the land, the open space just all of it. They are super lucky kids to be growing up here. We decided we are going to take Sundays as our explore/rest day. We ventured up to Clark Fork a small town just on the Idaho border and did a little 3.5 mile hike with spectacular views. We have a lot of land to cover to get to know this area better and be able to share ideas on where to go and what to see. It will be a fun way to educate ourselves.

One more fun little tidbit. Remember when you were young and you had school clothes and play clothes! Well not sure any of my kids really experienced this, it just was. But we have all gone back in time a bit and we now have “town clothes” you know the clothes where you don’t quite look like someone who has not showered or laundered their clothes in weeks! The amount of clothes that are no longer “town worthy” are quite spectacular! We laugh and joke about it quite a bit, “those aren’t your town pants are they?”

Until next time my friends, cheers to you!

And we have LIGHT!

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Or you can say Power! What an exciting, fun last week it has been. On Friday our local power company came out and finished the power. So thankful that one of our main utilities is done. We have now heard from our well company and our sewer company. They are both telling us that they will both be in and up and running before we head back to Oregon in June to welcome our third grandchild. Sewer company will be out this week to look at ground and be sure they are good to go. Well company is saying beginning of June as they were delayed (shut down) 5 weeks due to local weather. Even though it is longer than we had hoped or anticipated, it will be all good. I have told myself from the beginning that as long as we had the apartment fully functional by the time we left in June, I would be very happy and that still looks like it is going to happen. When we come back home after our trip to Oregon we can transition to the apartment and 3 modern utilities! In the mean time we continue water/shower rations and pretend like we are in a third world country and not flush any paper products. We have been so grateful to have everything we need just a short distance away. Yes it sucks to not be able to take showers as often and as long as you would like, but in the grand scheme of things not a big deal. Hoping the local laundry mat will not shut down before we have a well, but if so then we just travel to the next town over that has one too.

Chad has been working everyday for the last 6 days and has the apartment completely framed, plumbed and will have electricity done today!!! You really do not want to see all the pictures the kids have been taking of that happening!!! Never said we were OSHA or MSHA approved. Doors and sheet rock come next! Still need to find some appliances and was hoping to find those used, but we will see. The online garage sale atmosphere is not as booming in this area LOL. It is getting exciting, but I am not gonna say that I have not come to find comfort and contentment in our trailer. Don’t get me wrong there is so many things I am looking forward to that are full size, but our little trailer has become home after 7+ months and I feel so blessed to have this opportunity and option.

We started checking out schools last week!! eeeeekkkk! Hailey and I went and toured one of the high schools. It was an amazing experience with amazing humans welcoming and answering questions. We spent 1.5 hours with the counselor and various teachers and staff. We did find out that she would have to be an out of district for that school (boo boo face), but we will apply and see. I spoke with the elementary school yesterday and we will go and visit there tomorrow with Ema and Dom. The principle/superintendent was an amazing presence even through the phone. So full of life and excitement. The kids are actually going to go today to check out their hunting/bow club after school and tomorrow after school they are gonna go check out their STEAM program (which is a stem program), currently working with drones and coding and next year will be doing robotics! Filled my mama heart with joy to find a leader so very excited to be where they were at and bring new things to kids. I have been making some contacts for 4-H and finding a place for Hailey to ride and am currently working on that. We found Ema a dance place and she will begin there this summer at a camp and then in the fall when they start back up. Ema has continued with her violin teacher/class that she had while in Oregon. They arranged and made it possible for her to be able to attend via Zoom and that has been wonderful. Hailey and I will check out the other high school option probably next week and hope we have just as an amazing of an experience as the first.

Again thank you so much for continuing to follow us on our journey. We hope through our journey, our writing and our experience maybe, just maybe one person will gain some positive perspective or desire to be brave.

Progress…

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We are starting to see some progress. We started our last week off with the slab in the shop being poured. This allows us to not only unpack our trailers, but also move forward with the apartment build! While the concrete company was here, low and behold the electric company showed up and let us know that they would be out this week Tuesday to start the electricity!! Double Yay! Chad got all the wood ordered, to start framing this coming week. Also got bathroom fixtures ordered and we will take a day to drive to Missoula to pick those up and toodle around to explore the big city. We are still waiting to hear from septic company and well company on go dates for those, but have begun to find our flow with limiting utilities. Made my first trip to the laundromat this week, boy has it been a long time since I have been to one of those. However, it was clean and I was the only person there absolutely nothing to complain about. We fill our water at a local Motel/RV resort here in Trout Creek. While I was there getting tanks and jugs filled I had an awesome conversation with the owner. Low and behold they are from Oregon (use to own Fish Lake, down in roseburg/klamath) area! They also have done foster care for years. Such a small world and we as humans have so much in common if we just venture out and have the conversations. He gave me some great feedback on local schools with pros and cons. That was awesome as it has been a huge weight on my shoulders. I will continue to reach out and get more feedback from others, but his words gave some substance to some of my feelings and thoughts.

This last week was our first full week back to school, since getting here. The kids did great and my little wi-fi box is amazing! I can tell they are getting nervous about entering back into public school, as a couple of them have been talking a lot about staying at home. We will continue to have good open talks with them all about the pros and cons and continue to support them in their journey. We have expressed how we think it would be best for them all to go back and see it and feel it before they make assumptions. However, in the end, we will continue to do whatever is best for them as individual learners and humans. 

This week has been so amazing to watch as the kids have really just embraced and loved this new home. The individual play and joint play makes this mama heart so very happy. So much imagination and adventuring from each of them individually. They embrace each day and the weather with open hearts and eyes.

Finding routine has been a tough one for me. But I am getting there by allowing myself grace and patience. I have been practicing Yoga for the last year and have really seen so much positive from it. However, my body has just not been cooperative since getting here. The dogs and I go for a walk every morning, and it is an amazing new part of the routine. I continue to wake each morning by myself and have the quiet and the ritual of scripture, meditation, journaling and hot liquid! Our mornings seem to be a little later now, but again that is just fine. I am learning the very BIG curve of more quiet and less crazy. Sometimes, I still get down on myself for “what did you do today”, but I am learning that this is the new life and so very blessed and excited to get to bring some peace and calm into our everyday.

We have arrived!

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So today marks one week since we arrived at our new home. It feels so good to just be here and begin. It feels like it has been forever in the not yet stage. We took this first week as our spring break and just allowed everyone to settle. The kids have literally done nothing but explore and work on their fort! It makes my mama heart so very happy. We are adjusting to the utility rationing. All of our utilities will be in, in the next 30-60 days just depending on which one we are talking about. We are fortunate to not be to far from town and have a source to fill water containers. My sister was here for a couple days mid week looking at property and all of our big kids and grandkids were here for the last part of the week to celebrate Easter and my birthday and that was great to be able to spend some time just as a family. Not gonna lie and say it was an easy “until we see you again”, but we are blessed beyond belief to have the relationships that make it so hard and to also have the opportunities to lead by example.

We were pleasantly surprised last week, with the county roads opening and our concrete guy showing up the second day we were here to schedule pouring of the slab in the shop. So, the slab will be poured on Wednesday and then the building of the apartment begins. This is where we will live for the next 1-2 years while we build the house. This will be a small, but very functional home and later on down the road we will use it as an Airbnb.
We restart school today and start getting back in routine. Mama definitely needs this, but I think the kids do too. Our dogs are in absolute heaven and are loving every minute of this new home. This was a big worry for me and am so relieved that they are staying close and living their best life. We will see you next week.

Saying goodbyes…!

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Here we are the last week before we make the move to Montana. We have been in our travel trailer for a little over 5 months. When you start this journey we never stopped to contemplate, and even if we did, you don’t realize how hard it is to say some of these last goodbyes. For many it is not goodbye, but until we see you again. But for others it truly is goodbye. You get a good dose of reality in just how important and how big of an impact some relationships and roles these people, jobs, relationships had in your life. You feel the impact that your spouse or your children had in others lives. Maybe even realizing for the first time how you have impacted others that you did not realize.

We have said goodbyes to our beloved horse and all that he brought into our lives including 4-H and our barn family. Tears have been shed and hugs and words exchanged, but you still feel a little empty inside. You are told of your impact on others lives and their utter belief in your journey and goals and it just hits home.

You have sat back and watched as your husband has said goodbye to all those involved in a 21 year career. How he has impacted all those he came into contact with and also how much he has been impacted by each and everyone of those people. The growth and learning he has obtained from these co-workers, sub-contractors and the industry as a whole. You watch as he mourns this part of his

Fear!

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Fear! The word is so intimidating and uncomfortable. But I truly believe it can be a driving force in change and communication. This word came up in our open conversations recently. As we are getting closer to our departure date, the fear is setting in like no other. The questions: are we doing the right thing, are we making the right decisions, are we abandoning our children?

These are all real fears for us. Chad fears his role as supporter of our family. Will he be able to find work when the time comes? We both fear the thought that we are abandoning our children and that brings great guilt, sorrow and fear! Have I made all the plans that I can to set us up for success? Will we be ok?

The answer is yes and no to all of it. As I said in an earlier post the most dangerous place to be is in “our comfort zone” we are starting to feel all of that uncomfortableness and fear of stepping way outside of it. However I know with the grace of god, our hard work, our consistent communication and support of each other and our family that we will be just fine. Our story is entering book 2 or 3 or whatever number it is. It is a crazy new twist, but it is our story and we are going to be ok. That fear is gonna drive us and push us to be better, to demand more of our lives, to show up and to lead by example. Too many times in life we love to preach but never walk the walk. So we are walking the walk, making changes when changes need to be made and embracing that fear!

Construction Begins!

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February 2022 and the shop goes up! Wow it literally happened so fast. Of course there was some issues the Friday before construction was to begin and how were they going to access the property (think snow and lots of snow). However this small community once again impressed us greatly and came up with a plan to help us from out of state. Monday morning the crew showed up and by Wednesday our shop was built, holy cow!

March 2022 Chad took a trip out and got the meter box in the ground for electric to come in and got a “shit” ton of pipe laid (pun intended) for sewer and plumbing for apartment. Lots of mud and very cold feet, but he got it done. We are now 30ish days out from departure.

Our legacy!

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What is our legacy? Sure we would love to leave a financial legacy for our children, but more importantly our desire is to leave them a legacy of knowing what being a good human is! Teaching them hard work, compassion, loyalty and unconditional love and for all that, we have and continue to do a great job. But what about the legacy of breaking barriers, of making change even when it is hard, of changing what ever is not right no matter how uncomfortable it is. That right there is a legacy that would make us damn proud. So, in this move, in this change we not only step outside of the most dangerous place to be, a comfort zone, but we begin to lead by example in doing hard things. Doing things that make us so very uncomfortable, but yet have the capacity to bring such joy, and freedom. July 2021 our home went on the market and we began a journey of faith and freedom.

LIFE!

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March 2021, we have now purchased a 20 acre parcel of land in Trout Creek, with the plan to develop it over the next 5-10 years to live in. But, then life pulls the rug right out from underneath you and breathing sometimes feels hard. You experience those moments of what in the sam hell are we doing and why! Is this the life we want, is this the legacy we want to leave, will we get the chance to celebrate and enjoy our retirement, or is our time in line going to come sooner? Are we willing to take that chance! Are we even experiencing joy in our life? Are we happy, sure we are happy, but are we actually living or just existing in a space that our culture has put out there as what we are suppose to do. Are we wanting something different and if so what are we willing to give up and or do to make that happen?

✕