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Fan the Flame

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Fan the Flame 
Feeling dry? Sometimes you have to stir yourself up.

Just like David had to tell his soul to “Bless YHVH,” (Ps 103:1-2) there are times when we need to fan the flame. Did you know the word for “stir up” or “fan” is anazōpyreō and is only used once. (I love those types of words).

The usage is similar to that which remains of a fire and that by which a fire is kindled anew or lighted up.

Bless the Lord, my soul,
    and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
 Bless the Lord, my soul,
    and never forget any of his benefits

Psalm 103:1-2

In our house in upper New England, the main source of heat is a wood stove (from 1977 to be exact).  If we are to stay warm, it is dependent on us.  We have to keep the fire stoked, fed and kindled. 
In the mornings, if no one got up for the last fire feeding (yes, it feels like we have a newborn all over again), the stove will have gone cold.  But much of the time, if you turn over the ashes, there are some red coals hidden away in the bottom.

tranquil young woman drinking tea in front of fireplace

With some care at the first, you can baby those remaining embers until you get a small flame.  And from that small flame, you can start to feed it small bits of kindling, blow on it, and in a little while, you will have a roaring fire.  All from some bits of coal hidden away in those ashes.

man blowing on burning fire among friends in camp

As a Believer, sometimes it can feel like we’ve gone cold.  We feel like our dreams or purpose have gone cold, we wonder how and why aren’t we using our gifts and we can wake up to what seems like a fire that’s died.  And maybe the fire did.  Maybe you didn’t take as much care to keep the fire fed and going.  Maybe you haven’t had good teaching on spiritual gifts or that you even have one and feel like you should be doing something in that regard, but not sure how.  But I promise you this Believer: you still have some embers in there waiting to become a flame again!

As a Believer, sometimes it can feel like we’ve gone cold

Maybe it’s in another area of life.  Your marriage, your family life, your job or finances.  What about your personal and spiritual development?  There are so many areas we can apply this to, but let’s stick to spiritual gifts for now.

You say, “Yep, Amanda, that’s me.  For whatever reason, I let the fire go out.  Now what?’

Well I’m glad you asked.  That is the question isn’t it?  How do we fan that little ember back into a healthy flame?

To rekindle a fire, especially in an old wood stove, you need a few things.  First off, you’re going to need a little patience.  Dumping too much on it too soon will smother it, and that’s really frustrating when that happens.  You’re going to need some kindling that will light easily.  Some newspaper, small sticks or bark put on there in small pieces until you get a flame.  Then larger pieces as that flame grows.

close up photo of orange fire

You need some air.  If you blow too hard on the embers, they’re gonna go out.  And then, again, you’re going to be starting from scratch.  But with proper air flow, your small flames will catch and start to spread to the kindling until you can start adding your larger pieces of firewood or fuel bricks. 

So what are some practical things you can do to rekindle that fire that you feel you’ve lost?  1: You want to recognize and acknowledge what has happened.  Whether life got in the way, there was some hurt, or you just neglected your gift, repent!  Tell the Father you are sorry for not using what He gave you and to open up doors of opportunity for you to be able to step out and use them. 

Are you a teacher but not teaching?  Find ways you can teach others about the truth that is in the Word.  Don’t wait for your local church to put you somewhere, start a study, make some video’s.

Are you an exhorter?  Find ways to encourage people and come alongside them when they need help. 

Do you feel called into one of the 5 Ministry gifts?  Are you doing everything you can to learn about the function?

pile of books

Always be learning, what do you feel the Holy Spirit wants you to focus on?  A book of the Bible?  A person in scripture?  Spiritual Warfare?  The prophetic?  Healing?  Do the work!  Read books, watch video’s, take some courses.  In this day and age, information is at our fingertips or at least the capability to get it in front of you within a few days, so there is no excuse!

Nextly, put to practice what you’ve learned.  If you aren’t using your gifts, that can lead to a lot of frustration and then turn into hope deferred making your heart (mind) sick.  Many times, we can feel unsettled and unfulfilled in life if we aren’t using our spiritual gifts.  Sometimes we can be the deferrer of our own hope.  We wait for the Holy Spirit to grab us by the hand and to put us into situations so we can use our gifts.  Maybe we are waiting on the leadership in our local church to recognize some gift in us and put us to use. 

Your church leadership should be discipling and equipping you to go out and use your spiritual gifts in your day-to-day life.  If they aren’t, find some people you can glean from.  This may fall into a fanning your own flame area!  YOU are responsible for YOU!

YOU are responsible for YOU!

Once your fire is roaring, you’ll close your doors all the way and adjust your air flow.  Too much or too little air will put your fire back out or it will burn too fast.  (I’m sure there are more efficient wood stoves now, one is on the list) But I digress…

Pace yourself.  Life is a marathon, not a sprint.  You don’t want to put too much on yourself (learning too many things at once and not taking the time to settle it in your mind before moving on to the next topic).  You also don’t want to do so little that you barely keep that flame going.  Set a pace and stay consistent. 

Consistency is key!

~enjoy the journey!

The Secret Muses of a Disabled Vet’s Wife:

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The Secret Muses of a Disabled Vet’s Wife:

“How are YOU?” It’s been 11 years and I honestly don’t know if in these last 11 years I have answered the question completely honestly.

“How are YOU?”

  Being married for 19 years and having 3 kids, it’s easy to answer that question as an all-encompassing family question.  “Hub’s is fine, he tweaked his back again yesterday, but his attitude about it all, as always, is stellar.  He’s working on projects…. yep. He’s a genius.  The kids?  Oh, they’re great!  Working hard, staying busy, the usual.” “Oh me? I’m good, staying busy,” I reply without a pause. 

And I am.  Life is good.  God is good.  I actually love “adulting.” I love my life and love living it.  But as much as I’d like to fool myself, our life is not “normal.” 

Life is good.  God is good.

11 years ago, our lives changed.  My active duty Army husband had a jump out of a plane that ended his promising military career and then ended his short-lived civilian 2nd career.  The soldier that jumped behind him got his feet tangled in my Jeremy’s risers.  While he was able to get untangled, it sent my husband’s parachute into a pendulum swing and he not only hit with the normal downward force of a mass jump dump, but also hit the ground on the downward swing of the pendulum.  He managed to land in a PLF (“parachute landing fall” designed to land the parachutist safely), but he hit hard.  It knocked him out and the parachute drug him across the landing zone for a ways.  Amazingly, he broke no bones.  He does however have a massive amount of scar tissue from his body tensing to protect everything, a bent spine, degenerative arthritis in his hips and back and a TBI which spins him into vertigo at the most inopportune of times.  His medical records read like a dissertation listing all of his injuries.  It’s a lot.

When you live as a military spouse or family, you know how precious time with your loved one is.  In the civilian world, spouses generally go on errands alone and enjoy “alone time.”  In the military, it’s not uncommon for soldiers to go on errands with their spouses like grocery shopping and dr. appointments together.  That time together is precious, because you know how quickly that can change and your soldier is deployed, or doing training, or at a school and you are single mom-ing or dad-ing it for the forseeable future. 

We went from doing all sorts of things together, day trips exploring or hiking, grocery shopping, movies etc…to me having to go alone. It went from him getting the oil changed, airing up the tires, doing the “guy chores” to me doing it alone.  He went from being able to roll around and play with the kids to having to watch everything he did.  It’s hard to teach very young children that dad can’t hold them or play with them like he used to. 

Looking back, I realized I never really mourned what would have been.  A life where we don’t have to pick and choose our activities and outings together and space them out because of chronic pain.  A life without central vertigo sneaking up on you when you have made plans.  The different life our kids have lived because of pain and injury.  Just looking at my husband, you wouldn’t know he is in pain unless you catch him on a really bad day.  If he’s limping and not “faking” walking normal, he is hurting.  His accident thankfully didn’t injure his cognitive abilities, he is the same Jeremy as he has always been.  All his injuries are internal.  Which is both a blessing and a curse.  People that don’t really know him might accuse him of being anti-social or rude because he can’t jump in and help with things or may be quieter because he is in pain. 

If he does come to the store with me (for a few items) I will unload and load everything on the belt and cart because just him bending down and coming up can throw his back out.  We have to ignore awkward stares because you know they are thinking “why is he just standing there?”

On his “good” days. I.e. the days when his back is behaving and not out, he will exercise and try to get in better shape. It is challenging for him not to over-do because he knows just how quickly things can go bad. That bad may be tweaking his back just walking down the hallway, or brushing his teeth. Luckily, he has found just walking is his best mode of exercise. As long as he is going at a steady forward momentum on a smooth surface, he’s golden.

Throughout all of it, he keeps an amazing attitude.  He is upbeat and positive and it encourages those that know him.  He is an amazing husband and dad.  He loves Jesus.  He is supportive and doesn’t take for granted the things we do when he can’t.

As “normal” as I’d like to think we are, we are not.  Accepting that has been something I’m not sure I have ever done or will do.

“How are YOU?” My friend Kristen asked over the phone this evening as I gave my normal spiel and dodged talking about me.  She voiced what most people will not.  “I know it must be difficult with him in pain all the time, I understand that must be a hard thing as a spouse to deal with.”
I manage to sputter out that yeah, it is a different life and yes it can be hard.  I don’t know if I formed a coherent thought in reply.  I’m not used to people thinking I might not be okay.  Even when I’m not, somehow I must give off the vibe that I am completely fine.  I don’t know what it is, I don’t try to hide it.  And in my “now” life, I am fine.  Like I mentioned above, I love adulting.  I love my family, my life.  But no, my life isn’t “normal” and that isn’t okay.  I am not “fine” with it.  It just is.  You adjust fire and keep on keeping on. 

If you are the spouse of a disabled Vet, I want you to know you are seen, and you are heard.  This injury is NOT your identity.  It can be a lonely life.  Not necessarily lonely as in lack of family and friends around although that may be the case.  Lonely in a sense of you are the primary doer of things.  You do them faithfully and without complaint and you may be tired.  No one quite understands this life and the sacrifice your spouse made.  Heck, no one quite understands the sacrifice you’ve made. 

and the truth is that

all veterans pay with

their lives.

some pay all at once,

while others pay

over a lifetime.

-JM Storm

It’s a funny life, this life.  It never turns out quite like we planned.  There are twists and turns that take you to places you’ve never imagined but if you didn’t go, you wouldn’t be who you are today without them. 

So mourn what once was and what it was supposed to have been.  Because it is a loss and like with any loss, there needs to be time to grieve that old life.  We can be doing all the things but that doesn’t make our veterans injuries okay or normal, and THAT’S okay.

As you might have guessed…

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We are no longer traveling. Our time on the road seems like a whirlwind. It was a good almost year and a half out of our planned 2-5 years on the road. But God seemed to have other plans.

The spring of 2019 we started the trek back north as the weather got warmer. We went through Arkansas to visit Jeremy’s sister and family and from there made our way through Kentucky to visit where it all started for the Richard’s and then started making our way northeast.

I’ve always wanted to visit the northeast. When I was younger, I wanted to live in New England in a cute little cottage with a white picket or stone fence. Lined with tulips of course in the spring. When I was in Junior High and High School I even sent off for LL Bean, Land’s End and Newport News catalogs and would circle what clothes I’d wear as an adult and ooh and ahhh at the scenery the pictures were taken.

What I won’t tell you is that up until 9th grade, I thought New England was a state. I had always heard of it, and I guess assumed it was one of those little states up there in the northeast around Vermont and New Hampshire. I was so confident in this, that I argued with my high school geography teacher that New England was INDEED a state. After an animated discussion (and my lack of finding it on a map), my bubble was burst and my hopes and dreams of one day living in a cute little cottage in New England proper were dashed. Who knew?

(Everyone but me, that’s who.) Don’t laugh. My genius husband didn’t know pickles were cucumbers until recently. Yes, I’ll throw him under the bus.

Mad props to Mr. Rutledge my geography teacher though. He handled it stellarly.

Anyhoo, we had a good (albeit cold) time on our way up. Final destination: Maine. I had planned out major stays and booked them because it is rather difficult getting a spot as large as we’d need them and for a 50amp. The plan was to spend 3 months in Maine and get a monthly spot in different places. Well I was able to book 2 places for a month each, but could never find anything for the month of August.

So as we are getting closer to Maine, I think both Jeremy and I are feeling that our time RVing is coming to a close. And we’re not sure what to think about that. It wasn’t in the plan, it’s not that we wanted to stop and settle down, it was just a feeling of ending. We would pray about it and as we got closer to Maine, we started talking about staying. What if God was telling us to stay? Really? Maine? It’s so….far….from everything and everyone we love. We were really thinking we’d end up in Wyoming or Idaho or Montana…still far but not far enough to feel like you’re in a different part of the world. I mean, people might come visit us on one of those other places, but Maine? Did I mention it is FAR? Mainers have a saying about everyone NOT from Maine. They (we) are all considered “from away.” And from away is right. Because everywhere else is from far away.

As we crossed over into Bethel, Maine in our 41ft RV, it was like we were home. Not Bethel, just Maine. We further crossed the Sunday River and other places and landmarks marked our trip with the Holy Spirit saying “You’re Home! It’s here!” Again, when we prayed. And we brought back up the idea of planting a church. It’s one of those things that have always been on our hearts but it was never the right time and then there is the drama of running or starting up a church. In case you’re not aware, that comes with the headache of running a business (when you just want to teach and preach) and the drama of church drama. After being burned in a church in the past, did we really want to take that on?

Back in 2014, Jeremy and I went to a presbyetry service at Gateway Church in Dallas during the Jewish New Year. That is a story in itself, but long story short, that night during the words in season given, Jeremy was one of the ones called out of a service of a few thousand and given a word. Part of that word Ed Ivy gave Jeremy was, “Keep the Main thing, the main thing.”

That part seemed obvious. Of course we will keep God at the forefront as the Main Thing. That’s how we got there!

We’ve carried that word with us. Well the next morning as I am sitting drinking my coffee, Jeremy walks by me, stops, turns around and kind of looks at me. “Mandi, what if “Keep the Main thing the main thing is Keep the Main thing the MAINE thing? Is it that obvious? The revelation hit us like a ton of bricks and right there Jeremy prayed: God, we will start a church, just lead us to where.”

“Keep the Main thing the MAINE thing”

We realized why we could never book an August spot here, it was because that was the month we would move in to a house here in Southern Maine.

With Covid looming it’s ugly head around the corner, God was looking out for us settling down when we did. It has put a wrench in our church plans, but God knows the timing.

Currently, Jeremy has been busy writing a book and working on a podcast. I have been finishing up counseling courses for Christian pastoral counseling, writing a book, and will be starting counseling soon with my brother who will be moving up here to kick off this ministry with me. The kids have adjusted to a sticks and bricks home nicely and have settled in to the slower paced life here.

Life in coastal Southern Maine is slow, beautiful and we are excited for what God is going to do in Maine. The harvest is ripe.

Acadia Nat’l Park

Where It All Began

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After snaking our way out of the Arkansas mountains (hills? I dunno), we headed to Kentucky.

When J and I were first married, we were both in the Army and our first duty station together was Ft. Knox, KY. We have fond memories of there. We didn’t actually, then. But after we moved to the Ft. Bragg, NC in the pit of hell, we had a new appreciation for our time spent in Kentucky.

Our first home. Funny story: Under this window was this giant hideous bush that I tried to kill the entire time we were there. They had to have pulled it out, because I don’t think anything could have killed it. They also repainted. It was red brick with white siding.

Ft. Knox is the first place we made a real home, had our 2 oldest kids and I had to see my husband off for his first deployment as a married couple. We frequented Louisville often and went to The Old Spaghetti Factory. Often.

So we decided since we were headed to Kentucky anyway to the Ark Encounter, we’d make a detour for a few days and show the kids where they were born and see how much had changed. Elizabethtown has added a lot and Radcliff as well. We went to a movie at the little theater there in Radcliff for the memories. (I think before kids, J and I would go see every movie that came out worth watching)

We arrived at the military campground right north of Ft. Knox and it had changed a bit from the day my parents came to stay there while I had my middle. I remember being in labor when we went and met them at the park to get them checked in, then later my mom and I went shopping. In the cold, almost icy rain. Don’t worry, I didn’t have B until later that night.

We took the kids around Ft. Knox and saw our old house on post, the buildings J and I used to work in and ate lunch at the PX. Such good memories and nostalgia. I didn’t quite realize how emotional it would be. Its been what? 13 years since we’ve been there but it feels like a lifetime ago!

To finish off our time, we took the kids to downtown Louisville and the Old Spaghetti Factory to eat dinner. Jeremy’s mom loved that place and when we’d leave, she would always get a bag of Mizithra cheese to go. So of course, so did we. My favorite is the browned butter pasta with mizithra. Yummm.

I think the kids enjoyed seeing where they were born and K remembered bits and pieces of it. So excited we were able to show the kids a piece of their history.

New Familia and Sightseeing in Mountain View, AR

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Arriving in Mountain View, Arkansas was an adventure. The road from Hot Springs was increasingly windy and steep. I guess it makes sense being that we were going down into a valley, but seriously. We have decided that in the little towns headed down into the valley were designed by the town drunk.

Mountain View however, is a little paradise in the valley. Such a sweet little mountain town where folk music is everything. We stayed in a nice little campground right outside of town, Blue Sky RV Park, and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Nice and quiet and the owner was super nice. When we arrived, it was still cold and everything was brown. Apparently we arrived before their tourist season started. By the time we left, everything was green and the weather was beautiful.

People will bring their instruments to the Pickin Park and play and sing. Since we are not instrumentally inclined, we listened. 🙂

We had a reason for venturing into Mountain View, and perhaps that is the reason it has taken me so long to write about it. This is the first time my husband would be meeting his sister. It would also be the first time our kids met their cousins. Its truly an amazing story. One that’s hard to fit into a blog post.

But the background is: my husband was adopted when he was about 2 1/2. He had known all his life he was and that he had other siblings out there. His mom passed away in 2014 and we had much of her stuff at our house. When our house came under contract we had 30 days to clear it and get stuff packed. It was about 5 days before closing I was going through a tupperware of his moms papers, pictures and notes that I came across his original adoption notes from the paralegal. In this, we discovered his birth fathers name, the birth dad’s family and detailed notes on where they were from and what they did. It was truly amazing. It put us on a path to finding his birth moms sister whom he spoke to on the phone, a potential half sister and her siblings and the employer of his birth father. We learned from his aunt (birth mom’s sister) that she was contacted by a female saying she was the birth moms daughter.

We had a picnic out here with us 5, Jeremy’s sister, mom and husband! Such a beautiful area!

Making a long story short, we found the name of my husbands sister and we did what we knew how to do: find people with that name on Facebook and start messaging. It wasn’t until a few months later that the correct Kimberly messaged him back saying she was the right one! What is amazing, is that she knew about her brother her whole life and her adoptive parents actually wanted my husband as well. Instead, the adoption fell through at the last minute. She had been looking for my husband under his original name, but his name had been changed when he was adopted. So this is why she was never able to find him. It wasn’t until a few years ago, my husband actually knew his given name at birth.

So, a surreal several months later, we made our way to Arkansas to meet his sister and her family. I’m not sure what I imagined, siblings meeting for the first time, but it didn’t go like that. We met at her husbands restaurant with all the kids on a cold, misty day. They hugged, we hugged, we introduced nieces and nephews ( I have nieces and nephews y’all!) and just talked. After getting the stories told, from each perspective, it seemed like they had known each other all their lives.

We were able to meet Kimberly’s mom (who had almost adopted Jeremy) and her husband. Later that week, Kim’s sister and niece came up to meet everyone. It was all so surreal and have been able to spend an entire month with them all, getting to know everyone and the kids getting to know their cousins.

Our daughter also had her Sweet 16 here! We were so blessed we got to spend it with new family!

Its truly amazing how much the kids all favor each other, looks wise and personality wise. They enjoy many of the same hobbies, they are artsy and get along so well.

God has worked all of this out in His perfect timing and plan. I shudder to think that those notes could have been packed away without a glance into a storage unit to not be found for who knows how long. Because we are full timing, we were able to spend time to get to know each other.

My husband is over the moon that he has found his sister and he is so proud of her. Being an only child and now he has 2 sisters, brothers in law, nieces, nephews, and a whole other family who already treats us like family. God is so good and it goes to show, you don’t always have to be blood related to be family. I can’t wait until we go for another visit.

Hot Springs, Arkansas

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After a dreary, wet winter, we are finally starting to see some semblance of spring. We fell back an hour, (why are they still torturing us with this?!?) our daytime is a little longer, and people look to be coming out of their holes for spring break.

We spent about a week at Crater of Diamonds State Park, and while we didn’t find a diamond, we really didn’t get a good chance to make a noble go of it. It was either raining or freezing. But I highly recommend Crater of Diamonds State Park. We had a lovely campsite, spacious, paved and the park was quite nice. There are easily accessible walking trails as well. During warmer months, they have a small water park and snack bar open.

Crater of Diamonds

We started making our way toward Hot Springs and it wasn’t a long drive, a little less than 2 hours maybe with our RV. In Hot Springs, we managed to snag a spot at Gulpha Gorge Campground in the national park there. There are no reservations, just first come first serve. Arriving on a pretty chilly Sunday, we got a good spot that fit our RV. FYI: the spots closer to the front of the campground are more apt to fit a larger RV. The ones in the back may if you can back in. They are tighter to turn, and there are several spaces with trees that may make it more challenging. It was nice, our RV backed up to a pretty creek and it was quite pleasant.

Hot Springs was an enjoyable city. We learned our way around pretty quickly. We spent many of the days perusing the old downtown and Bathhouse Row. My birthday passed while we were there so we all went to a movie as a family and then my oldest and I had a girls afternoon and hit the private baths at Quapaw Bathhouse, shopped downtown, then hit the local tea shoppe. We brought home yummy cupcakes and cookies to celebrate.

The kids and I spent a day at Garvan Woodland Gardens. I think this was my favorite of our stops these 2 weeks here. The kids had such a fun time exploring the gardens. It was so well planned and laid out. There was a trail to follow, but from the trail there were so many rock paths and other tiny trails that led to somewhere else with something new to see. Or something that you could really only see well from the trail. It was beautifully done. For reals. If we lived near there, we would so invest in a season pass. I could imagine spending a day there sitting and reading or drawing in some little nook you found.

The Tree House area is a kids dream. While the treehouse was cool, there were tons of places to explore, climb rocks, explore a cave behind a waterfall where you could climb up and come out above…I had fun as an adult, but can just imagine the things a kid could dream up and pretend spending time there.

It was still too early for the tulips. (sad face) But the daffodils and some other bulb flowers were blooming. I think the lady said there were something like 100,000 tulip bulbs. Tulips are my favorite flower, how could they not be?! They are such a happy flower. So huge bummer we missed them blooming, but the other flowers were beautiful and bright.

Another highly recommended place to go with kids was the Mid America Science Museum. We took a field trip day and the kids got to try out all of the hands on displays there. They had 2 shows to choose from: The Tesla Demonstration and a Solar System Tour in the planetarium. The Tesla was by far our favorite, getting to see a 1.5 million volt Tesla Coil in action was pretty stinking cool. Unnerving, but cool. The Planetarium show was neat, but it looked a little too computery, and my brilliant observant hubby was quick to point out that they weren’t using the updated image models of Pluto. So what can ya do? Poor Pluto, it just can’t win for anything.

There were so many sights to see in Hot Springs, what would you add to the list of “must sees?”

~Enjoy the journey!

Magnolia Market in Waco

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Day Trip!

Visiting Chip and Joanna Gaines Magnolia Market has been on my must go list for a while. We finally made it yesterday! The kid’s were like, “what exactly are we doing there?” And you kind of have to fudge it a little rather than say you’re going to a large home goods store. They had already been to The Pioneer Woman’s Merc and lodge. So they figured they were good on the home goods field trip front. Oh Contraire! teehee

We are staying at a campground about 40 minutes away so we had to get going a little earlier than our usual to go to Magnolia Table for breakfast. We were all so excited to have my brother Logan join us for the day. He drove up from North Austin and met us there.

  • My brother thought I wouldn’t post this

We went on a Wednesday and at about 9am, we didn’t have to wait at all. The benefits of being able to go on a weekday..

  • Yes, he ordered an adult meal.
    No, he couldn’t finish it.

The inside was true Joanna Gaines style, light, airy and farmhouse chic. Everyone that is employed there are super kind, polite and helpful. We had a breakfast appetizer of Lemon Lavender donut holes that were delightful. I love a lemon lavender combo, as well as a good lemon blueberry combo. I actually have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to blueberries. Growing up with both grandparents owning blueberry farms probably have something to do with that.

Breakfast was a hearty farmhouse breakfast of bacon, eggs, these yummy giant tater tot things, and french toast for me, pancakes for the others or biscuits. The strawberry butter is to die for!

After a nice leisurely breakfast, we loaded up and headed over to the Magnolia Market and silos. It’s a really quaint area consisting of a few acres I believe. It houses their bakery, the market and the back area has a large area of astroturf where kids can play, parents can lounge or you can sit at one of the many picnic tables as you eat a meal or snack from their food truck area.

After dragging everyone through the market and looking at EVERYTHING, I came out with a few goodies. Luckily, living in 350 sq ft keeps you with a good minimalist mindset. You can’t buy what you don’t have room for. Or you could…but who wants that kind of chaos in their life?

Then it was outside where we played giant Jenga and threw a kickball on the astro turf and let the kiddo’s run off some steam.

We made a quick stop at the old Magnolia warehouse shop where they had some discounted and sale items. I found a Christmas ornament for our RV tree, (we try to get an ornament from the places we visit on our travels) a Charcuterie board, (eeek I’ve been wanting one) and neat leather pouch I want to hang on the wall by the passenger seat for my phone and book while we are driving.

  • I can’t believe this was a thing

Downtown, we visited the Dr. Pepper museum. My brother is a huge fan of Dr. Pepper. Huge. It’s a pretty neat museum, at the end, we were able to watch a lab demonstration about the history of “Soda Pop” and watched the demo lady make a celery soda. Yep, that was apparently a popular thing back then. It actually didn’t taste bad.

  • They’re over picture taking at this point
  • Got our “free” Dr. Pepper at the end and tried a chocolate egg cream

Off to the river and the historic Waco walking bridge. This area was part of the original Chisolm Trail and was neat to see.

  • “Everybody turn around so I can take your picture.”

For our last stop, it was back to Magnolia Market to eat a late lunch from the food trucks and get a snack at the Bakery for the next day. Everyone had a burger and I opted for a gourmet grilled cheese. It was all yummy!

  • “I am one with the force..
  • the force is with me.”

All in all it was a pretty successful day in Waco. I wish we hadn’t waited so long to go!

  • My #1; “I have no idea what we’re doing.”
  • The Lemon Lavender were yummy

Have y’all been to Waco? Are there any must see stops for next time?

~Enjoy the journey!

NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. I share links to products I love or that interest me, and if you do make a purchase it helps me pay for this blog, at no extra cost to you.


About Our Rig

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I don’t think we have ever formally introduced our rig, our home, our humble abode. Unlike others, we haven’t named her..him..it. We just aren’t those who would consistently call it Nelly. Or Helga. Or Tom. Really, we don’t even consistently call it anything.

It goes back between the “RV,” or “camper,” or “home/house.” We probably call it the “RV” more than anything. But in my head I hear Cousin Eddie saying “that there is an Awrrrr Veee.” So I can’t even take that seriously. But for whatever shortcomings we have with struggling what to call it, its our home and we love it.

Ironically, after looking online at rigs all over the country, we wound up finding one in Austin, not terribly far from where we lived.

When we started seriously searching for our RV, we made a list (it was more a mental list, we aren’t that put together) of what we knew we must have in an RV we were going to live full-time in.

-Diesel engine

-Bunk house

-Class A Motorhome

-Nothing over 10 years old

-Lots of storage

You get the idea. We went back and forth between a Class A and a 5th wheel. Well we did but not really. From the beginning, we leaned more toward a Class A Diesel pusher. Many families go for a travel trailer or 5th wheel, but for us and our needs, a Class A works for us.

My husband is disabled due to a parachuting accident from 2008. So the comfort of traveling in a Class A opposed to a truck was a no brainer. Also the ease of parking and setting up/tearing down a motorhome compared to a 5th wheel is just easier. We love traveling comfortably together with nothing blocking the views from our huge windshield as we travel.

We pull our Ram behind our motorhome and its seriously a 5 minute or less process to hook it up and unhook. Which is great because for some reason, it loves to rain on our tear down and leave days.

There were certain brands we just decided were a “no-go” from the beginning, so between the brands we wanted, needing a bunkhouse, and a diesel, that narrowed our search down quite a bit. We would find out there are not a ton of diesel pushers with a bunkhouse. We also, did not want to spend an arm and a leg on a brand new rig. Being debt-free was and is a big deal to us on this full-time journey of ours!

Initially we wanted to stay between 34-38 feet. So we found a bunkhouse plan in a Winnebago Itasca that we really liked. We also liked the Newmar Allstars we found that were actually a mid-engine diesel, but they were 40+ feet.

Long story short, we found a 2009 Newmar Allstar mid-engine diesel in Austin for sale and when we looked at it, it was like, “yep! This is it!”

We actually have a “basement” in the back, allowing for a lot of storage. The bunk area has drawers underneath the beds, an armoire across that holds our clothes and shoes and the kids each have a shelf with their “stuff.” While our fridge isn’t a residential size fridge (which I really wanted) it really holds everything we need. I can do a pretty big grocery run and fit everything.

I will do a blog post in the future with how we have everything situated and some redecorating.

Until then, feel free to post any questions!

~Enjoy the journey

Christmas in Cajun Country

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We spent the end of November and December in Louisiana visiting family. For Christmas we went to Saint Francisville, LA to visit family and spend some time.

Saint Francisville, La is beautiful. If you imagine the heart of cajun country with huge moss filled Live Oaks, Plantation and old Acadian style homes, ornate churches, this is the place to visit.

  • They love each other really..

Not to mention there are legit hills here. Which makes the terrain even more interesting. The weather much of the time we were here (see, it followed us again) was icky, so we made the days count that we got out of the RV. My uncle has a lovely place and we took advantage of being able to grab a fishing pole and go fish. The kids had a blast playing with cousins and roaming around.

St. Francisville has a “Christmas in the Country” every year that is worth going to. Shopping in the old downtown, seeing all the Christmas decorations, live nativity at a local church and “A Dickens Christmas” at one of the plantations. We got to tour the home, watch victorian style dancing and eat roasted chestnuts. Which, we all came to the conclusion that despite the Christmas carols singing their praises, they are just nasty.

We toured Rosedown Plantation which has a neat history.

After Christmas with family in Louisiana, it was time to head to Texas for another Christmas and to see more family and friends!

~Enjoy the journey!

NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. I share links to products I love or that interest me, and if you do make a purchase it helps me pay for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Bucket List: The Pioneer Woman Merc, Pawhuska, OK

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So my hubby is awesome. We went out of the way on our way back to Texas and took a few extra days just so we could go spend the day in Pawhuska, (I like to say this word) OK and go to The Pioneer Woman’s Mercantile and Eatery.

Outside the Pioneer Woman’s Lodge

Since we left Montana, I think the rain followed us. It has rained literally every travel day so far. We arrived at the Settle Inn RV park a few miles outside of town. It’s a cute park with a super sweet park host. As we got settled, I used their laundry room to get a few loads of laundry done. We have a combo washer/drier, but we had been having trouble with our water pressure so it was easier to just use the park washer/drier.

Oklahoma is one of those states like Kansas, that I really don’t ever want to live in or stay a while. (I’m sorry to any Kanansasians and Oklahomians, I’m sure your home states are wonderful) Case in point: the weather picking up and us starting to get severe weather alerts. As my #1 is in the park shower house and I’m going to check a load in the drier, we get a text from the park host saying there was a tornado warning and to head to the shelter (they have 2) if it got close. Lovely. I go knock on the shower house door and try and tell my #1 calmly to hurry up in case the bad weather got close.

On the way back to the camper with my clothes, the park host stops me and says “tonight, if you hear someone beating on the side of your camper, get up and run to the shelter.” Understood. The campground is up on a hill and you can see pretty far off in the distance all around. I could see where the storm clouds were and the radar had it moving our way. Oh Lordy. I stood there and prayed. Prayed that the storm wouldn’t move any more our way or be severe.

At that point, my #1 was back to the camper and we went inside to go to sleep. I’d love to say I was like Jesus, trusting God and sleeping peacefully, but I’m not gonna lie. I was a little anxious. I checked the radar several times the next few hours and guess what? That storm didn’t move any closer to us. Thank you Lord!

The next morning we woke up super early (for us) and headed to the Mercantile to hopefully beat the line to eat breakfast. That totally paid off and we were able to get right in. It was pretty full already for just opening and it wasn’t long before a line was forming.

We met some sweet people on either side of us while waiting for our food and got to chat. Breakfast was phenomenal. Hubs got a steak and eggs breakfast, and the kids and I got waffles or pancakes.

After breakfast, which we all ate too much of, we walked through nextdoor into the store and it was just so much fun! I loved how colorful and eclectic everything was. She has everything from dinnerware, to kitchen gadgets, to clothes and accessories and house wares.

Because of Ree’s Mercantile, several other business have opened up in that little town and it’s really a hopping place to stop for a day or two.

At breakfast, our server gave us tickets and directions to Ree Drummonds lodge where her show is filmed. It was a beautiful drive out there and the Lodge was so very cool. When you walk in, you walk into the kitchen set where she films. We met a very nice older gentleman that was very knowledgeable about the area and encouraged us to open drawers, cabinets and closets. She even has a junk drawer too y’all.

  • I tried to get them to pretend they were on a cooking show..

Aside from the kitchen, down the hall there were several guest rooms and bathrooms as well as a humongous utility kitchen (and the pantry. wow.) that rivals the Duggars.

  • The new standard

I told J when we finally settle down somewhere, this kitchen is the standard. J/k. Kinda.

~Enjoy the journey!

NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. I share links to products I love or that interest me, and if you do make a purchase it helps me pay for this blog, at no extra cost to you.