About Us

Why do we keep staying in Washington when we don’t like how cold the winters are? Why are we still in this one place, when there is so much more to see and do? How did we get so stuck? Could it be that we own two houses, have great jobs and love our little town,( except “TLO”, the loud one across the street)? Is that enough to stay where we are even though our hearts desire something different? We decided to look into moving to the southern part of Oregon, for the weather and to be closer to Mitch’s family. I began my search for a house with land, and my husband Mitch began looking for correction jobs, (he is currently a corrections officer, which he hates). As I looked at house after house, even 2 million dollar houses (nowhere near our price range), I felt the same thing; this doesn’t feel right for our future. I asked Mitch why he was looking into the same job, just somewhere else that he hated, and his response was, “it’s so we can get a house there”. As I began to ponder where we are in our lives and where we want to be, I threw out our age-old, why can’t we just live in an RV? Mitch and my dad, fondly referred to as Papa both said, “ why can’t we!?”
We had thrown out the idea a few times before, but didn’t believe it was really logical, practical, or really doable, so we would just day-dream about it off and on without really believing in our hearts that it would work for us. I mean seriously, We have papa, who is 72 and makes more random noises than all of natures wildlife. Charlie our Golden retriever who is past double digits on the scale, and knocks you over with his blur of a tail and our shih apso, who thinks that your lap is his rightful place where ever or whatever you are doing. We figured we would all go nuts being in such a small space, so there goes that idea. Until…. That feeling came again, in the gut, where I believe God talks to us. I believe that what you are destined to do in life, if you have faith, he wont let the little things dictate your path. It becomes a battle between ones mind and soul. Sooner or later, the soul shines the light on our right path!
Once we had the feeling that it was for us, we began quoting all the things that we know to be true or heard in some of our favorite movies; YOLO, get busy living or get busy dying, you can think about doing it, but unless there is action nothing will change, Life is change, death is dwelling on the past or staying in one place to long, with risk comes reward. I began to realize that the stuff we have, needs stuff to take care of the stuff. Do we want to have stuff or have memories? How much do we really need? When did we get so complacent in life? When you don’t challenge yourself you aren’t growing. I am tired of watching people’s lives on TV; I want to have a life. I want to make a difference in people lives. I want to enrich others lives, I was to be enriched. I want to go out into the world and live a life that honors the Lord, and be more like Jesus, and give of us, our time, our love. To soak up the splendor, and beauty of our great land! I am not going to be on my death-bed and say, “ I wish I would have watched more TV, or done more of nothing, or been more selfish.” It will be I wish I would have made more of a difference, touched more lives, been with family and had more meaningful relationships and connections, and created better bonds with all of Gods children because that is what matters, not matter! We have spent our 30’s acquiring, consuming, buying, expanding our possessions so that we now have the house with the white picket fence, and all that stuff of the “American dream”. It’s been great working towards and reaching that secular goal, but now I believe we are onto our spiritual goals. Thank you Lord for helping us to reach this place in our lives, all the goodness you have bestowed upon us, and thank you for putting this desire in our hearts and giving us a way to make it happen! Yippee!!
We plan to join the fulltime RVing world in September 2013! We are currently saving money and will be selling almost all our stuff to buy a used class A RV and CRV for our travels. More research to do and lots more to learn along the way! To those of you who have sites about living in an RV and the insights that you offer, thank you ever so much!!!

Here’s a little bit more about each of us..

Shawna-

I grew up in Colorado, barely venturing out of the state until I joined the Air Force at 19, after a year of college.  I was stationed at Fairchild AFB and found my four years in the military to be invaluable! But, being a free spirit, I decided to go a different path. I took advantage of the GI bill and got my bachelors degree in business at Eastern Washington University.  Although I got a degree, I just couldn’t find my work bliss and didn’t know what I wanted to do. I ultimately gave into the philosophy that I would work random jobs and either one would stick, or I would die trying to find my dream job.  To list a few, I worked in public relations for a skydiving company, was an extra on a few TV shows, oh, I did get my manicurist license (come to find out I am allergic to all that stuff), Corrections officer at a women’s prison, a receptionist at an advertising agency, a baker at a grocery store and my current job, and the one that I have loved above all others, is working as a sub rural carrier for the post office here in Medical Lake, WA. When I heard last month that the USPS is planning to stop delivering mail on Saturdays I took it as a reaffirmation of our plans, being that Saturdays are my only scheduled day of work.

Mitch

Born in California and raised in Washington, Mitch made an impact on lives from his early years when he went to Hyles Anderson bible college in Crown Pt IN.  Although he didn’t graduate there the lessons and experienced he had formed him into the man he is today.  I don’t know why they say jack-of-all-trades; it really should be Mitch of all trades.  He has been in the construction trade for 20 plus years from roof structure to fire proofing to building fences, until he had to get surgery for his forearms because of the strain that putting in fences caused him.   He began working for the department of corrections in 2005 as a Corrections Officer and has been with them since, until of course this September when we start our new adventure.  He has two wonderful children, his daughter Alichia is going to be 21 this year and Elijah will be 16 this month.  They will for sure be joining us on our travels from time to time.

How We Met…

In prison, of all places. Thankfully we were both on the right side of the law! Love finds you when you are least expecting it, and it blindsided both of us! When we first met, it was like the end of that movie with Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock, Forces of Nature.  If you haven’t seen it (warning: spoiler alert) Ben runs to his fiancé as she is standing in her back yard and there are these hurricane winds throwing furniture and linens around. When he get to her they are standing in the middle of all this chaos but yet where they are it is completely calm, like its their own little world and everything else fades away. Seriously, that moment was surreal, and such an experience was unknown to either of us before meeting.  We have now been together for 6 years, married for 1 year and every day together is a blessing. It is amazing to be with my best friend, my soulmate, who has the same dreams and means it when he tells me that he loves my “white” streaks because it means that we are growing old together, it doesn’t get any better than that. From dancing on a rooftop in Leavenworth, WA to Peggy Lee to remodeling our 1906 colonial house, I love that we are a team, and we are about to start a whole new adventure together.

Papa-

 72 and ready to rule! Papa is about to embark on a new adventure with Mitch and myself.  Thankfully, not soon enough, we need to get him away from the everyday world of re-runs and commercials (not wanting to learn how to work the DVR) and watching our neighbor, TLO (the loud one) making a scene. His dreams of metal detecting, gold panning and warm weather are about to come true! Pops is a Navy Vietnam Vet, buried his wife, my mom in 2003 to breast cancer, and his son to lymphoma in 2010, which afterwards he came to live with us.  After experiencing a few mini strokes last year, he is ready to take advantage of this opportunity, build up his endurance and embrace life to the fullest!

Charlie & Milo,

Our two dogs will be traveling the open road with us. Charlie, a golden retriever, the big mellow fellow and papa’s best bud who can never get enough love will probably have the most challenging time adjusting.  He usually wont come in the house when the washing machine is running, or the dishwasher, but I think once he gets the thrill of the great outdoors and traveling he will come around.  Milo, a shih Apso, who barks at his own reflection and gets jealous if Charlie gets more attention will probably adjust quite well being that he is a mama’s boy.