It Has Started.

 The time has come!! Pop and Grammy arrived Wednesday, March 18th. Their camper is parked next to ours, I have to remember to get a picture. We started building Friday. It was hot, but we didn't care, everyone was excited. Saturday we celebrated Mom's 50th Birthday, it was so fun! Today, Blake, Michael and Pop worked on the cabin. I stayed up at mom and dad's to clean the Airbnb cabins. Otis got to play in the woods with Henry and Ian. They built a fort, Otis said they were so busy he didn't have time to go inside so he had to poop outside. LOL. Granna flew home from the Little Rock airport, mom and dad dropped her off on their way to Florida. 

We are still waiting on the loan, the bank said two more weeks. We've been using our savings to buy the lumber so far, but staying hopeful the loan is done quicker. Blake goes home in the morning and Michael is working all day. I think pop and I will go shopping for more lumber. The deck is next!

     The sun has been out the last week and it's been great! Michael and I were able to get a lot done outside. Only a few more weeks until we start on the cabin. I'm getting more and more excited every day. I can't wait to have a real kitchen, bedroom door and a normal toilet. The camper life has been good but I'm ready to have a porch. 

    Michael and I spent the weekend with Mom and Dad. On our way to leave, we stopped at our neighbor Perry's house. There were two cop cars and our other neighbors in the front yard. I knew it couldn't be good news. Perry had passed. He had been struggling with his health the last few months and had spent Christmas in the hospital. We loved Perry, Otis looked forward to seeing him on our way home from school. Michael and I both enjoyed many sunny afternoons on his patio with a cold beer. He was gentle and kind, never in a rush. It was a joy to be around him. I am thankful to have known Perry. 

    Tomorrow is the start of the busiest month that we have had in a while. Soccer games, dentist and dr. appointments, family, friends, birthday party, baby shower! I'm sure I'm forgetting something. 

My momma says I need to add pictures to my post, I'm going to try and figure out how. 

                                                                               Did it. 

Beginning of the cold

​It’s really starting to get cold here on the land. It’s going to get to 25 degrees tonight. The camper has a hard time keeping up with the cold so I lined the bottom with hard foam, it’s not working well enough. Tomorrow I’ll buy some square bales of hay to help. 

This morning we went to church and had full intentions of visiting with friends and family after. Soon after the service, Michael started feeling icky. Throw up icky, my most feared sickness. So, we made our way back to the camper to rest. 

The water lines to the camper have been frozen for most of the day. This evening I’ve been fetching water from the shed and warming it on the stove. I romanticize moments like this to get through. We’ll be in a cabin next year and life will look more “normal”. Whatever that really means 😂. 

Otis starts winter break on the 20th and we are SO ready. It’s time to spend time with family, eat yummy food and hibernate for a little bit. 

Michael has taken a week off at the end of March to work on the cabin. We’re hopeful to have it dried in by the middle of April. What a great birthday gift that would be ❤️. 

Our weekends

​It’s been a while since I’ve wrote anything down, we’ve been busy! The last two weekends we’ve had company over. My friend Grace and her son Everette came to stay a night in the camper with us, it was so much fun! We had dinner at the Pizza Pub and s’mores by the campfire that Mom and Dad helped me build. Michael’s family came last weekend. His brother Josh came on Friday in his popup camper to get some extra hunting in. Then, on Saturday, my mom in law, her husband Steve, Haylie, Isla, Cecil and Tyler all came. We had burgers, hotdogs, a pot of beans, homemade apple pie and some s’mores. It was perfect, I loved having them here. 

Friday the 14th our neighbor Corey and his friend Merle helped bury our water line, for the third time. I know, excessive. I believe it’s right this time, they were very helpful! 

Our next project is cutting down trees in the view, once we fix the chainsaw 😂 

Fall Break

Otis lost his first tooth yesterday! The tooth fairy gave him 5 dollars, she didn’t have change. He was VERY proud of himself and is already looking forward to the next tooth.

Michael got off work earlier than usual today, which was 5 PM. Otis and I did chores and went grocery shopping. When we got home we went walking in the woods. We wore bright orange just in case! Right at the end of our adventure we saw something bright white on the side of a tree, further up the hill. When we got close enough we realized it was a mushroom, Lionsmane! I cut it off the tree and brought it home to eat, I’m going to use it for dinner tomorrow.

Last night was our coldest night so far in the camper, we used the heater for the first time. Michael set up a small space heater in the shed for Kingston to stay warm, he’s too big to come inside.

I plan on getting my nails done tomorrow since we’re going to Texas for the week. My hands usually are too dirty to try and make them look pretty. Otis is excited to miss school and see Blake. I made Michael a Lasagna he can unthaw for dinner so he doesn’t starve while we’re gone.

Once we’re back from Texas I’m going to try and put some fall decorations up in the camper. They’ll have to be hanging decor, we’re slowly filling up every area in this place.

First Entry

This is a new concept for me, but I'm giving it a try. Over the past two months, my life—and my family's—has changed a lot. Otis started a new school, I quit my job, and we moved.

Michael and I had been searching for a home to buy for two years, but we could never agree. Too expensive, too ugly, wrong location. After a lot of discussion, we finally decided on a piece of land. It’s 3.5 acres—wooded, but not too remote—and closer to my mom and dad. The land had been on Zillow for only five minutes before we put in an offer. We were determined.

Fast forward ten months, and we’re now living on our own little property—in a camper. A camper wasn’t our first choice, but we knew we wanted to move soon so Otis could start his new school and we could cut down on bills. Those goals are now checked off the list.

Adapting to camper life was easier than I expected. Bumping into each other doesn’t feel rude anymore, and hearing and feeling every movement has almost become comforting. It’s easy to live this close when you actually like the people you live with!

The plan now is to start building the cabin after Christmas. Michael works at UPS and is busiest during the last few months of the year, which means more money—and that’s a big part of building the cabin. Last peak season, we saved enough to fix his truck and build a very nice shed (with the help of my Pop).

I’m hoping that the more I learn how to use this platform, the better I’ll get at documenting our life on the land. I want it to be raw and real so that I can look back in a few years and reminisce. I also want to share the silly and serious moments of our new life with close family, because one day, we’ll be sitting on a wooden porch, with a real driveway and a cozy cabin, talking about this—and I don’t want to forget what mattered to me during this time