Making things pretty!

We finalized our skirt and painted it, we put up the fence so that the pups could enjoy our yard and not have to be watched like hawks, we also decorated the RV for Christmas with some lights. M finally got his icicle lights that he has been wanting for years now. We also added a new member to our family. We adopted her from the humane society here and she has fit right in to our pack, even the fluff is happy to have a friend in the house.

We love the lot we are set up on, we have a gorgeous view of Cheyenne mountain, we get deer and turkey in the yard, and the occasional bear trash diving when it's warmer out. The kids and the dogs are all enjoying the space to play in and we love it too!

M did a great job on the fence!

Love the mountain view!

 M decided if we were going to settle for our own home made skirting instead of professional that we were going to do it right and make it look nice. We found a color that was close to matching and M did most the painting himself, I joined in to help with a few final sections.

 

 We decorated the tongue of the trailer to make it a little more festive on the outside, along with adding a little extra lighting for those midnight potty breaks that the dogs like to take every now and then. M finally got his icicle lights that he has been wanting. They need some time to relax and stretch out from being in a tiny box but they look great and he's happy which is all that matters!

The newest addition to the pack is a tiny little gal. She is only 6 months old and is a Rat Terrier mix. She wont get in ad weighs in at a slimming 8 pounds currently. Which compared to the fluff is quite a difference! But she loves him, and I think the feelings are mutual.

Let me just take up the other half of the couch!

 

I hope to have interior photos put up here in the next few days with some of our organizing that we've done to follow soon.

Project Skirting and RV pup is not amused

First just a quick word from our fur baby, Bear (Aka. The Fluff). He does not approve of laundry day here, for the fact that when I'm sorting the laundry to fold he has no access to our room and decided to stage a sit in to express his disproval of me doing laundry. While I agree about his feelings of folding laundry I don't agree with having it just laying around. Space is at a premium here!

Project Skirting: Level Expert
        With the recent cold front that blasted its way through the state, we were in desperate need of a skirt for Bertha. Instead of trying to tough it out until December when we were up for a skirting company to come out and do it for us we went the route of DIY and M was very crafty and made us a fantastic skirt! I think Home Depot may love us with how many trips we've made trips there since moving in to Bertha. One essential for surviving winter is a skirt. It can be made from tarps, plywood, or a fancy one that a company installs for you, but you HAVE to cut down the air flow under the belly of the rig otherwise you will be hurting units because it will get cold, pipes will freeze and things will go down hill from there (see post about pipes freezing. Lesson. Learned). Since getting the skirt up our heat seems to stay more constant and the floors aren't freezing, which is a major plus.

Isn't she pretty all dressed up in her nice new skirt!

Another tip for keeping heat while full timing in the winter is to find some way to cover your windows and insulate them and keep the heat in. We opted for some thermal bubble wrap stuff and it has been amazing to feel the difference it makes between having it up and not having it up.

The window lined to keep us warm.

The Woes of Winter Living

We had our first truly below freezing temps a few nights ago (-20 real feel, brrr) and our pipes froze in the kitchen the first night along with the hot water pipe. The next night he bathroom froze up too. Talk about an interesting day with dishes piled up and no water to speak of. We had a glimmer of hope that night with some slow drips in the kitchen and water back in the bathroom. However M discovered that we had a pretty major leak in the under belly where we connect the city water in to the Fifth Wheel. Turns out that the threads in the connector got stripped between the connection itself freezing and the water coming in being warm from our hose. A trip to the RV store and Home Depot an we are now hooked back up and fully thawed! I think I heard a hallelujah chorus when the sink turned on and we had super hot water! I have never been happier to wash dishes, and you can quote me on that!

The glimmer of hope!

Nothing like an empty sink!

It's finally happening!

We have finally reached our goal, moving out of our house, renting it out to the buyer for a few months so that we can get to our dreams faster! Going through and downsizing things, deciding what will keep in storage while we are away and moving more things in to the trailer! Come the 1st our new adventure will be in full swing and we will be living full time in our new home on wheels. I'm slowly putting together a post on our organizing and how I'm making it work as things come together, just need to be all moved in to finish adding to it! We are so excited to start this new adventure and share it with everyone!

Downsizing is easy. Selling is hard.

My advice for anyone looking in to doing this life style. Start selling all belongs you don't want to keep or won't hold well long term in storage at least 6 months prior. We have allotted ourselves a month as we have our house on the market and realistically could sell it within a month, minimum. Rooms that looked clean looked like war zones once we started going through them.

When did we accumulate so much stuff?

I'll tell you, it took 7 years, 3 kids and two people who have a "this may be useful later" type attitude. We weren't sure how many kids we wanted so clothes and toys from the oldest two were held on to. Also having almost 2800sqft of space you end up accumulating things to fill rooms that looked empty and to organize all your belongings.

I've been asked how I can just let everything go. But it's all material. I carry my memories with me as do my kids. They have their favorite toys, a craft box and puzzles for those rainy or cold days when their toys become" boring". Our goal in this is to bring our family closer together, long after the novelty of the fifth wheel wears off. We want to make memories and spend time with our kids that would have otherwise been spent fixing a house or cleaning it!

Get out there and explore and enjoy your families and your kids while they're young!

And It Begins

So we decided to live full time RV. We purchased a Jayco Eagle Fifth wheel 30.5BHLT model. It took a week of waiting for hitch parts to only end up purchasing a new hitch and we were finally able to bring our new home to our house. Now starts the fun of organizing the 5 of us and our dog into our new home. As I get things organized and placed I'll post about helpful organization tips and space saving ideas. Follow us as we embark on this adventure. Things will be crazy as we adjust but it's just part of this roller coaster we call life!


Our new home!