Sweet Memories...Round 5

 Time for another round of memories! Ryan told me last week that he has loved seeing these posts each week. He said he loves remembering all the fun things we've done together! This week was particularly sweet for me to look over. This was one of my favorite years, in which we made a TON of intentional memories. I am so very grateful. 

Month 49: A Fun Vintage Date!

I always brag on Ryan for doing a great job on date-planning, but this was one of my favorite dates that I planned for us - and it fell during month 49. It actually was my mom's suggestion, because I hadn't heard of this place. But there is a place near Kokomo called A Summer Place that is like a tiny little town in someone's backyard. There are storefronts and signs and all of it so delightfully vintage. There's even a diner and movie theater! In December, they show Christmas movies, and you can purchase a date package that gives you a diner-style dinner, followed by the movie and some popcorn. I surprised Ryan with it, and we had SO MUCH FUN!! I know the sign doesn't say so in the picture, but we actually watched Elf, which is one of Ryan's favorite (non-Hallmark) Christmas movies! 

Month 50: Gallbladder Eviction: Take 2

We lost much of this month to trying to figure out WHAT was wrong with Ryan! He was having extreme pain, and we couldn't figure out what was wrong. Thankfully, the same doctor who figured out my gallbladder issues also figured out that Ryan's was giving him fits, too! (We had different issues: mine had an abundance of stones. His stopped working.) So after a month of two ER visits, a lot of pain, eating all the chicken broth, tons of tests, and so much prayer, Ryan's gallbladder came out! He did great in his recovery...better than I did, actually. Anesthesia doesn't stick with him like it does with me.

Month 51: Starting the Alphabetical Dates

After my victory of the cool date idea to A Summer Place, I came up with the next best date idea I've had in our whole marriage. I planned a whole year's worth of alphabetically-themed dates. We got a late start on this project because of Ryan's gallbladder issues. We had to wait until he could actually enjoy it! :) But one of my favorite (simple) dates happened this month. It was inspired by the letter B and included a night of BBQ take-out and borrowed board games. We got to stay home (which was grand because it was winter and so cold) and enjoy time together!

Month 52: A Fun Weekend!

I chose this picture because it always makes us laugh! One of my favorite memories from this month was the cold, rainy, yucky Saturday when we headed to St. Joseph County, better known as the home of Notre Dame University. We toured a chocolate factory (hence the photo), ate at the CUTEST cafe, drove by the (now-closed) tiny restaurant where my mom used to be a waitress, walked around the Notre Dame campus (which was empty because it was spring break) and ended the day with Ryan's surprise date for me! He secretly bought tickets to a Gaither Vocal Band concert so I could see David sing with them one more time before he left the group. It was the MOST FUN DAY!

Month 53: Fun with Friends

One of my favorite memories from this month is special to me because it was one of our last opportunities to do this! Throughout these early years of our marriage, we had a couple that we were such good friends with and often double-dated with. Mike and Angie were Ryan's friends that I inherited, and the four of us always had a ton of fun together. They went out with us during this month to celebrate Ryan's birthday, and then just a couple months later, they moved to the Pacific Northwest. You can believe that visiting them is on our bucket list! The pictures they post of where they live now are GORGEOUS! But this was, I think, our last time to go out on a double date, and it was a joy. We miss them!

Month 54: Boat and Breakfast!

Choosing a favorite trip is like a parent choosing a favorite child. :) I have loved all the trips we've taken - even the ones that can be classified as disasters. They still made for great stories! This month we headed back to freezing cold Michigan, but we stayed in a BOAT AND BREAKFAST, which remains one of the coolest travel experiences we've had. It was so much fun. We also ate a pie flight at an orchard, and THAT was fun too! (I heard from one of you not long ago...you remembered that pie flight from lo these many months ago and went to have one yourself!) Though the weather did NOT cooperate on this trip, staying in a boat and breakfast was one of our favorite memories. 

Month 55: Family Wedding!

This was the month Ryan's sister got married! She wanted to get married in the barn on the family's property (which is actually now the exact property on which she and her husband now live). Ryan and I helped get the barn wedding-ready, food prepped, and then he was a groomsman and I was a second shooter for the photographer. It was quite a month of wedding-ness! (This is also the worst I have ever looked at a wedding, but the name of the game was to be cool and comfortable in a barn wedding in June in Indiana. Sleeveless and ponytails all day long!

Month 56: Being Apart is for the Birds

This may not have been our favorite part of this month, but it reminded us of how much we love each other and why we HATE being apart. I went to a writing conference in Michigan and was gone for a couple of nights. I cried (A LOT) prior to leaving, and even though I had fun and made new friends that I still have to this day, I missed Ryan incredibly. I'm so glad we only do this once every 3 years or so! (And I think we've only done it once since this.) The best part? REUNITING!!!!!

Month 57: Class Reunion Time!

This was Ryan's 20th class reunion month, and it was a lot of fun. It was actually a two-night event! ON Friday night, we went to the high school football game, which marked my first EVER high school football game at my own school. We sat with people from his class, and since we went to the same school, I knew most of them! And then, the next night, there was a more formal night with dinner and a chance to really talk to people. I had a lot of fun being his date! :) 

Month 58: Double Dates Again!

This month was filled with a lot of quiet joy at home (and we had Phoebe for an extended stretch that month, so that kept us home more) but here was one of our favorite memories. Remember how I told you earlier about Mike and Angie, who came into our marriage with Ryan? Well, I brought Jonathan and Julie with me, and that was how the four of US came to be friends! And this month we went on a double date with them to Ivanhoe's! Who knew that a few years later, we would all live in the same community and be part of the same church? WHO KNEW????? This was such a fun night and teaser of fun times to come!

Month 59: TOO MANY FUN THINGS IN ONE MONTH!!

Okay, so this was the month of this year that makes it impossible to pick just one memory. First up, we went on a little weekend getaway to northern Indiana and hiked the 3 Dune Challenge. That was SO much fun. We also did another alphabetical date that took us to a food truck festival AND allowed us to tour a bunch of tiny homes. That was a lot of fun! But still, I think the best of all was celebrating five years of engagement by going out for a fancy dinner at a rotating restaurant that gave us stunning views of all of downtown Indianapolis!

Month 60: Hosting Thanksgiving

This was the month we hosted my family for Thanksgiving! This was also the year my mom had THREE joint replacement surgeries in one year. First - a hip. Then - two knees at once. That second surgery fell right before Thanksgiving, and she was actually a patient in Ryan's hospital over Thanksgiving. My sister and brother-in-law came home from Kansas to surprise her, and Ryan was able to get Mom out on a pass for Thanksgiving dinner. We hosted everything at our house, and it was a joy to be able to do that. We love hosting, and this was a lot of fun for us!

As I look back, I see what a full and fun year this was. We made a TON of lasting memories doing the alphabetical dates. We saw things, went on adventures, and had so much fun together. I am so very grateful for this year!

Update on September Goals

We are almost to the end of the month, and I am thankful I've been able to knock out so many goals (and bonus goals) over the last thirty days! Here are my updates from September!

 1. Schedule fall photo shoot.

(Photo from last year's shoot)

Done! I reached out to a photographer and scheduled a photo shoot for us for next month. Since this will be the tenth anniversary of our engagement photos, I do plan to recreate a small handful of those pictures. And we'll include Lexi in some of the pictures as well. (This will be her first non-parental photo shoot, so we'll see how that goes. Think she can remember how to look at the camera?)

2. Complete my Connection Center Coordinator Love INC training.

(Squinting in the sunshine on my last day of training)

Done - as of yesterday! I sat in on four training sessions over the course of four weeks and took pages of notes! Love INC (where Ryan works and I volunteer) has a national office that provides great training sessions for staff. I really loved the sweet lady that led all these sessions. She was born to train, that's for sure. She offered really helpful information and was exciting and engaging to listen to in every session. I was able to take away quite a few things to use in our future work with Love INC!

3. Work on the Love INC website.

Done! I mean the website is not even close to DONE, but I completed my goal of working on it! I am really not a website designer, so even though we chose a company that is pretty user-friendly, this was still a challenge. (Thank goodness I have a very talented friend who is jumping in at the end and rescuing me from myself. Thank you, Julie!) I decided to take the route of creating the most basic and usable site I could so we could get it up and running, and then I will continue to add content, piece by piece. It'll truly never be done, because we will always have updates to add. But I am so excited that the beginning stage is almost complete! It should be officially live soon!

4. Decorate our front porch.

In super exciting news, I was able to get a perfectly sized tiny table for our front porch area - for free! Ryan's sister has a room full of things that had been his mom's, and she shopped the room for me. We picked it up when we went to our farm date night, and right after that, we got some mums and BOOM! That became one pretty porch! I was pleased with how it turned out.

5. Finish preparing for the women's retreat.

On Labor Day, I was able to put together the Power Point (which is largely made up of pictures and Scripture) for the retreat. Ryan saved the day by finding my previous Power Point. I knew I had made one for this retreat in a previous year, but I could not find it ANYWHERE! It wasn't on any laptop, in any hard drive, or on any flash drive. I have no idea how I managed to lose my copy, but he had it on his computer and that saved me hours of work. I had to tweak several parts of it, but WOW. It saved me so much time. Thank you, Ryan!!!

After that, I was able to finish up everything about the retreat just in the nick of time to present it! Thankful for the opportunity and thankful it went well. 

6. Make my scrapbook of our family trip.

I knocked it out in one afternoon! The benefit of a shorter trip means I don't have as many pictures. (Well. Sometimes.) But I was pleased with how it turned out! I have three books made now, and they're running a great sale this week, so maybe I'll place an order!

7. Choose my workouts early each day.

The website I've been using for workouts (Faithful Workouts) offers four choices of workouts each day. The choices cover a range of time frames, difficulty levels, and types of workouts. I had made this goal so that I wasn't constantly choosing the shortest workout on the fly at the end of every day. Well, because of both sickness and travels, I didn't work out every single day, but on the days I did exercise, I followed this goal of choosing my video early in the day. it was great accountability and quite helpful in getting me to try things that were tougher to do. (Also...I had a request to write a post about the workouts I do, so that one will be coming down the pike in a little bit!)

8. Journal more thoroughly.

This month, rather than writing in my journal only when I was exhausted at the end of the day, I started journaling first thing in the morning and carrying it out throughout the remainder of the day. With the exception of the days I was the sickest (and therefore didn't care about anything in life), this plan worked really well. I am thankful to have more of my deeper thoughts escaping my mind and not just a running list of what I did that day. This was, hands down, my best month of journaling in a while.

Other Accomplishments:

* I cleaned up my blog list so hopefully I'm not clicking on a bunch of dead blogs anymore! (Now if Blogger could make a goal of accurately reflecting recently updated blogs, that would be GREAT!!)

* I had my hair cut and colored and returned to curling it more regularly. I also got some layers cut in, so it doesn't feel as heavy!

* I made a document for Love INC to help us keep track of upcoming speaking engagements so we always make sure everyone involved is on the same page and we don't have any lapses in communication on things that matter! (You can take the girl away from the producer role, but you can't take the producer out of the girl!)

* I finished reading a book! It was my first in a while - because of all the crazy life-stuff we've had going on. But it was a joy to sit and read some almost every day, and I'm excited to keep reading!

* I tried several new-to-us recipes and found in there a few keepers I'd like to make again!

* I began planning our future amazing road trip. I haven't told you about this yet, but that requires a whole post of its own. Stay tuned.

What I've Learned in September 2022

I know it's only the 28th of September, so I might still learn another thing or two before the month is done, but here's the so-far list of what I've learned in September.  

1. Taking a writing risk is scary.

I haven't talked about this one on the blog because I was waiting to know the whole story before I even brought it up. I will have to tell you the whole story later, but for now I will say that in this past month, I took a risk to try for something new in my writing life. It was a vulnerable thing to even attempt, and the long wait for an answer was a great exercise in trust and faith! I am proud of myself for taking the risk and trying something new. I think my heart needed that! 

2. Being sick is still for the birds. 

Right at the beginning of the month, Ryan and I caught a good old-fashioned cold. (Tests confirmed it truly was just that.) But as you might remember, colds and I are NOT friends and they are the worst when they hit me. Ryan said this was the worst case he'd seen me have in years, and he wasn't wrong about that. I even spent two actual days IN BED. I think I lived in Marion the last time I did that! It was awful, and the timing was awful, too. We both recovered JUST in time for our speaking engagements. (No one wants to listen to a snotty voice.)

3. Ryan does a great job speaking in churches. 

I wasn't the only speaker in the family this month! Ryan spoke at two different area churches this month to represent Love INC. In one, he made a short presentation during the service. In the other one, he had the entire message to share. He did a great job both times...I was so proud of him! While speaking to crowds isn't new or scary for him, preparing and delivering talks like this is new for him, and he's working really hard to become the best he can be. I love watching how seriously he takes it. 

4. Networking does not come easily to me. 

Ryan and I went to a networking lunch for work this month. It really was a fun event and a fantastic way to meet leaders from other local nonprofits. The Community Foundation put it all together, and I was impressed with the work they did. What I did not know going into it was that Ryan and I were going to be split up and placed at different tables. I was planning on just being his plus one, and then all of the sudden...I was on as a networker. Whew! He's better at the easy flow of conversation with strangers, but I hope I held my own! 

5. I love Progresso's cheesy enchilada soup.

While we were the sickest, we lived on canned soup. Neither of us had any energy to cook, so we just popped cans and ate. (Yes, I know that's not a healthy approach. No, I didn't have the capacity to care at that point.) I learned that Progresso has a cheesy enchilada soup that is both flavorful and sinus-cleansing. It was my FAVORITE. 

6. I've never tried a plum until this month!

When we were at the women's retreat, they had some fresh fruit available for snacking. One of the ladies at our meal table had a plum and shared it with us! She said it wasn't as ripe as it should have been, but we didn't know the difference because...neither of us has ever had a plum before. Can you believe that!?! And how did I NOT take a picture of this momentous occasion?

7. We like chicken in the air fryer.

I tried some new recipes this month, and one of them was a healthy twist on chicken parmesan. We made the chicken in the air fryer, and we LOVED IT. It cooked quickly and was quite crispy. We typically use our air fryer for tater tots (ha!) but I'm determined to learn to use it for other things, too. This one was a win - except for in the land of taking a picture.

8. Lexi is in her second fear cycle.

We have struggled some this month with Lexi being extra afraid of other dogs. This has not been her norm, but it has made sense to us since we've had a lot of encounters lately with dogs whose owners don't have them leashed, nor are they paying attention to them. (I have strong feelings on this, but I'll leave it at that.) I was doing some research to see what I could do to help our girl, and that's when I learned that doodle mix dogs go through two fear cycles. The first one is from 8-11 weeks and the second is now. The second one has more to do with trying to figure out their fight or flight response, which makes total sense! We are diving in and working to help her be brave and conquer her fears. (Doesn't help that her mama is a huge chicken.)

A Day on the Greenway

 

This past Saturday was pretty much a perfect fall day here in Indiana. It was pleasantly warm without being stifling hot, there was a delightful breeze, the sun showed up for most of the day, and I felt like people in general were just happier because of it all. 

Ryan and I decided to take advantage of some free time in our schedule and visited the River Greenway here in town. (I've decided they call it that not because the foliage around the sidewalk is green, but because the river is green! Ha!) 

We started with a picnic in the shelter, which, in truth, was really just a Wendy's value meal in the shelter. I do love me some Wendy's. 

Lexi got a modified version of her lunch while we ate. It's possible that I was supposed to bring her lunch Kong and forgot. So it's possible we just fed her treats until we got home. (In fairness, the "treats" we carry in our bag are really just dry dog food, so it's kind of the same.)

I am a notoriously slow eater, so while I finished my savoring, Ryan and Lexi explored the park and looked for squirrels. Pretty sure the "looking for squirrels" part was just Lexi.

 Then it was time to walk. We didn't do the whole stretch this time, but we did most of it. (And yes, we took plenty of water breaks for Little Miss.)

(Ryan and Lexi are in the shadows in that last picture.)

See what I mean about the river?

We finished up our walk, went home, fed Lexi her REAL lunch, and enjoyed the rest of our beautiful day. I am really thankful for all the visionaries out there who have taken time to plan and create beautiful spaces like this one. Makes walking so enjoyable!

Bluffton Street Fair

 Last week was the Bluffton Street Fair. Those of you who are from the Bluffton area (because I know you're reading!) can just go ahead and prepare to laugh at me. :) 

We had been told by so many (including some of you reading) that the Street Fair is a big deal that we shouldn't miss. So we went! And no amount of explanation could have prepared us for it.

First, if we could just talk about the parking? I had suggested just walking from where we live. It would have been a hike, for sure, but I had heard that parking would be a beast. So we drove, and guess what? Parking was a beast. We finally found some free parking - almost out of town, actually - and hiked into the middle of the craziness.

Next, if we could just talk about the parade? Our neighbor had told me on Tuesday that she was in the parade, so imagine our surprise when we arrived on Thursday night to find...a parade! What? We asked and found out there are THREE parades. THREE!!!! I was not prepared for a three-parade festival! (Also, we apparently missed WBCL in the parade night we saw. Sadness. Should have gone earlier, I guess. Or known there was another parade. Take your pick.)

You might remember that earlier this summer, we went to a different parade that was part of the Adams County 4H fair. We had been told that fair was basically just an animal show, with the parade being the grand star of the week. That gave us the false impression that fairs are not the big deal here that they are back in Howard County where we come from.

This Street Fair was like our hometown county fair dumped into the middle of a town. I'm sure we looked like perfect idiots just walking around with our jaws dropped, looking at all the rides on the streets! 

We had eaten dinner at home, but we wanted a treat, so we found an elephant ear to share. This thing was MASSIVE! And good! And the same price as parking, so Ryan said he felt really good about the fact that we saved the parking fee. (Ha!)

We walked around and actually found some people we knew!

We found Rob - as in our boss at WillowBridge - and his family. We also found one of our other WillowBridge co-workers and her husband. And then we found a guy from high school. We stared at him and he stared at us and neither of us could possibly imagine why we were seeing the other. We told him we lived here now, which surprised him, and he told us his wife's family was from this area. 

We walked around until we thought we had seen everything we could find, and then we hiked back to our car.

It was a perfect evening. Great weather. Great food. Free parking. Fun friends. 

And next year, we'll be prepared for the big deal it truly is. :) 

Sunday Sentiments

 

I've been working hard in the past few months to find new inspiration and practices for my writing. I had gotten away from it for so long, while we were at WillowBridge, and now that I have time again, I somewhat have to retrain myself.

I've been doing daily writing prompts, and I love them. They stretch my mind and push me to write about things I wouldn't normally choose. I've learned a lot about myself and my style from those practices. 

This week, I found a quote that struck me profoundly as a writer, but it wasn't even about writing! And I know not all of you are writers, but stick with me. I think you might find something helpful in here!

I've talked before about an Instagram account I follow called Bryarton Farm. The very sweet lady (Sara Jo) lives out in Kansas on a small hobby farm with her husband and three daughters. They are slowly restoring the farmhouse and their youngest daughter, Ellie, is blind. They adopted her from India a year ago, and I have learned SO MUCH from reading her posts. It's fascinating and inspiring to see how they have been teaching Ellie about life after she spent the first couple of years in an orphanage. Watching her grow and get strong has been so exciting!

But here was Sara Jo's quote that caught me this week:

The leaves are slowly turning from green to gold. A few are lightly falling to the ground. The places where the electrical wires were buried are now dark scars across the yard that pass in front of the farmhouse...This is how I might describe this view to Ellie Pearl if she were walking with me towards the farmhouse. Learning to describe things is a muscle I'm trying to exercise and grow.

Many people tell me they feel sorry for my daughter when they learn she is blind, but that's only because they don't understand that she doesn't miss out on anything. She simply "sees" the world differently. She enjoys the world through her touch, through scent, taste, and mainly through sound right now.

She has learned to recognize the unique sound of my footsteps and calls my name before I say a word. She begs for peanuts when she hears the jar opening. Nothing makes her happy like listening to her favorite songs. Someday, I will take her on long walks and describe the bucolic views to her. She enjoys a rich and beautiful life. We get the opportunity to share in her experience through the gift of words.

I realized that Sara Jo and I have something in common. We both bring people into our worlds through words. She uses her words to give vision to her daughter, who can't see with her eyes. I use my words to show things to my readers who aren't sitting with me and can't see what I see in the same moment.

Sara Jo is poetic and has a beautiful way with words. I learn more than I realize just from reading her descriptions (even though I can also see the pictures she describes). 

May we all remember the value and power of the words we speak and write. Whether we're supplying words for those who can't see something or just sharing our hearts with those around us. We have the opportunity to teach, inspire, explain, and...dare I say...paint...with our words! Let's do well with them, friends! 

The Saturday Six

 

This week's Saturday Six is a hodge-podge of items. There may not be a theme...but enjoy!

One.

I did a little cleaning up this week...on the blog! I don't know why Blogger has made all the changes it has recently, and I'm not fond of any of them. On the left side of my blog, you'll find a list of blogs I like to read. A few weeks ago, I noticed they stopped displaying the full list automatically. Only the top five on the list (in order of most recently updated) appear unless you choose to expand the list. THEN I noticed that for some reason, some blogs that have been recently updated don't show that and just fall into the bottom somewhere. Sigh. So I went through the whole blog roll this week. I deleted all the blogs that have stopped displaying (either because they've been taken private or they just don't exist anymore) along with a couple that unfortunately have changed in content so much that I can no longer recommend them. I left all the rest, including friends who haven't blogged in years but still have a published blog. (Sometimes I know things link back to a site even if it's no longer updated, so I didn't delete them.) If you are reading here and your site is missing, let me know! Hopefully it didn't delete anything it wasn't supposed to, but I don't want you to think I deleted you on purpose if you don't fall into the above categories.

ANYWAY! I say all of that to let you know that the list is cleaned up - and be sure to look at some of the sites more toward the bottom. Some of them are still very active! 

Two.

Last Sunday, when Ryan spoke at a church in our area, I checked out their library and found a whole series of fiction books published by Guideposts. The series is called "The Secrets of Wayfarers Inn" and it seems to be almost 30 books long! The series has been written by a collection of authors (not a collection on each book, but seeming to rotate a bit) and looks really fascinating. The premise, as I understand it, is that three retired friends come together to purchase a home in Ohio, and they turn it into a Bed and Breakfast and cafe. Have any of you read any of these books? I kind of want to read the entire series now. 

Three.

Earlier this week, Tamar posted about the High Line Hotel in New York City. I checked out their website to appreciate more of the beauty of the hotel, and I found this article about two dogs who got married there a few years ago. Their wedding cost more than ours! But I got a good chuckle out of the article!

Four.

I have not tried this recipe yet, but it intrigues me, and I'd like to give it a shot! A blueberry/cream cheese quesadilla breakfast. I think the hardest thing for me would be keeping the cream cheese minimal. You know...not turning it into a full cheesecake. :) 

Five.

Our neighbors have this, and it is the coolest thing. It's a little table top fire pit bowl that uses a small camping propane tank. The bowl sits over the umbrella hole on the patio table, and the propane tank stays out of site underneath the table, connecting through the hole. We hung out at their house for a bit this week and were surprised at how much heat this actually gave. Plus, the ambience was pretty perfect! 

Six.

It has been foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr since I posted a book review! That would largely be because I'm just getting back into having the time to read again! But today I'm wrapping up with a review for you. 

One fun fact about this book is that I read it on my Kindle! A couple of years ago, one of my sisters gifted me a Kindle, but of course...I didn't have time to read right then. But I read on Instagram that this particular book I'm about to review for you was free on Kindle one day, so I charged it back up, downloaded the book, and read it from cover to cover. (Full disclosure: I'm still 100% team tangible books, but I do see the convenience of sometimes reading on a Kindle.)

The book is called RVing Across America, and it's written by Alyssa Padgett. I started following Alyssa (and her husband, Heath) on Instagram several years ago. Their account is one of my favorites, and they were actually a HUGE part of the reason why we began dreaming of one day doing this very thing: traveling the country in an RV. 

This book is not Alyssa's first, though I have not yet read the first book. That one is called A Beginner's Guide to Living in an RV, and when the time comes that this is our life, I will certainly be reading that. But this book, RVing Across America, tells the story of how they got into this full-timing life and all about their first trip.

Heath and Alyssa were in their early 20s and recent college graduates - and engaged - when Alyssa came up with the brilliant idea to take a full year-long honeymoon, in which they would travel all fifty states. Heath and his entrepreneurial heart agreed immediately to the plan, and that was the start of one of the most incredible honeymoon trips I've ever read about!

They bought a used RV (without even really knowing anything about RV life), got married, and set out on their travels. They lived on quite a meager income that first year. Heath pitched to a company the idea of getting a job for a day in each of the 50 states, filming content about his experiences, and sharing his video and some blog posts Alyssa would write in exchange for a (small) paycheck. They agreed, and for the bulk of that year, that was how they survived.

The book tells the stories of their traveling and job adventures, yes, but it also tells about how they learned to navigate life together as they drove unfamiliar roads, dealt with RV breakdowns, delays, changed plans, and more. They learned to camp for free when they could - in parking lots and friends' driveways - and stop to regroup when it all became overwhelming. 

Alyssa is an engaging storyteller, and I paused to read a few of their adventures to Ryan, because they were so funny! 

The travels sped up throughout the book. At the beginning, her storytelling was much more thorough about their first few stops, jobs, and camping experiences. Later in the book, she merely mentioned states they passed through without pausing to tell the stories of those states. While I understand that the book would have been a thousand pages if she had kept up the thorough pace, I did want to know more about some of those later jobs and states, just as I'd wanted to know about the first ones. 

The future full-time traveler in me learned a ton from her about how traveling in this manner grows and changes you. I learned it's okay to wait for that growth and change and not try to force it to take place. I learned that it's both good and important to find like-minded people who chase the same dreams you do in order to fuel your passion to continue. Not everyone has or understands this dream, and that's okay! They don't have to. But when you feel discouraged, surrounding yourself with people who do what you do is key.

My only true complaint about the book was on the very first page. She began by telling a story from early in their travels, and the man she was talking to used some less-than-savory language. I really don't enjoy reading bad language in books and will typically nix the book if I find it. I decided to see if it continued throughout the book, and it did not at all. I wish she would have edited his quotes to eliminate the unnecessary words, but she didn't. After that, though, the book was clean and engaging. I am glad I gave it another chance.

If you have a secret longing for this kind of travel, I would recommend reading this book. It gives you an idea of what full-time RV life is really like - a mix of the serene and insane moments. It's also just a fun adventure to read in general, even if you don't aspire to become a full-time traveler. 

I'm glad I found the free download notice, and now I'm ready to resume planning our dream trip!