Once we’re in the house and life slows down I will be back to posting and updating and explaining the master plan and the ins and outs of life for us….

SECOND …. November 26th will mark our 1 year of living a 5th wheel camper… with 2 toddlers…. and 2 very over worked adults…. All I can say to sum it up… I am SO READY to live in a house again. …. AND I think the whole living in a 5th wheel would have been completely different if we were not stationary, building a house…. and going through COLD WEATHER living in one….. the plan was to travel with a 5th wheel.. that plan is still there but now another baby is on the way and plans shifted. Instead of taking off right away I’d really like to relax and UNPACK my stuff that’s been packed away and just sitting there in our basement as Chad rebuilt our house (house had house fire and we were rebuilding before we got on the road)…..

anyway… the keyboard works today and it’s the first time in weeks… over a month that it’s worked more than 3 or 4 minutes… ususally it’s so nice to us by typing the same letter 60 times or not typing a letter at all… soooooooooo I thought I’d post just to post because I missed posting….

Please pray for us that we get in the ‘house’ before the 1 year mark is up for us living here… days are getting near and I’m anxious to get in there! I can STILL say ” I HAVE NEVER LIVED IN ONE PLACE FOR LONGER THAN 1 YEAR ” — as long as we’re in there and outta here by the 26th….

as bob the builder would say (yes I watch too many cartoons in this camper)
CAN WE DO IT?

YES WE CAN!!!

lol

We have the first forcast for snow…. It should be greeting us tonight for the first time this winter…. and almost instantly I thought of this post that I posted last year about snow and how it’s lovely at first but just horrible by the time winter is over…..

I had to repost it again this year because EVERY SINGLE YEAR I think about this poem/joke/writing and it brings back memories of my mom reciting it to me as a young girl. My mom must have thought this was the funniest thing in the world at the time and she kept it in her folder of ‘keepsakes’ that is just full of random awesome things….

Soooo
Here it is….

A person who moved from sunny warm Florida to Upstate New York wrote this letter:

December 8th — It started snowing at six in the evening — the first of the season – The first we’ve seen in years. my wife and I took our cocktails and sat by the window watching soft flakes drift down over the area, clinging to the trees and ground. It was beautiful.

December 9th — We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering the landscape; what a fantastic sight. Every tree and shrub covered with a beautiful white mantle. I shoveled for the first time in years and I loved it. I did both our driveway, the sidewalk, and the neighbors walkway. Later, the plow came along and covered the sidewalk up with the snow from the street. The driver and I exchanged a smile and wave, both enjoying the beauty of it all. I cleaned the areas again.

December 10th — It snowed an additional 6 inches last night and the temperature dropped to 11 degrees. Several tree limbs snapped from the weight of the snow and lay in the yard. I shoveled the driveway again, heck with the neighbors walk. Shortly afterwards the snowplow came by, this time delivering to me the brownish grey colored snow.

December 11th – It warmed up enough today to create a slush which is not as pretty as the snow. I wish the fluffy stuff would come back. I shoveled the driveway again, fell on my butt in the driveway. $145.00 to a chiropractor, but nothing was broken.

December 12th – The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Oh well, I’m sure we will get some more before the enjoyable winter is over.

December 13th — Super cold today, but at least its over zero. There was over 2 feet of snow by noon. Both vehicles covered in salt and crud, Ice scraper slipped and I cut my hand on the ice on the windshield, I guess I need gloves. Snow never let up, not even when we went to bed.

December 14th — It snowed eight inches last night and the temperature dropped to twenty below zero. Power was out most of the night. Tried to keep from freezing to death with candles and a kerosene heater. Heater tipped over and nearly burned the house down. I shoveled the driveway and sidewalk again. The snowplow came by and did it’s trick again.

December 15th — Sold my van and bought a 4 x 4 Blazar so I can drive in the snow; also bought snow tires for the wife’s car. We need to be able to drive in this stuff. More snow is expected tonight.

December 16th – Where does it all come from!?? We woke up to sleet and ice screaming down from the sky. Every tree in a 30 mile radius is missing limbs. Must go shovel the driveway, the sidewalk and neighbors walk are lost causes now.

December 19th — Still cold, the wind chill is -33 degrees. The icy roads make for very rough driving, we would have been lost without the new 4×4.

December 20th — Had another fourteen inches of the snow last night, more shoveling in store for me today. The plow attacked by twice.

December 22nd — We are assured of a white Christmas, because thirteen more inches of snow fell today, and with the freezing weather it won’t melt until August. Got all dressed up (boots, jump-suit, heavy jacket, scarf, earmuffs, gloves, etc.) to go out and shovel, had two shots of brandy, then I got the urge to pee. Too bad the toilet froze the other day.

December 24th — If I ever catch that jerk that drives the snowplow, I’ll drag him through the snow by his hair. I think he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then comes down the street at 100 mph and throws snow all over what used to be my lawn.

December 25th — Merry Christmas! They predict another twenty inches of the stupid white stuff tonight. Do they know how many shovels full of snow twenty inches is? To hell with Santa; he doesn’t have to shovel the snow. The snowplow driver came by asking for a donation. I hit him on the head with the snow shovel.

December 26th — We got twenty-eight inches and then some. I must be going snow blind or have a severe case of cabin fever because the wife is beginning to look really good to me. I’ve given up shoveling, afraid that if I go out there I might kill the snow-plow driver.

December 27th — The toilets still frozen. If you go outside, don’t eat the yellow snow.

December 28th – They predict another 30 inches. Last time they predicted, we got double. I don’t think I can handle another 5 feet of snow!!

December 29th — It started coming down at 6 inches an hour. I closed the blinds and turned up our kerosene heater.

December 30th — I set fire to the house; now that white stuff won’t cling to the roof anymore.

As soon as it’s done I’ll be posting some awesome photos of the latest and greatest work done on our house…. EEEE It’s exciting!

We now have a front porch door and all 3 windows in… as well as all the sheathing up around outside and more than half the house is covered with the foam board (should be 100% complete after Saturday)….. The pictures I bring next week will be much more pleasing to the eyes … I promise… but for now… This will do.

Enjoy.

Enjoy.

I have a ton of pictures on my CAMERA but can not get them on my computer because my computer is actually FULL… maxed out… complete…. cant take any more photos. I just got CD’s to get all these photos off the hard drive and will be doing that this week. I was all excited to post pictures of our progress but I really only have a few from the past few months (I can still post those) but I’d really like to post the great stuff happening in the past few weeks…. so again… wait and you shall see our progress on the house.

I’ll post what I have but it wont be pretty and it wont be organized because I just dont want to bother putting the time into it if the GOOD pictures are coming later…

So stay tuned, Later tonight or tomorrow I”ll get some random pictures of our progress up.

If it’s not good enough for ya, then come back next week… I’ll have TONS of goodies to share by then~

Lately I’ve enjoyed the lack of phone working and lack of internet. I get some extra time to just lay around and do nothing. I need that right now because of the crazy cramps and sicky feelings I get from being pregnant. It seems like this pregnancy isn’t as bad as Addie’s and NOWHERE near as horrible as Caiden’s…. so I am hoping by the next pregnancy I wont have ANY morning sickness (that comes between 4-8 pm this time) or cramps or headaches that just wont go away with anything.

Anyway, what I was trying to say in this post is that I will be posting again soon… and WHOA do I have photos of updates. I was looking through my progress pictures of our house being built and have realized I have been slacking horribly. Forgive me dear readers…. Can I please blame it on the pregancy and just life itself? I’ll have photos of our house and photos of the kids doing fun kid type stuff (finger paints with Caiden was awesome a few weeks ago!) sooner than later (I hope)

ok.
that’s all.
Enjoy YOUR day.

~ Amanda

Thoughts are the thermostat that regulates what we accomplish in life. My body responds and reacts to the input from my mind. If I feed my mind upon doubt, disbelief, and discouragement, that is precisely the kind of day my body will experience. If I adjust my thermostat forward to thought filled with vision, vitality, and victory, I can count on that kind of day…

Thought, positive or negative grow stronger when fertilized with constant repetition. That may explain why so many who are gloomy and gray stay in that mood…. And why those who are cheery and enthusiastic continue to be so…

What do you choose today?

I so checked out a bunch of facts from 1970 (40 years ago)

Average Cost of new house $23,450.00
Average Income per year $9,400.00
Average Monthly Rent $140.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 36 cents
United States postage Stamp 6 cents

The USA’s EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Began operation
The USA first celebrated EARTH DAY

Average hourly wage: $3.23
One dozen eggs: 61 cents
One quart of milk: 33 cents
One loaf of bread: 24 cents
One pound of butter: 87 cents
One dozen oranges: 86 cents

Here’s a bunch of WOW facts from 1930 (40 years ago from 40 years ago)

Food Prices:
Milk, 14 cents a qt.;
Bread, 9 cents a loaf;
Round Steak, 42 cents a pound
Average salary: $1,368

The first diesel engine automobile trip was completed
(Indianapolis, Indiana, to New York City).

Life Expectancy: Male, 58.1; Female, 61.6
Hats were mandatory for the well dressed male.
The ninth major planet, Pluto was discovered.