The Shake Down

The “Shake Down”
What the heck is that?
Well I’m just gonna tell ya what it is. Because nobody thought to tell me until AFTER I went through it ?

It’s the first month of full time travel in a RV/Fifth Wheel. To put it in Laine’s words it’s the “Everything goes Wrong Life”! Lol! But for REAL! Our first few weeks included – but not limited to:

* What we thought was our black tank (poop tank) having a leak. Come to find out, it was just lose ??‍♀️
* Not being able to empty ANY of our tanks – which meant we stunk
* Taillights not working
* Brake reader thing not working
* Ramming the side of the fifth wheel into a concrete pole
* Almost running out of gas and having to park in a field (long story)
* Not having water
* Being eaten alive by mosquitos INSIDE our fifth wheel (boondocking done wrong)

The list really does go on, but you get the gist. After we left our camp in Illinois ( my fave) Michael and I just kinda looked at each other with a peace and relief. I said “I feel like we are finally living it and the freedom is settling in.” He said “ya … we made it through the shake down”

> Insert: He should have told me it had a name because I was pretty sure we were the only creatures experiencing this chain of events <

Call it whatever, but it should have broke us. It should have caused us to fight. Caused us to yell. Caused us to doubt. To hate. To fear. To regret.

Although it did cause some grief, sweat, eye rolls and flashes of fear … it brought us closer when we didn’t think that was possible. Michael and I used to be oil and water. Not anymore. Not once did we turn on each other during the infamous “shake down”. Not once. We are a team. He is such a trooper. I’m proud of that. We’ve fought through a lot of hell in our marriage to get to where we are so I feel the freedom to be proud!

Guys, the last few days I’ve just started praying out loud with tears burning my eyes more than once. More like praising. We are truly enjoying now. This is so FUN! So amazing! I’m giddy every time we get in the truck and I’m sitting right next to my “boyfriend”! I’m overjoyed when my kids are playing dress up and running around as they’ve always done! I’m proud that they are learning and seeing such amazing things! Morning snuggles in our bed every morning … one kid at a time piling in with sleepy snuggles! Ah! Im I love. This isn’t just “okay”. This is epic! Already! Each day has held crazy awesome memories … and each night it feels more like “home”. There have been multiple “divine appointments” that have already happened! God is using us, growing us, stretching us and blessing us. I’m so thankful. It’s been a good day. It’s been a good several days and it has done my heart so good. My kids are happy. That’s all I need ❤️