Meet Up

It's always so much fun to "meet up" and reconnect with those from days gone by! Especially, when you so easily fall into conversation as if it were just yesterday that you had been chatting not several months ago!

 
That's exactly what we did today. We drove west, he drove east and we met up for lunch! We spent the lunch hour and a good portion of the afternoon just chatting away! It was so much fun! One of the reasons we are looking forward to our East coast trip...we will see him again!

Wednesday Words - Bible

Merry Christmas...   

 

The Birth of Jesus as written in the book of Luke, chapter 2, from the Holy Bible.

2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Merry, merry Christmas, officially!!!

Merry Christmas!

And we DO mean MERRY CHRISTMAS! That's just the kind of folks we are...not that there is anything wrong with Season's Greetings or Happy Holidays or any of that it's just we prefer Merry Christmas, thankyouverymuch!

Our official Merry Christmas note for the year...sorry, there was no mass mailing of cards this year, cause, well, you know, we are no longer at a mailing address. Therefore, we skipped using the USPS and went with an e-communication this blog post instead! Grab a hot cocoa, cup of joe and let's catch up!

 The UNofficial Retirement photo!

We are now officially R.E.T.I.R.E.D. Yep, that’s our BIG gigantic news for the year but keep reading as there is more BIG gigantic news...   However, after 26 years, 10 months and 3 days in the USAF it is our life nomore! Talk about change...this has been the story of our life but this year it's been HUGE! We are now happily living full time in our newtous RV and love it. We bought a 2002 Itasca Sunova just a year ago and have been to nine states and counting. We may just have to hit all the lower 48 states before we give this gig up!

In other BIG gigantic news our one and done graduated college in May and got married in July we are quickly became really foot loose and fancy free. And honestly, there was a point where we thought we would just both re-enter the work force and be somewhat normal Americans; then decided, nah, let’s live a little. We can always get jobs later! So that’s what we’ve been doing since the wedding living foot loose and fancy free! It's a pretty good way to go and so far we like the decision we made!

We have been all over the Midwest and decided to “winter” in central Florida this year . Then our plan is to trek up the East coast in the spring. We would like to hit the Boston/Cape Cod area, Maine and Niagara Falls for sure, the rest of the I-10 is wide open! Suggestions welcome! After that we will make our way down through the Midwest to visit the daughter before heading west! The thought is to make it out west for the winter. Then who knows what’s next! It sounds crazy we know and we are so excited to be able to make this journey at this point in our life, we are truly so very blessed and beside ourselves with excitement!

Speaking of blessings, we have had such tremendous blessings since we started this nomadic living! God has protected us, provided for us and given us much to be thankful for. We have been so blessed to be able to reconnect and spend time with so many from our past it’s been awesome. Don't think it's all been without hiccups because we have certainly had our days and doubts. But for the most part it's been just amazing. Not perfect mind you but awesomely amazing! 

 Living the dream...

Many blessings to you and yours as you enter another new year. Make it a great one and seize the moments you have! 

#MERRYCHRISTMAS

ONE YEAR

It's our ONE year anniversary with Sunny! It was one year ago today that we started this incredible journey! I blogged it here on a short lived blog that I started and then decided it wasn't the right fit.

So the year has gone by quicker then I imagined and yet it seems like we have been doing this forever already (in a good way). I am amazed at how quickly we adapted and have been Living the dream... Cheesy I know but truer words can't have been thought or written!

We have made some great memories and we are looking forward to making more. It's been a year of learning, challenges and doubts. It's been a year that we feel pretty darn great and incompetent all in the same moment, it's been incredible. We are looking forward to continuing even if that wasn't the original plan, it's the new plan now! We are planning to go for year two, yep that's right, we are planning year two right now. And we are super excited about the possibilities!

Stay tuned as we continue to LIVE THE DREAM!

 The view we have not grown tired of seeing...

#BeautifulSunsets

#BeachViews

Wednesday Words - Barton

At church a few weeks ago the message was on forgiveness... 

The quote (encounter) the pastor used has stuck with me. I have been mulling it over a lot ever since. I guess that means it made an impact and therefore I share it with you today for Wednesday Words...

Clara Barton, the nurse who founded the American Red Cross in 1881, made it a rule never to hold onto resentment.

A friend once reminded her of a cruel incident some years previously, but Barton seemed not to recall it.

"Don't you remember the wrong that was done to you?" the friend asked.

"No," Barton answered calmly. "I distinctly remember forgetting that."

I really love the concept of her thought. However, I will also not hesitate to admit it is not as easy to follow her practice...at least in my world! I don't always forget so easily. It served as another gentle reminder I am to continue to work on this.
  
I could probably go on to say so much more but suffice to say I need to distinctly forget some things...

 #forgivenessAIN'Teasy
#ChurchAtViera

Tampa Mail Run!!

It's been awhile since we've had real mail. I mean we get the updates over the phone and we get the scans but to put our hands on our own mail; well, it's been awhile! Since one of MiRVs brothers live across the way to the west and he had been in MO last month he brought the mail accumulation with him for delivery to us. A whole box (and to be honest not much of it was really needed at all!) A couple items did need attention (you know county taxes) but the rest with the exception of MiRVs magazines was dumpster material as my dad often says! So we stripped our name off of it and sent it on it's way to the dumpster. That was only after we burned a little of it in the fire pit! Now, that was fun, too bad there are no pictures!!!

If only the junk would stop, but at least there was no charge in this delivery. Thanks MM!

  And MiRV really has enjoyed looking at these since we returned...

Yep, C broke out the wine to go with dinner!


We also enjoyed visiting while we were there and there was a great steak dinner too, thanks for grilling out MM we really had a great time!

Tangelo tree in their front yard...can you say SOUR and seeds :(

As we trekked back we stopped at the B I G  R V place! Kinds neat to look around but not gonna be seeing us in anything they had on their lot anytime soon. But we did have fun just ogling it all and thought nope, nope, maybe, someday, definitely NOT and okay maybe on the different options and setups. For the most part they were rigs equipped way too fancy to us, I mean TWO bathrooms, really in an RV, I think not...but it's probably on somebodies must have list, just not mine! And like MiRV said, "I think we did pretty good on what we got and what we paid; in fact, I'm really happy with what we have." I totally agree with him. :)

Have a great day all!

Wednesday Words - Tzu

"A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving"

~Lao Tzu

Quite a thought to think. yes? Though I'll admit I do like to have a few plans in place cause I am a planner like that! 

However, I do also enjoy the ability to change those said plans...on a whim, if I choose...but let's be honest I am not the spontaneous type. I know, say it ain't so, but it IS. 

Though I do enjoy moments of "planned spontaneity" !!! I mean if there is such a thing...and obviously there is! At least in my world!!! 

I know a little bit crazy but that's how it works for me!

Sea Turtles

I love, love, love sea turtles...one of the COOLEST things I have gotten to do in life is hold a leather back sea turtle, it happened while we were stationed here at Patrick a few years ago, it was just totally the most awesomest thing to get to do!!!

Several days ago while on the beach we came across a dead sea turtle on the beach. So sad! We immediately called the Sea Turtle Preservation Society to report it and within minutes the volunteer was there to take the stats and make a formal report. MiRV even helped him out. We have talked about volunteering with this organization in the past but when we were living here we just had too many commitments. I think this was just the nudge to get out there and DO IT.

 Recording the stats.

 Such a sad sight to see...

We have now joined the cause!!! We are official members of the STPS and will soon be full fledged volunteers!!! I'm so excited! 

I hope you have or will find causes to share your time and talents. There are so many worthy organizations out there and one could run ragged trying to help them all but it never hurts to join in and help out no matter where you are or what your status in life. Volunteering is a good thing and I think we should all be doing it. Usually we put our main focus within the church we associate with but since we have a little more time right now we are expanding our horizons!!

#SeaTurtlePreservationSociety

November Money Matters

Time for our monthly update...surprise, we moved again...just wanted to make sure you knew that in case you missed that posting!! 

Other major items of financial interest was a battery for the CRV ($110.21), lifetime membership dues for GoodSam ($149.00) and RV insurance was due this month ($901.00). That (RV ins) is one of our yearly expense that we set aside a little each month to cover. MiRV did look at changing companies but after comparison shopping we are staying with what we have.

The big picture breakdown for November looks like this...food budget did pretty good even for having the Thanksgiving meal. We were UNDER budget!!! Did you catch that, UNDER budget!!! I tell you having an Aldi around is most awesome!!! I even stocked up on my coffee since BB&B offered 20% off entire purchase on Veteran's Day. Just the kind of sale I was hoping for! The CRV battery puts us over on that line item for the month but not overall.

Surprise! OVER AGAIN on food out...our wallets are taking a beating here! I will be making an adjustment for this line item for 2014, just gotta bite the bullet and do it since we are so consistently over! Ughhhh!

Christmas is coming; glad we save all year long for this and won't take a huge hit there. However, I was a little dismayed to see how are personal property taxes increased; nearly DOUBLED...we did add the RV, traded SMARTie for Deuce and upgraded to the newer Accord for MrsBud. So I knew we had changes just never expected the changes to cause that much of an increase. So glad that we put a little away each month for this expense and that we have the excess to take care of the increase! That will definitely be a line item that gets adjusted for 2014!!

November's stats -

Charitable Gifts $430.00 (O)


RV Slots $500.00 (U)
RV Fuel $126.55 (U)
CRV Fuel $89.50 (U)
CRV Upkeep $110.21 (O)
RV Exp/Upkeep/Maint $191.15(U)

Groceries $217.77 (U)
Cell Phone $110.00
Eating Out $155.53 (O)

Gifts $29.11 (U)
Entertainment $8.00 (U)
Laundry $3.00 (U)

(U) = UNDER
(O) = OVER 

Again, seeing the numbers in print helps me! So bear with me if you are bored by these updates! And I'm a happy girl since dollars made it into savings again this month...and we are certainly living within our means and meeting our goals financially for this stage and that is such awesomeness for us! 

#SaveMoney 
#ALDI

Wednesday Words - Riselli

Old friends are the best friends. Especially when you pick up like no time has passed. 

~Katye Riselli *

This is E.X.A.C.T.L.Y. how I feel about CLP!  We were in Italy together, and each time we've been able to reunite we pick up like no time has passed, it's wonderful! Recently, we were able to spend a couple days together while we were in Destin. We went Goodwill shopping for a theater performance she is costuming, did lunch and made a couple bookstore stops! We had such a good time! In addition we had dinner with our guys several evenings, I am thankful our paths were able to cross again!

 GREAT Friends!!!

Make sure your life is enriched with friendships like this! 

#FriendsForever

* I actually have the honor and privilege to really KNOW Katye Riselli in person and she just has a worth with words you might say! And I think she's pretty darn awesome!

Falcon 9 Launch (and more)

Today we were blessed to be able to view the launch up close and personal due to the fact that Three Doors Down is in the area for the launch!  Way cool!!! Course this was the "third time's a charm" launch and we actually ended up on the Cape side a little closer on the ITL causeway then the two times before when we were on the Kennedy side; it was all good! 

However, before we even knew for sure that the launch was on we were up early to catch the sunrise over the Atlantic this morning. Little cloudy but beautiful nonetheless!!! First time since we've been here we've gotten up to do this! We sort of enjoy sleeping in!

Sunrise 3 DEC 2013

After the sunrise and breakfast at the club (FREE) and seeing how nice a day it was going to be we decided to head to the beach. I enjoyed some quality suntime as well as book reading time and MiRV got great waves. He probably had his best surfing day to date, catching over 20 waves! It was a fantastic beach day!!!

  One of the M A N Y waves caught today!!

Once we had the good word that the launch was on we headed to the pick up point for the ride out to the Cape. The ride out brought back many fond memories of our time here and we even ran into a former mate while at the launch!
 

 Kennedy Space Center! (from out first trip attempt)

  We got swag (again, on the first attempt)

This was a launch to allow satellite communications for TV broadcasting. It was also a very big deal to get this rocket off the ground. TO SUCCESS for the hard working SpaceX team it was amazing!

Since we are so familiar with launching of rockets and shuttles we were not surprised that this thing did not go on the first attempt, it didn't even go the second time (on Thanksgiving day no less) so as I mentioned "third time IS a charm" and off she went! It was incredible to be so close we saw and felt it! It was such a clear sky we saw the separation too, which was awesome. It's neat to be able to see things like this, THANKS Three Doors Down!! Glad we were able to continue to chase the launch and be there! You and your team rock!
 
Oh and as a bonus there was a rockin' sunset! 

What a great FULL day for us!!!


#SpaceX

Local FUN Find

While out doing a few errands and shopping a few days back we happened by a new place in town Volcano Island Eatery. 

 Oh my, how exciting to find this little place!

Well, let's be honest what really caught our eye was the "Bakery" signage on the building, along with the word Portuguese. Wow, we have to go back. So we did, they have just recently opened! We were so excited to find they are actually from the Azores, which is where we were stationed back in the day on the island of Terceira. They hail from San Miguel. When we rode by the first time I did not notice the actual name of the establishment I just saw the word signs "Portuguese" and "Bakery". After we made it back by and inside I noticed the "islands" and knew they were Azorean. They have green soup and will soon have papo secos (pronounced pup sec) a wonderful Portuguese roll. They also have Portuguese sweet bread along with malasadas (on weekends). We haven't had malasada's since we were in Hawaii. Can't wait to have them again.

 

 Me with the owner!

We had a treat and got some bread to go and promised we would be back for soup soon! Can't hardly wait~

#VolcanoIslandEatery

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 Happy, happy thanksgiving one and all!!!

It was our first Thanksgiving in the RV!

We had a lovely slow day we really enjoyed it! Then in the afternoon we tried for another launch; unfortunately it was a no-go. 

 Candied sweet potatoes then baked with marshmallows on top and homemade noodles are two must haves for our dinner!!!

 MiRv's plate before he got too far into it! His tummy was happy!!!

Our food was awesome, weather was beautiful, talked to each of our folks and child, along with several text from friends and family near and far...life is good, MUCH to be thankful for!

#Thankful

Wednesday Words - Dixon

I think that on the eve of Thanksgiving that it's most appropriate to utilize a quote that reflects a thankful spirit; therefore, I choose this one...

“Sometimes we focus so much on what we don't have that we fail to see, appreciate, and use what we do have!”

Jeff Dixon

Jeff Dixon is a mystery writer living in the central Florida area near Walt Disney World! I didn't know that til I was searching for a quote on thankfulness. I think his words definitely fill the bill for what I was looking for! Truer words I cannot say myself as I know I have been caught in this trap...seems as I've grown older I am getting a little wiser too as I totally think this quote rocks!

 

#Jeff Dixon

#ThankfulnessAlways  

Thanksgiving Shopping!

Thanksgiving IS probably my favorite holiday. I love all the food (minus the turkey, yeah, I know crazy but I don't like turkey so much) and there is not any stress of gift buying plus there are parades and football games. For us Thanksgiving is usually more friends (who ARE our family) than relatives due to not being able to make it home very often for this holiday.

Early memories as a couple are UNDER baking the turkey in the Azores! YUCK, maybe that is why I don't like turkey... Also sharing an awesome feast with friends and relatives in COS a couple years in a row. Just the three of us having an early lunch before MiRV had to go to work in DC with HoneyBaked Ham! YUMMERS!!! Going to the beach in Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday one year was awesome too while we were in AL. Of course being outside Florance, Italy with the Chernobyl orphans is still a standout in my mind. The children had never had cool whip nor whipped cream from a can, that was a hoot and the experience also made a much deeper impact on my heart. Made me hug our own daughter a little tighter and be so very thankful for our life. I always try to reflect on what we have and how totally blessed we are...beyond measure for sure!

 A few of my Aldi buys!

Anyway, shopping this year is what's on my mind. I will naturally do our favorites--mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, dressing, noodles, rolls, Kelley's corn, pumpkin pie; haven't yet determined if we want ham or not. I am trying to plan in my brain how I will prepare and cook it all, course portions will be smaller and I have to get my brain to think that through but we would still like a few leftovers; after all, that's something we look forward to! It will be yummy and I am already looking forward to it, maybe a little too much!!!

So what are your Thanksgiving plans, do you plan to stay home, go out, have family or friends over or both? Is your crowd going to be large or small? No matter what or how it's a wonderful time to reflect and I plan to do exactly that again this year and thank God for all that we have been so blessed with. Our year has been so abundantly full and we are so amazingly fortunate to be living as we are we ARE really VERY, very blessed!  I don't ever want to not be thankful or lose sight of how blessed we are, to never take for granted the bounty we have...

It will be just MiRV and I this year, unless Three Doors Down is able to join us since he is still in the area but I think he will be working to get that rocket launched! But it's all good we are okay with just each other, it's kind of nice actually :) And there may also be a beach trip that day which I know MiRV will totally enjoy OR a rocket launch?? we will just have to see. Best part is it's totally up to us we will if we want to and we won't if we don't...that's a pretty good part!!

Stay tuned there will be pictures and you will find out if we do make it to the beach or get to see the rocket launch!

#ThanksgivingNOturkey

Three Doors Down...

The email came late in the week that he would be in the area and we might be able to see him. ECSTATIC... so late Saturday afternoon we get the call that he had a few hours before he would need to be back on duty; works for us we are there.

We shared a little drink and food and caught up, it was great to see him, he looks well and is doing great! Life in Cali again agrees with him and the fam is doing well so life is truly grand!! It was a great time chatting and catching up, so thankful for a few hours of his time! Then like a flash he was off to do business!


#FriendsFromthePast

Oops!

So it started out as a somewhat gloomy day, we had gone to the library to internet, hit up the grocery store and then since the sun had come out we decided to head on over to the beach to see if there were waves. There were, we unloaded, I was good on the beach with a book, MiRV took the board and hit the waves. All was good, it was a decent afternoon, little bit of sun was playing peekaboo in and out of the clouds and it was not real hot with a great breeze, okay it might have been a tad windy but I wasn't complaining, I was on the beach after all with a good book!

 On the beach prior to the oops moment...

After a couple hours and catching a few good waves MiRV headed in. As he approached the shore he washed through some pretty heavy whitewater that whipped his board up in the air where it came down smackdab on his nose. Blood, lots of blood, MiRV is pretty sure it's broken. This happened one other time, it was not but there was lots of blood that time as well. 

We head to the ER...

Waiting, waiting, waiting, name of the ER game; we know the drill!

Yep, b.r.o.k.e.n. but no deviated septum, just fractured across the bridge. Oy vey!

 
 
Yep, it's swollen a little and more then a little tender!

The ER visit was pretty non eventful, we arrive, give info, go back for prelim and vitals, get settled in a room, see nurse, see doctor who orders x-rays, get x-rays, it's BROKEN, get referral, pay co-pay, drive home. Three hours later, it's all good...well sort of, it's still bleeding and he has to sleep in the upright position, but it's really going to be okay we think so it's all good.

The hurdles started the next day when we work through reporting the ER visit to our doctor and getting the referral approved, referral is to a specialist who deals with noses and does surgery, going to be interesting to see where this goes. Couldn't just see an ENT due to the fact he's had nasal surgery before so seeing a more detailed surgeon.

I think he's looking pretty good just 24 hours later! Thought he might been have worse with more bruising and black eyes but really he looks pretty darn good for having a broken nose!!! Now to see what the specialist says tomorrow morning!

#brokennosewhilesurfing

Wednesday Words- Jiminy Cricket

"When your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme"   ~Jiminy Cricket 

Today's quote comes courtesy of another blogger! She was kind enough to share it with me in the comments during the 31 day challenge. I instantly thought I should make it a Wednesday Words post!! Thanks Carol!!!! 

To find out more about Carol just click on over and check her out!


#AreWeThereYet?

Atlas V Launch

Blast off success for the Atlas V!!

It was so neat to see the latest local launch today!! Weather was a little cloudy so the view was short but it was still just incredible and then to feel it rumbling in your chest, nothing like it!!

Brings back memories of all the launches we attended at all hours of the day and night during our tenure at Patrick AFB! Only thing missing was our great friends Three Doors Down...really missed having our own RocketBoy giving us our personal insider info!!

Just another awesome day on the SpaceCoast!!

TradeOffs

No internet right now except on phone which I can do the hotspot but I haven't. So we stopped in at the base library, where we were met by the friendly librarian who remembered us from when we were stationed here, today and thought I would get a post up.

Trip down (we relocated to the SpaceCoast) was good;dry camped at a relatively quiet rest stop north of St Augustine. It got c.o.l.d overnight! But we were toasty, in Sunny...it was just stepping out first thing that morning that made me reach under the bed for my Uggs!!!

 LOVE my Uggs on cool mornings!!!

Got right in at Patrick AFB, well sort of, there was a slight delay on our part, can you say gusty wind and a fallen latch lock out from the door being helped shut by that said wind? UGHHHHHH! All I can say is it's GOOD to have roadside assist and friendly, helpful fellow campers!! And soooo thankful it was not cold or rainy while we passed the time until Mr Pop-a-lock showed up. Yes, I know we should leave a window unlocked for such occasions, but we didn't this time and there you are and there you go!

Our new helpful friends...

What I know so far is that the beach is still awesome; though it's been on the breezy side since our arrival day! We have enjoyed walking the Banana River where it's been less breezy though. We spent today out on the beach and reminiscing of our time spent here a few years ago. It's fun to return and see what's changed and what's new! Which we have found is plenty from our short little drives around so far!

Atlantic Ocean

Again, just stopped off at the library on our way home and will be enjoying dinner from the crock pot in just a bit! I sat it outside since it's 80* here and didn't need to warm up the coach!

Dinner :)

Ciao!

Wednesday Words - Elenor Roosevelt

This quote made me smile when I read it so I knew it was good for Wednesday Words!  

Have a great day!

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”   ― Eleanor Roosevelt

 

Veteran's Day

It's not just another day off, same way I feel about all holidays actually, they are not just days off, they have meaning. Obviously, some have more meaning to me than others, same for you I bet.

 An early days picture of MiRV while on deployment!

I have a Veteran or two or three in my life, I personally know the sacrifices we as a family have made as a service member's family, it's nothing earth shattering in my book, it was just our life. We took it in stride. I'm sure there were days I grumbled, but then I tried to do a reality check and pull myself away from that mentality. I mean I still had a living spouse, I was able to get occasional phone calls, letters did arrive more often then not. I think of those who served before us when communication was non existent, like NOTHING, for the whole tour, or spouses of POWs or even MIAs, yeah, I got no complaints...I am thankful for all Veteran's and especially those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

So on this Veteran's Day I salute those who are on the job, THANK YOU! You are true unsung heroes in my book. I am thankful to be an American.

Money Matters (October Wrap Up)

Since doing the 31 day challenge featuring a post on finances I have decided (for now anyway) to make it a monthly spot. Sort of a monthly wrap up for us so to speak. More for me then you (though I know some out there are a bit curious) so just indulge me or go ahead and click off if you aren't interested in that sort of thing. It's going to make me a little more accountable in keeping tabs on the budget (even making budget)if I know I am going to blog about it!!! So thanks invisible readers I appreciate your motivation! However, if you know me in real life you know I am sort of a nut when it comes to record keeping anyway but I digress, let's move on!

Here we go! We "moved" last month (and the month before that and the month before that...hmmm, I'm seeing a trend here) and we are moving again this month as well. It seems this is the way it's gonna be so I might as well come to grips with that part of this lifestyle... Anywho, the meat of this revelation is that moving cost money. Moving always cost money no matter what your situation is. Like I said I am coming to grips with this factoidl it's just the way it is and I'm gonna be okay with that; it just takes me second!! LOL

The big picture breakdown for October...went waaaaaaay over on food budget AGAIN! Ugh!! I guess there is an adjustment needed in this category! However, helping that hemorrhage this month was ordering coffee, it was on sale so I ordered to stock up (we will see how long it last), course it was only the kind MiRV drinks soooo still will have to track down my kind with a coupon for sure!!! And honestly, our food budget as I have made note of before is dependent on location and stores (ALDI makes a huge difference in stretching our grocery dollar and I will be happy, happy, happy to be near one again in just a few more days!!!) Also being close to the commissary helps.

In other areas we did well in the big picture look at it. RV slot was slightly higher here but still within budget!! We were over on gifts this month and I know next month will be as well but the budgeted amount reflects the yearly average; in my head I know some months will be over while others will be under and some none at all. It should all work out...I hope!!! Report shows eating out was r.i.d.i.c.u.l.o.u.s.l.y over as well. Hmmmm...this one is harder to stay on track with as we meet up with friends. We enjoy meals together...out. Adjustments may have to be made.

I also tweaked a few category names Tithes became Charitable Gifts since we also give to worthy organizations as well as give our tithe. I changed Stationary/Business Expense to Household Expenses. I will continue to adjust for what works for us in the coming months.

On a brighter note RV fuel was d o w n as well as CRV fuel, RV Exp/Upkeep/Maint; so that is awesome in my book!!

I have to say seeing the numbers in print on Groceries and Eating Out definitely makes me cringe a little...but not to fear as we still came in under budget overall so I'm not desperate about it and a bit of cash went into savings again this month so it's all good!

Snapshot for October...

Charitable Gifts $450.00 


RV Slots $510.00 (U)
RV Fuel $114.00 (U)
CRV Fuel $87.25(U)
CRV Upkeep $31.77 (U)
RV Exp/Upkeep/Maint $15.38 (U)

Groceries $439.05 (WAAAAAAY O)
Cell Phone $110.00
Eating Out $160.84 (O)


Gifts $60.00 (O)

Clothing $37.89 (U)
Household  $33.70 (O)
Laundry $12.00 (U)

(U) = UNDER
(O) = OVER

Again, overall, I am still a happy girl since $$$ went into savings and we are living within our means, THAT is the goal and a great feeling for me no matter the income!

Wednesday Words - Eliot

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”

-George Eliot

Chew on that...it's good don'tcha think?

Day 31 - Final Thoughts

This showed up my Facebook feed a few days back and I thought it was such a fitting thought for me during this stage...especially on those days when I wonder, "are we crazy for doing what we are doing?" I AM, oh trust me, I AM enjoying our carefree lifestyle! However, I have to be honest and tell you that I do have days I wonder if we shouldn't be working at real jobs and being responsible adults. It's thankfully, not a daily struggle, just little fleeting thoughts every now and again, here and there. And, again, being honest, at some point we probably will go back to the real world and have day jobs. Only time will tell; so stay tuned while we continue Living the dream... it may not always be this way! So we plan to enjoy it while we can. 

Hope you have enjoyed the 31 days this year, I know I did, in fact I think it's my favorite one so far!

Day 30 - Wednesday Words - C.S. Lewis

Short and sweet today...

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963); Writer, Theologian, Scholar

And because the sunsets have been sooooo absolutely lovely I want to share a few more photos with you. They make me take pause and thank God for the beauty he surrounds us with day in and day out. It's amazing in my opinion!

Absolutely stunning beauty...

Tomorrow is the last day of the 31 Day challenge, if you missed out, you really did miss out, it's a great challenge to take on, check it out here and start making your plan to participate next year!

Day 29 - Doing life or what we like to call "Living the dream..."

So what does one do with one's time while living in an RV you might wonder...well, we just do life. For us that's finding a local church among other things! We have been fortunate to be in areas that we already have a connection for the most part. However, we will venture out and just find a place when we aren't. That's what we did here in Destin when we found this church just down the street from where we are parked!

We also hang out with friends. Help friends out when we can. Make new friends. Looking up friends from days passed is really great; in fact it's pretty cool and we love to reconnect with those from our earlier days!!!

 Spent the day with this friend recently; we had lunch as well as hit up a used bookshop!

Lunch w/ AL friends was awesome!

I also read! I love to just be able to sit outside preferably with a slight breeze and read. It's just been awesome to sit by the bay or pool and read here in Destin but reading in Sunny or out under the awning it awesome as well and I have been able to enjoy it everywhere we have stopped!

MiRV keeps occupied in many ways... and thankfully he tackles little jobs around the RV or just little putters to make life smoother for us!

Puttering on a surfboard carrier...

or he's scouting out spots to get on the water when he can.

 MiRV in the bay

 

 MiRV in the Gulf

He is sooooooo looking forward to getting back to the Atlantic side of FL so he can surf again! There have been waves here but not far enough out and organized enough to surf. He is really excited to be able to return to Cocoa Beach and get his board in the ocean again!

Recently, I even joined him on the water, the OPEN water. Up to this point I had only navigated the pool!! I really did like it. Course it helped a lot that the water was very calm!!!

Me SUPing in the Gulf

But honestly you can usually find me on the shore with a book in a beach chair ...

He's also taken to blogging again, since he is no long MiB (Man in Blue), he chose to go with MiRV for his  new blog title.

We also like to go on walks, runs and bike rides to enjoy our surroundings...we happen across a lot of neat things while we are out and about exploring!

 

Saw this neat sand art on our recent beach walk! Love manatees!

 

Spotted an orange tree on one of our neighborhood rides!

We definitely don't just sit around inside the coach and watch the TV all day long, we get out and enjoy life. I am amazed at the folks who do not do the same. We were visiting with a couple the other evening and chatted about the different types of RVers and we definitely don't fit the mold he told us for Class A folks...he stated in his experience they (Class A folks) are usually NOT the mix and mingle type. Since I don't think we have ever fit the mold (ever) then it's seems to reason we wouldn't in this  instance either. I am happy to see/know that we continue to bust the mold as we get our feet wet in the RV world and haven't become the norm!!

Oh and just hanging out is good for us too! In fact we feel we do that really well!

Hanging out and waiting for the sun to set over the bay a few nights back!

It is our opinion that we are Living the dream...

The scoop on the 31 day challenge it here.