Wednesday Words - Coolidge

I have never been hurt by what I have not said.

 

Calvin Coolidge

 

 



Run MiRV Run!

Since our return to MO after the BIG Move we have really (really) been trying to get in some regular physical activity. It seems so hit and miss with us and this nomadic lifestyle. It's taking it's toll on the way my clothing fits. It's sad. So MiRV has been putting in some miles. I have been riding my bike while he runs or taking walks.

Rocking the run in the HOKAs

New running shoes a few weeks ago have been good. A blister did appear on the first run or two but adjustment in lacing and all seems well. He really thinks they are going to be great. This from a long, long time ASICS wearer who is now seemingly sold on HOKAs.



Also been working hard on portion control. I pray it helps, I so don't like my clothing being so tight and I certainly don't wish to have to spend good money on new clothes. That provides some motivation to slimming back down, 

#HOKAS

#getridofunwantedpounds

Wednesday Words - Kennedy

The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds. 

 

John F Kennedy 

All in a days work...

When we have a work day we make it count!

Today we were mowing, weed whacking, chain sawing and hedge trimming at two different locations! Oh yeah, that's us do it all in one day so w can feel those sore muscles the next day!

It started with mowing the neighbors yard, then on the hedge trimming which quickly turned into chain saw work that led to weed whacking. After a chili dog lunch we were fortified to continue and returned tot the neighbors to finish mowing, blowing and weed whacking there as well as cleaning the garbage can and sweeping out the garage.

Chain saw helped a lot with the thinning of this area! 

Brush pile #2 was created... 

 

Last week MiRV sprayed this same area and we are starting to see the progress on that.

On our way back to the folks for showers we happened upon a gentleman down on his luck so we fueled him up and got him on his way north toward Bismarck, ND. He was one of those sign holding folks in the Wal-Mart parking lot requesting gas. We obliged, seemed like a genuinely nice fellow who truly was in need. Sometimes you just get that feeling this is a real need and you can meet it.

#helpthoseinneed

Wednesday Words - Unknown

No reason to stay

is enough reason to go...

 

Sometimes in the nomadic lifestyle this applies. However, the more I read it the more I also thought it could apply to many other things. 

Latest Graduate!

Way to go girl! She is the last of the 'little girls" to graduate! So proud of all of them! They have started a completely new generation of educated women. So often we miss the big family events so it was really neat that we were able to make the graduation at College of the Ozarks to see our niece graduate. Another bonus was Mr and Mrs Bud were also in town and went along. I love it when things come together like that.

Our picture with the graduate!

 

Graduation coincided with Mother's Day, it's not often I am with the daughter on this day...it was nice, we had DQ on our way home. We didn't snap a picture of us DQ but we do have one from Grill yesterday!

 

 LOVE them!

 

Since we aren't often all together at the same time we snapped a few...we are "the girls"

 

And then there is also this group picture from today! The whole fam damily, well, minus one. He doesn't like to travel very far anymore :(

 



The other exciting news of the day is that MiRV used our newly replaced fire extinguisher. You see the guy up the street was cooking sausage and got distracted and it started burning. Flames were leaping up pretty good, I didn't enter the residence, I stayed outside and dialed 911 :) Lest you think we lead a boring life, we do not, we were nearly hit on I-65 going to the graduation this afternoon when a white pickup truck hydroplanes and spun into the median, as he was trying to gun it to get out he nearly put it into the side of the Accord. We felt our guardian angel was working overtime today!

 

 

#VolunteerFirefighter / #OCC / #FamilyGathering

Riding down memory lane...literally!

While the daughter was in town we headed over to visit with the Grands and while there she spies her childhood bike. The things grandparents hang onto...oh, wait, I have no room to talk after spending the last few days going through box after box of things I have held onto. Anywho, she spies her bike, grabs it and takes it for a spin.

First issue found was the kick stand wouldn't stay up, a zip tie solved that little setback, onward she goes, whoops, second issue noted, tires are flat. MiRV grabs the air compressor and in no time she's in business.

Now this is our grown, in the eyes of the law, child riding her bike up the lane at her Grands, is life any better! LOL This is also the same bike that sent her to the ER for her first set of stitches. She tried some wicked Evel Knievel moves in the neighborhood cul de sac in say 1996-97 that met with an uncooperative curve. Chin meet handle bars, handle bars meet chin and five stiches later with an ice cream treat and life is good.

Grandpa seems a bit skeptical!

 And there she goes...

 

The bike was originally left in MO for summer visits and kept cause there are those have followed her but it hasn't seen much action as of late. She gave it a good little workout and it went back into its spot until its next rider happens along.

#ChildhoodMemoriesRelived
#Nostitchesthistime

A little "art"

Wall space is not exactly plentiful in Roada and we have been hesitant to hang "things." However, it has reached a point I'm ready to make it a little more "us." So when we did finally decide to hang something we knew it would be our "Crystal" painting. This painting was a going away from our Commander's spouse in Italy. We have remained in contact since our assignment together and I certainly consider them friends. I am pleased and proud to have one of her paintings. And now it is hanging in Roada.

#RoadtrekDecor
#LoveItaly

Middle Creek State Fishing Lake

It's been a looooong week. Since we can, we did. After we had Roada worked on today it was late in the day, we were tired and it had been a rainy drive so we were spent. We were going to mosey on down to our MO landing pad which is about 75 miles south; however, we decided to check out one the boondocking sites we had spotted instead. Again, since we can, we did, isn't that pretty darn awesome. I love not having to keep a rigid schedule, it's glorious.

We went west just a few short miles, stopped in town for a few provisions, then settled in for the night. I think we were just ready to be still and enjoy the quiet for a bit with no interruptions, expectations or interactions. Spending the last week and a half cleaning, packing, loading, moving, etc, etc has taken its toll and we just needed some downtime. I think it's safe to say Middle Creek State Fishing Lake fills the bill. it's a little gem. There are boats out on the lake, but we are the only ones camping.

Nice view...IMO

While we knew there were no hookups, nor onsite water, it had also been reported there were no facilities. Update the books folks as we were pleasantly surprised to find there are vault toilets. Jackpot in our book, cause we while we are good for no hookups and have our own onboard water we do prefer toilets be available. Win, win! We will be keeping an eye on the sky as there is some weather expected overnight but otherwise I think we are in for a very nice stay.



 #boondockingiseasyinaRT



Unpacking and Settling In

Since there is room in these new living quarters for ALL the things we had in storage it is now time to go through ALL these said things we had in storage. If Mr & Mrs Bud don't want it then we have to decide if we want it. This is NO EASY process. We held on to many things because they did want them; we are pleased that it will bless them and save them considerably in furnishing their place. But why we held on to other things, well, I  have no idea.
 
So, for four loooong days now we have sorted, stashed, laughed and trashed things we have had for many, many years. Again, it's not an easy process to part with so many memories. We took a lot of pictures because honestly, no one needs that much memorabilia, ever. Seriously. We did try to keep the most treasured of items, Like the crystal candy dish and cuckoo clock from Germany, I mean those are functional. We will need a clock and want candy, right? We also kept pictures, lots of pictures. Of course, I kept kitchen things, but not in bulk. I just don't think I will be throwing dinner parties for oh say 30 again. And if I do they make this great disposable stuff now, so I think I'm good. We made several trips to Sally Ann where we hope someone else will benefit from our stuff. 
 
We also helped unpack and set up their house with them. Naturally, we started out with the kitchen and bath, got the bedrooms in order and moved on to the media room and garage. The garage housed for the most part all "our" boxes that needed to be gone through. Again, it was a huge task to get through all that "stuff" but we did prevail. Well, for the most part! We will go back in a few weeks to finish up some of the paperwork boxes.

 We had our first meal around the table Monday night! Steak on the grill, a little new home celebrating! 

 
There were beds put together and beds made to work! Of course we got the main bed up by sleep time Saturday night. However, we had to adapt and overcome with the next bed set up...that's always been our family motto anyway . It was no exception with getting this bed together that has missing rails. A couple trips to the local hardware store, some scrap wood I thought we should have ditched and we have a headboard set up that will work until the rails can be retrieved. We also have a table with missing legs but it will just have to stay in the garage until the legs can be reunited with the table since I don't think there is an economical hardware store fix for that right now!

Making it work...
 

Took time out to make a Cinco De Mayo meal. Kelley's burritos, black bean corn salsa with chips and call it good. Long day of sorting and purging and anything quick and easy sounded like a winning plan. It was yummy!

Ole!
 

Since it was our last day, we felt the need for a break. Pizza is always a good choice with this crowd so we headed out to the local pizza place where we had fries. Oh and pizza, yeah, crazy, but they have THE best fries. They are waffle fries and they are really absolutely the yummiest!

  Gonna miss these two...

 

It's our last day and yes the garage can house the car...could've happened sooner but as long as it happened before we left that was the goal!!

Car fits! 

 

So we are off tomorrow to have a few things taken care of on Roada then on to MO for a spell. The good news is that Mr and Mrs Bud will be down for the weekend. More fun to come.

 

#Garageatlast / #PizzaEaters / #Fredstillhasherstuff

 

Wednesday Words - Williams

I'm sorry, if your were right I would agree with you.

 

Robin Williams

 

 

This just made me shake my head with a chuckle...

 

#LoveRobinWilliams

Another BIG move

Soooo after the BIG graduation, it was time to get on with the BIG move. Since there was rain, rain and more rain in the forecast we made a command decision to make some calls to get the moving truck picked up early. It took some cajoling but they helped me out, thanks Jordan at Penske in Pennsylvania, you rock! We spent Friday late afternoon emptying the storage unit into the truck.  MiRV and I work really well together and it was emptied in no time!

 Storage Unit...

 Truck being loaded at the storage unit.

 

Since it went so smoothly at the storage unit and I guess we were feeling somewhat overly ambitious we headed on over to the apartment to load up all the boxes. We were racing against losing daylight but we did it!

 

 Dinner was McD's on the lift...in the dark, with the apartment dwellers looking on! I think we were quite entertaining for them.

 

And let me just address the lift. It's an awesome thing. So say that if you ever need to rent a Penske truck and they don't have the ramp, don't argue. If they say we only have the lift; run don't walk to take that lift truck. Cause honestly, it's waaaaaay better than the ramp. Really, really it is! I now love the lift and loathe the ramp! And having moved say 3 or 4 times in the last three years you can trust me on this! And you can also take this to the bank. Check out Penske.com online, put in all your info, get your quote; then wait for the call from them. Talk with them, tell them you need a better deal. You won't be sorry. Make sure you don't wait til the last minute, give yourself a couple weeks minimum to work a good deal. We have rented from them several times and always gotten a good deal. Ask for discounts you won't be sorry!

 

With all the work we got done on Friday this made today a much lighter day. It was a great move on our part to get the ball rolling early as the rain did move in. So this morning we waited for the break in the rains before we started. We had a little more wiggle room with time since we were already out of the storage unit. We did have just a few sprinkles late this morning. However, it was pouring at our originally planned start time at 0700. Not to mention we found out as we were leaving the storage unit last night that there was a "Storage Wars Omaha Style" going on starting at 9:30 a.m. this morning at our facility. We may or may not have been done before that bedlam started so it was really, really good we were out last night! Another blessing for sure!

 

 Rockin' a great load spot at the apartment. Last night we were not so fortunate and had to park in the road.

 

So, honestly, our morning did start out a little bumpy with a non starting truck. Thankfully, however, Penske had their mobile unit in the metro area respond and we were back in business in almost no time. 

We (read that Bud and MiRV with a little help from myself and Mrs Bud) then quickly had the furniture on board, tied everything down and prepared to head south. Checking out of the apartment, stops for lunch, gassing up cars, making last minute drop offs and we are ready to roll south.

MiRV and I caravanned together. Bud passed us and Mrs Bud caught up to us just in time to lead us through the tricky part of Lincoln; then she sped off to catch up with Bud and get the keys to the house. We were happy to find extra hands available for the unload this 26 foot truck when we arrived. Also thankful we could get the Penske down the alley...we only brushed a few tree limbs and cable lines. Unloading in the back was so much easier. Also grateful that the local church up the street let us park Roada there while unloading so she wouldn't be out on the street!

 

Things went well and we were unloaded in record time. The landlord even pitched in! No major injuries that we are aware of other then some sore muscles and a few bruises. We were excited to be able make our way back up to Lincoln before dark to drop off the truck...and a day early to boot. We can call it D.O.N.E.

Gassing up before we return the truck!

Getting the truck back early was another blessing we didn't realize until we were in Lincoln and learned that the Lincoln marathon is tomorrow. Honestly, chances are we wouldn't have been returning before it was over, but traffic could have been a bit snarly with all the extra people around town. Another blessing for sure to be totally done. It was DQ for dinner with ICE CREAM afterwards. Shhhh don't tell but MiRV and I had a Frosty in Lincoln after we returned the truck!

#Penske
#DQrocks
#Frosty

TEAM 56 Graduation

The long awaited for day is finally here...it's been over six months ago that the training academy began and nearly a year since the application process was started. It's a proud day! Congrats Bud and TEAM 56

As we parked we caught sight of them taking the official class photo. MiRV snuck on up and got us an unofficial one! What a great looking group, so professional looking, such bearing, no smiles, all business. We found out later it is taboo to smile in uniform...

WOW

The newest NSP Trooper with our daughter!

 

It was really nice that her grandparents made the trip for this special occasion as well. After graduation we all headed to the Trooper's favorite restaurant for a little celebrating. A very memorable day and an extremely proud moment for all. Way to go Team 56.

 

 

#NSP