Wednesday Words - Cahill

A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles. 

Tim Cahill

One of our joys is seeing friends along the way. Always nice to see family, too.

OWT

Operation Winter Texan has commenced. We have spent the past two winters in Florida. This year we are giving Texas a try. We had hoped to make a little stop off in Hot Springs, AR on our way to Texas but cooler temps forced us farther south sooner rather then later. We did our first night in Texarkana, TX at the Red River Army Depot on the shores of Lake Elliott; nice campground and had the weather not been going into the freezing temps we would have stayed there through Thanksgiving. However, we ended up in the Sabine National Forest and that's where we will be on Thanksgiving.

 
Today we trekked into Center, TX picking up last minute  provisions and getting our 1/2 price Sonic cheeseburger fix :) AT&T coverage is non-existent in the forest for data but at least our phones/texting work. We are enjoying the natural beauty of the area and the big pine trees. Have done a bit of exploring and plan to hike to the nearby waterfall tomorrow. Happy early Thanksgiving, pray that you enjoy the blessings in your world and realize that you are truly very blessed.

Breakfast Burritos

We have spent the last few days preparing to go back on the road. Last minute chores, errands, tidying up, storing away. We are ready, I think.

Some time ago MiRV decided he wanted to make up breakfast burritos and freeze them; we had just never got around to doing it. Today that changed! We now have 20 burritos nicely tucked away in the freezer. He is the egg man among other things in our family, so naturally he made the eggs, I browned the sausage and sauteed the onions. Then he assembled them with a little shredded colby jack cheese and popped them into re-closable bags.

Assembling the burritos

As we travel in Roada it's always a challenge when it comes to cooking. I miss my crockpot for sure. Having only two burners is its own issue but I make it happen! We eat pretty darn good; as evidenced by our tighter jeans :(. So, I do enjoy getting to work in a larger space for preparing meals. I am not a fancy, gourmet cook. I can and do put a solid meal on the table. We do not eat out all that often as we like to use our limited funds on other ventures. So one of the ways we stretch our finances is eating in. Of course, that changes when we meet up with friends and family along the way, then eating out is a special treat. Otherwise, you will find me coming up with yumminess right here within Roada or out on the the grill! It's a good life.

Tonight was dinner with the Littles...their momma is such a good cook! We are going to miss our neighbors. They are so good to us; they let us park Roada right next door for however long we want. It's hard to leave them and the rest of our family but we know, Lord willing, we will be back. Tomorrow we hit the road...heading south.

#LovetheLittles
#familyisforever

The New Sink Cover

In September I blogged about a freak little accident with our sink cover and thankfully the company that made it sent a no cost replacement. We had the new one installed on our last visit to the dealer for other warranty work last month. However, since the whole incident happened we have tossing around several replacement ideas.

This past week we made progress on replacement prototype II. We found a somewhat suitable cutting board at none other then Target. It's a bit thicker then we would like but the price was right so we bought it and moved forward. Picked up a piece of poster board for the template and went to work. Let the cutting begin...

 Made two straight cuts on the table saw. Looks pretty good!

 

 Used the band saw for the rounded edges.

 The file and sand paper were key to smoothing the edges.

 Drill press made making the holes pretty easy.

 License plate screws were used to re-attach; the originals were no longer long enough since the cutting board is thicker than the glass.

 All done...the glass will be stored away and we will see how this works for us.

We think it will work just fine and it looks great! There is a prototype I still in process and will possibly be finished at a later date as an alternative. It's made from glued birch wood slates. It will still need to be cut, sanded, stained, sealed should we decide to continue. Pretty much gonna wait and see how we like this and go from there. If we decide we like it enough we may change out the one that covers the cook top too!

#Adapt&Overcome
#RoadtrekLifestyleAdaptations

Happy Birthday!!!

It wasn't a big fancy celebration but it was filled with love...she turned 30. Doesn't seem possible that it was just a few years ago as a young wife waiting to join MiRV in a far, far away land that I was able to be the childcare giver for about three months. We had a grand time together.

 

Who would think that all these years later she would have the Littles? We are blessed. And those blessings did not come easily as she chose a nontraditional route we are still thankful she didn't make other choices. She works hard and is a great momma to the Littles and we think she's doing all right in life.So keep on keeping on.
 

Yummy food, angel food cake, surrounded by family; life is good! It's truly the little things, family dinners, unconditional love that make life good.

#Turning30

What a wonderful week!

We took off to the North this week. We will soon be heading south and we wanted to see the daughter again before we trek south so we made a week of it. There were some moments of uncontrolled laughter, ping pong, BBQ, shopping, TV, quick Lincoln road trip, updating data, scrapbook editing and so much more that I can't remember. It was a very good week.
 

 And we might have gotten passed by the Trooper on duty on our way home from Lincoln! At least he waved as he went by!

 Ping Pong

 Lunches out! The Trooper even invited us to join him one day.

Honestly, just an immensely enjoyable week of togetherness...and now we are watching weather closely; ready to head south as the weather turns too cold. We had hoped to be able to stay through Thanksgiving but at this point it's not looking possible. No matter, we have been enjoying the time we have had and will be trying to wrap up the chores we want/need to accomplish and get positioned to migrate to the warmth and water in the next few days.

Wednesday Words - Tew

Every time you get upset at somethng, ask yourself if you were to die tomorrow, was it worth wasting your time being angry?

Robert Tew

#letitgo

Blessed

We were so blessed this weekend to have been able to re-connect with one of our high school classmates. She is joyfully serving Jesus with her talents alongside her husband. You might consider it a random coincidence that we were in our hometown and she and her husband were also here to perform for a local church anniversary celebration but I do not. It was a God thing.

I knew she was talented, I remember that from back in the day, but seeing her sing for Jesus, well that was a beautiful sight and sound. Maybe some of it had to do with the selection of songs, mostly hymns, which I dearly love, you know, the old ones, like I'll Fly Away and Washed in the Blood. It was incredible. I can't wait to listen to my CD!

She is an inspiration and she certainly encouraged me!

#LovelightInternationalMinistries

This week!

This week was much like the last few. We did lots of little things and feel like much was accomplished even though we didn't do anything big...there are fences that have been mended, extra fence post have been stacked, hay has been moved, equipment was relocated, Littles pick up happened, more brush hogging was done, fence rows were cleaned, trees were trimmed, paths were cleared, a sheet was sewn, tools were organized, labels were made, birthdays were celebrated, gates were adjusted, sunsets savored, phone calls were made, road trips were taken, bookkeeping was done, barn walls were reinforced, wood was chopped, split and stacked, the tractor was stuck, (not once but twice), and last but not least there was more welding. And honestly, I may have forgetten a few things, but suffice to say it's been a productive week.

Setting out hay.

Birthdays :)

Sheet sewing

 Gorgeous sunset

 Stuck tractor times two on two; different days at least :)

#LifeIsGood

Wednesday Words from ME

The B - I - G five zero, yep that's me, today and I am thrilled to have made it this far in life! Who knew? I mean it sounds like a long time off til you turn 50 but then, BAM; it just happens that it's right there in front of you. I am 50 today and feeling fabulous about it.

I have had such a blessed life and cannot wait to see what the next 50 years hold. Of course that is Lord willing, I often wonder will He return before then? One never knows and therefore we should be ready. I am. Even though I am enjoying the life I live here; I am ready to also go on to my eternal home whenever that may be.

While I will readily admit I am not the best Christ follower. In fact most of the time I stink at it. I judge, I am critical but in my heart I do strive to be more like Him. However, I fail, repeatedly, like daily, multiple times, sometimes over and over; however, I can thankfully, rest in the assurance that He loves me unconditionally. He died for ME, he saved ME and will never leave ME. I have eternal life. It's the absolute greatest gift.

And honestly, I struggle. I am not the "perfect" person that some may see looking from the outside in. That is such a farce to believe that about me or anyone, NO ONE is perfect, except  Christ. We all are pitiful puddles of sin no matter what you tel yourself and no matter if that sin is visible or not. You kid yourself if you think otherwise. God knows our heart, our mind, our soul. You cannot hide anything from him, He sees it all. So what I know and know for sure is that Jesus LOVES me, just like the song says, "Jesus loves me this I know"

Happy birthday to me! I do hope I snag a slice of cheesecake today or some other yumminess to celebrate this milestone!

Oh what a week....

It was a memorable week, just what we enjoy, lots of family time.

Several round the table gatherings, visiting, baseball watching (GO RO-YALS), Anti-Van Follies, White Grill trips, more shooting, a little four wheeling, game playing and just generally taking in time together...exactly how you envision it should be with family.

.

Practice spelling test time

 And of course it was cheer, football and homework with the Littles. They are very taken with the Trooper and no one else exist when he is here...it's very enjoyable to watch.

 

Hut, hut!

We had a couple dreary rainy days so as soon as we saw the sun again we bundled up and headed outside. It was a great day for walking deep in the woods. There was also more shooting done, guys and their guns...oh my! Loved all the fresh air!

We took in a football game Saturday and got to see our favorite #61 in action! It was perfect football weather, especially since we stopped at Starbuck's on the way!

That's our Little playing center.

And then they were heading home...one more White Grill stop before they hit the road! Hopefully, we will run up to see them again one more time if the weather continues to hold before we trek south.

#Littles
#GetOutdoors