It's My Birthday!!!

 Hey Y'all!

Plans changed and Bill(s) stole all my money, so for my Birthday we didn't go camping, or boating. We did spend the day on & in the water though!

Yesterday (Father's Day) we all went out to my sisters house, ate seafood, tons of veggies, and strawberry cake. We then went out to Warriors Path State Park where Brother in Law and the kids canoed (is that a word?) and we (Mom, Sis, niece, & hubby) sat, relaxed in the shade, and people watched. After a bit we left the bro & nephew to fish and went back to my sisters to swim & I opened my birthday presents:

From Mom, a purple camping towel. (Hubby has now said he needs a red one, lol.) And a Cricut Travel Bag.

From Sis & family, The complete book set of the Landry Series by V.C. Andrews

Hubby took me on a trip to the book store, to explore the travel section. Where we sipped our iced coffee and sat for about an hour or more going through books. Then we took down some notes, and found a few eBooks for free online. After that we stopped in at Ulta which is next door, to get my free Birthday gift:

I'm not trying to complain (much) about a free gift, but these are so small there's almost not even enough to sample.

After Ulta we grabbed lunch at Taco Bell (my choice) and hit up the thrift store, where we did find a brand new Coleman Lantern for $5. On the way home we hit up a new junk store, and found some silicone stretchy lids, and cart bags, we spent a total of $10.

( My definition, Junk Store= merchandise that's new, but box may be damaged, item was clearanced out of the store, etc.) 

It was a nice day, and while we had been dreaming of/talking about extended traveling (van life) for awhile now, more seriously in the past year... This past week really solidified that now is the time.

(Here's the news of BIG CHANGES I mentioned previously!)

Wednesday hubby was "let go" from his day job. He called his mom (just to chat) and she mentioned his sister was selling her old van now that she's got a newer one. We didn't think much about it at the time, our minds made up- but still in the "can we really do this" stage, and somewhat set on looking for a conversion van. 

I had already started decluttering the craft room, with the whole house in my sights- just getting overwhelmed with "stuff". 

Then we did the Birthday excursion Friday. 

Saturday hubby was talking to his sister, and she said "Bro, the van is yours if you want it." We're going to meet her (and family, can't wait to see them it's been far too long!) in a few weeks at the halfway point (near Lexington, KY). 

Lastly, without knowing- all my presents from my family are also travel related. (We told them yesterday, they're excited for us!)

We have A LOT of work to do to get the house up for sale, and complete the van build. (Chrysler Town & Country, suggestions welcome.) But we're thrilled to start this next chapter. We have to come back every 3 months for my check ups, but beyond that we can go anywhere, anytime!

Any tips, tricks, suggestions, etc welcomed in the comments below.

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

We've not posted anything yet, but have a few videos to share pre-decision:

*I'll add links when they're posted.

Beach Boys Concert/Road Trip to Columbus, OH (Summer 2022)

Hungry Mother Start Park Camping Trip(s) Summer & Fall (2022)

Day Trip: Newport, TN/Douglas Lake in the Spring (2023)

Outland Adventures