Our 1 year Rv-Anniversary

June 6th made it officially 1 year that we have been full time Rving. And I still have zero regrets about our decision.  This was such a leap of faith and God has taken care of us in huge ways this year.  
When we told our church family back in Baton Rouge, a sweet women (whom I love dearly) was hugging me and we were both crying.  She looked at me and said "you be excited Hollie, you and your family are going to be missionaries".  I didn't understand what she meant by this until one day I was telling my mom and she said "Mrs. Shelly gave you a blessing".  A blessing.. I hadn't thought about it that way,  I just remember thinking... we are only going to Oklahoma, how can I be a missionary there?  But now... looking back over this year, I get it.  You don't have to move to another country or learn to speak another language to share your testimony and tell others about Jesus Christ.   Since moving here, I have shared my testimony with more people than I ever have in my 17 years of being a saved Christian.  And my daughter, at 3 1/5 years old has told complete strangers about how " Jesus loves them, and one day we'll all be in heaven together" (insert over flowing heart and weepy eyes... I am doing okay at the mom job)

So, reflecting back on this year... goodness have we had some interesting Rv experiences.  One in particular that I will never forget was Dec 15.  We had spent the weekend at my parents, and just had our first snow. So upon arriving back to the trailer on Sunday night about 7.  I ran inside to bump the heat up ( we turn the heat down when we leave since it uses propane) and as soon as I stepped inside it looked like Jack Frost had attacked the inside of the trailer.  EVERYTHING.WAS.FROZEN! Not lying...it was warmer outside than it was inside.    I was in shock...what happened?  Come to find out, we ran out of propane and the tanks don't automatically switch over when empty...so our little trailer was without heat for who knows how long.  Aubrie comes running in " I'VE GOT TO PEE PEE!" Once done, Alston flushes the toilet ***Rv toilets have a foot pedal for the flush lever at the bottom of the toilet, so you step on it to flush*** he breaks the pedal off..not kidding.  We bring Olivia in, switch the propane tank over, pull out the little floor heaters and start praying we didn't cause any huge damage to the pipes.  Once we were all inside, Alston tries to turn on the kitchen faucet.... a chunk of ice pushes out and causes the head of the faucet to break off and fall in the sink and I start laughing  ( I laugh when I don't know what else to do... I mean, seriously... humor sometimes is the only thing that keeps you from absolutely loosing your mind or quiting).  I go get my blow drying and sit with the blow dryer under the cabinet hoping to thaw the pipes.  Alston goes out to check the outside lines... and I hear a very angry man.  He had tried to check the faucet on the outside kitchen and the plastic knob on the sink literally crumbled in his hand.  You see it on the movies....super frozen things crumbling when touches... it's real...we experienced it.  Next he goes to check the water hose, as he's unscrewing it, it breaks at the valve.  He crawls under the trailer to get our spare... as he's untwisting it, it breaks too.  This was getting unreal.   He comes inside...madder than a hornet.  We walk up stairs to the bathroom to inspect our damages.  As he steps into the bathroom, I go to sit on our bed and died laughing.  Our memory foam mattress was ROCK SOLID! it was frozen! and under the window unit was a pile of snow!  I'm telling you...this was like being in a terrible comedy movie.  Alston hollers from the bathroom to come take a look...our mouth wash and shampoo was also frozen, I didn't think that was even possible for mouth wash to freeze!  We loaded up and headed Walmart to find another hose...FYI water hoses are seasonal, didn't know that.  Thank the Lord, the Walmart here has an Rv section and they had a (over priced) water hose.   We get back home and decided we would maneuver the toilet so that it was just open and the next day the girls and I would go to the city (1.5 hours away 1 way) to get a replacement toilet.  About that time we started to get water back - PRAISE THE LORD! and Alston noticed a leak behind the toilet, so he was just going to 'tighten it up a little'... I love my husband...but Alston has no idea was "gentle...easy...just a little bit" actually means ***he's going to be reading this, and he knows I'm right *** He broke the valve on the back of the toilet!!! And unlike a toilet in a house... there is no shut off valve... if you want water coming into the trailer it comes in everywhere.  So for the evening, we had to shut off the water completely...BUT we did have heat lol.

The next morning the girls and I went to the city, found a new toilet ( I tighten the screws on this one!) and a heated water hose tape. 

We later admitted that in that moment standing in the kitchen we both wanted to quit this whole Rv thing...but neither of us wanted to admit it to the other.  I wanted to stay calm for Alstons sake and I know he was doing to the same for me. We make a pretty great team together. 

We've had quite a few other Rv "experiences" ***we call anything that was interesting...but DO NOT EVER WANT TO DO IT AGAIN, an experience*** but none have made us regret this decision.  If anything we are so excited to find out the next place for our adventure.  It's getting close, we didn't expect to be here this long.  And as of today, Alston is one of three remaining combo welders on the project. 

This picture was taken the day before we got home and found our trailer frozen!

Our first Christmas in the trailer