Ever Feel Like Everything is Falling Apart, Including Your Best Laid Plans?

When you tell God that you are willing to go anywhere or do anything, you had better be prepared to follow through.

Since January, I have been leading the kids through a Bible study called Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby.  The basic premise of the study is that God invites us to join Him in the work that He is doing.  Throughout history He has been speaking to His people, inviting them to grow faith and trust in Him by partnering with Him in works that only He can do.  This study has reset my heart and helped to prepare our family to GO near or far.  We have been praying, “God, what do you want us to do?  Help us to want only what You want for us.  Help us to be willing to go anywhere or do anything.”

Having started the year with this mindset, we recently received the news that we need to move out of our rental home.  (If you missed that update, you can watch that video HERE.).   Though we knew from the time we moved in that our early eviction was a possiblity (our landlord eventually wanted to move into the house we rented), it was not a call that we were expecting.  The ousting  made it clear that God was doing something- though we were not sure what yet.  Thankfully, our landlord gave us a couple months to move out and make plans for what to do next. 

Since we were praying for the Lord’s direction and this was unexpected, moving into the RV seemed like a good idea.  It gave us time to wait on the Lord as we prayed about the future and how He wanted to use us.

That brings us to this week’s video.  Moving into the RV seemed like a good plan, but… we weren’t really thinking about the repairs that would be needed, first.  I decided to take a good look at the RV before moving us in.  It’s a good thing I did.  When I got into the RV to give it a good deep cleaning prior to the move in, the “fun” began…  

Thank you so much for your continued support!  We appreciate every email, text, prayer, thumbs up, comment and “share” of our videos.  The time that you have taken to encourage us through participating in our journey in various ways is such a blessing to our family.

Please let us know what kind of videos you would like to see in the future!  And if you see a video that you know would benefit or bless someone else, please pass it along!

Keep Doing Life Deliberately,
Trisha

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food, Fun, FRIENDS and a WHOLE LOTTA MEAT: Meatfest 2019!!

📣Calling all carnivores!! It’s time for our annual 🍔MEATFEST 🥩celebration with friends! 👏 We’ve planned for this weekend-long event all year long and it’s finally here! Join us in Wisconsin for food, Fun, and FRIENDS as we enjoy a weekend’s worth of delicious meat and good times!!🎉

 

If you enjoy today’s video, PLEASE, give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends!  We’d love for you to join us in the pursuit of Doing Life Deliberately!  If you haven’t already, SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel (click the SUBSCRIBE button and the little bell next to it to be alerted every time we release a new video)!  We look forward to sharing this journey with YOU!

How Did Our Truck Get So GROSS??

We’ve traveled 40,000 miles (according to the odometer) and gone to 33 states this past year- and our truck shows for it!!  If you’re looking for #cleaningmotivation, come and #cleanwithme as we declutter, reorganize and clean our truck and exterior of the RV.  Let’s see what our full time RV family can do to make our truck and RV tidy again!

Joe’s Top 10 Things Guys Want for RV Living

It’s been ONE full year of living in a RV!! This week, Joe shares some of the things he has discovered to make life more efficient, comfortable and fun while living in a RV.   You can click on the images below to go to Amazon and learn more about each of the items mentioned in the video. (*These are affiliate links. If you should choose to make a purchase, a small percentage will be forwarded to Doing Life Deliberately at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!)

 #10: an Electric Kettle

We never considered the need of an electric kettle prior to RV, but this little gadget has been awesome!  We use it every morning for making our pour over coffee.  And we it to boil water for pasta, hard boiled eggs, etc.  It works much more quickly than using the gas stove top and keeps us from going through propane too quickly!

#9: a Large Level

We use our level every time we setup the travel trailer!  We can either lay it horizontally across the tongue of the trailer to level side to side OR we will use it vertically on the side of the trailer to adjust the leveling blocks from side to side.  Joe also uses the level to make sure that his smoker is laying flat when grilling the perfect cut of meat!

#8: Work Gloves

After tearing down and setting up our travel trailer a few times, it was painfully obvious that we needed good work gloves!  Grease, oil, dirt and grime are all par for the course as RVers- so if you want to keep your hands clean, a good pair of work gloves is definitely worth the small investment!

#7: Curved Levelers with Chocks

Santa brought these levelers for Christmas and it was one of the best presents ever!!  The grown-up Lego leveling blocks we were using to level our trailer were JUNK!!  They are cheap, but not the most user friendly.  Over time, they get crushed and no longer snap together.  This means it takes even longer to level the trailer than usual.  With these curved levelers, it is a smooth ramp up to a level platform and the gray chocks slip right behind/under them to hold the trailer at the right height.  You NEED these!  They are awesome!

#6: VIAIR Portable Air Compressor

This air compressor is PEACE OF MIND.  This convenient air compressor connects to your RV or car battery so that you never have to worry about your tires having low air pressure.  This is also a great tool for keeping bike tires and balls inflated and ready to use anywhere!

 #5: Midland GXT Walkie Talkies

We LOVE these walkie talkies!  They make setup and tear down of the travel trailer a smooth process.  Backing into campsites or pulling through tight spots is easy.  It is common to hear couples shouting at each other in frustration through these different scenarios (all the memes attest to it!).  But with these walkie talkies, we can not only communicate with ease, but our kids can also keep in touch with us as they head to the shower house, camp store or playground.

#4: Plantronics Advanced NC Bluetooth Headset

Joe recently purchased this headset when co-workers complained that they couldn’t hear him over the background noise at a coffee shop.  It was well worth the money spent!  Whether in a coffee shop, outside when it’s windy or with kids in the background, this headset cancels background noise and makes it easy to communicate regardless of your environment.  This is also great for taking business calls when driving.

#3: Zero Gravity Lawn Chairs

One of the things Joe misses most about a sticks-and-bricks home is his La-Z-Boy recliner!  We don’t have recliners in our RV.  But with these zero gravity lawn chairs we have another space where we can kick up our feet, relax and enjoy the beauty of the outdoors.   These definitely make RVing more enjoyable!

#2: Cradlepoint Wireless Router

This Cradlepoint Wireless Router has been a God-send for us on the road!  It accepts up to two sim cards from different wireless companies so that you can access the internet in most places.  When our cell signal is lacking, we can slip the sim cards from our cell phones into the Cradlepoint and it will boost the signal to give us better reception.  From that point, we can make voice-over-internet calls.  And if our AT&T service is lacking in an area, we can use a pay-by-month sim card from Verizon to get a signal in most places.  Of course, there are areas where no service will work.  But this Cradlepoint Wireless Router has been of great benefit to us in areas where our cell coverage would otherwise be very weak.

And finally…. #1: Weber Smokey Mountain

Anyone who knows Joe well knows that he LOVES to smoke meat!  This Weber Smokey Mountain fits convienently in our outdoor kitchen (we replaced our outdoor fridge with the smoker).  We use it about every other week to smoke large cuts of meat that we will then consume over the next week.  It’s a delicious way to feed the family while traveling full time!

 

Again, if you are interested in any of these items, click the picture to access the Amazon affiliate link.  We hope these items will make your RVing experience as enjoyable as it has made ours!

Celebrating ONE YEAR of Full Time RV Life

We’re celebrating ONE YEAR of full time RV living with a new video series: RV Crazy?!?!  Our first video, How to Tear Down and Setup a Travel Trailer, takes you through the process we go through every time we change locations.  We’ll give you tips and tricks to make the process go smoother and  show you how we involve the kids.  Whether you are curious as to how it works, are new to RVing or just want tips to make the process go smoother, we hope you’ll enjoy this week’s video!

Why We LOVE Staying in State Parks

Our opportunity to explore Florida may not have worked out the way we planned, but our mission was still accomplished.  In this week’s video, we travel to the Destin, Florida, area and enjoy a plethora of beautiful state parks!  The beaches of the Florida panhandle are known as the Emerald Coast for their beautiful turquoise waters and powdery white sand beaches- just gorgeous.

Foul Play in our Florida Campground

Sometimes things DO NOT go according to plan.  No one plans to stay at an RV Park where a dead body is discovered.  But that is exactly what happened when we parked our travel trailer in a cute, little Brevard County campground in Melbourne, FL.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and Joe stayed with the kids while I went to a nearby Starbucks to do some video editing.   Suddenly, I get a text from my beloved husband describing how police are searching an RV behind us and questioning the neighbors regarding a badly decomposed body they found in the abandoned 5^th wheel. Well, if you want to know the rest of the story, you’ll have to tune into this week’s video (Click HERE to watch).  But let’s just say, I hope this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Beyond the unfortunate experience of police forensics in our “backyard,” our time in Melbourne and Titusville, FL was filled with New Year’s traditions and exploring our winter haven.  It’s fun to explore a new climate and landscape!  We hope you will join in on the the real fun of RV living by tuning into our latest episode.