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Colorado

Posted on April 27, 2016 by ekyoung06

Sorry Colorado, you are not a state I ever had desire to spend time in. I am not a fan of cold. The older I get ( I am forever young but that’s another post ) the more I don’t want to spend time in the cold. And don’t get me started about making, it’s a big NO. You are a beautiful state. Breathe taking. Not a place for me to call home.

I write this on my forth trip here in 8 months. Spent a good month here last year on two jobs. Started the current job I am working on with my Hubby in Dec. Discovered walls weren’t built and have waited just three weeks ago to start said job again. Site is a mess and still not fully ready for us.

My kids. Oh how I miss them. Having sold the fifth wheel and not wanting to rehire any of our employees, we decided to ask family to take turns with the kids, and I would work with David.

It has been hard. Physically and emotionally.

We took a break from canopies for a couple of months. Did some remodeling work and lived off what we had from selling the two trucks. We knew change was coming. I wrote ‘change’ before a trip to FL we had planned since Nov. We had some hope of a new job/ministry and ask for a clear answer. And boy, it was a loud and clear “not Florida”. Alot happened in that trip and I am not ready to share most of it yet.

We had this one contract left and needed to honour it. Still praying for a direction as to what was to come after. And we still are. We have had several opportunities where we have submitted resumes and had interviews but had clear nos after from the Lord. We have one more in the works and oh, how our hearts hope and pray for a yes.

For the next couple days we are working hard. Finishing a part of the contract and praying. Praying and praising. Cause I have learned that though the first part of 2016 I can Trust in my God. He Never Fails. When mountains don’t move, I still trust.

Change.

Posted on February 27, 2016 by ekyoung06

Change.

Never easy, in my experience, but always for the better.

We had a grand adventure from July to December. Traveling together from job to job. A time of reflection also. We know we are not cut out for the ‘american dream’, 9 to 5, house/mortgage, daily routine. We have known this always. We are dreamers, explorers, and movers. We want to do not buy.

It had been hard. Dang hard. When we started moving, finally letting go of what this season ment to us, or what we thought it was suppose to be, and move in HIS direction, by faith, cause we don’t have a ‘plan’, the stupid devil hit us with one thing after another.

We have had every.single .vehicle. we own and one we were borrowing, breakdown. And that’s just the start. It has been a crazy year so far. Oh my.

So, I sold the camper. We aren’t mobile. We are selling everything off. Couches, tables, beds (don’t worry, we all still have a place to sleep), wall stuff, dressers, clothes, lamps, tools, extra appliances ( cause we all have extras of those….) – basically anything that is tying us down. Stuff. Its going. We don’t want stuff. I have a ways to go in throwing away more. Memorabilia that has been in boxes for years, some 10 or more. Gone.

We are looking toward the future. Learning from but not wasting time dwelling on the past.

We want to be servants for God. To love as He has said to do. To not be hindered by the ‘stuff’ or the lack of time because of ‘stuff’. America, we don’t need all this ‘stuff’.

Change. We don’t know what we are changing for. But we are doing it. We have the building for sale. We have our stuff for sale. We don’t have a plan. We don’t technically have an income….scary. FAITH. That is what we have. We have Hope, it’s what is anchoring our souls in HIM.

Call us crazy. I do.

It’s like the movies. We are standing at the cliff and knowing we are called to that other side. No bridge that we can see, but we take a step. My faith says, even though we can’t see it, by the time my foot needs to be on something solid, the bridge will be there. His plan, His timing. GOD NEVER FAILS.

And those are my ramblings for today. Thanks for reading.

Oh, but we are not alone… there is a movement in America. Change is coming and is happening already for alot of people.

Quotes from a book that I just read. Not before we started this prosess. But just last week (mid Feb2016).

Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker (and some from Brandon Hatmaker)

{{{ Will be added when I am back to KS • see post Colorado for why I am not in KS }}

#buythisbuilding

Posted on January 9, 2016 by ekyoung06

Two story building with three rentals + commercial/business space. *Live in one and rent the other two! Will pay for alot of the cost to own by itself!

Want to have a great space for photography studio?! Here it is! Maybe do some work and make it a coffee shop! Great price to make your dreams come true in this wonderful community! Start a wine and painting party business? Why not!? It’s an affordable space to do so!!!

Have done a lot to update and improve in the three years we have been here. Including water lines, kitchens, and exposing original hardwood floors and tin ceiling. It’s a project worth looking at!
Please send requests for contact information/address/to request a tour to David.lntcontracting@gmail.com include word “dream” in message. We won’t respond to solicitation or if you sound like a computer.

Churchill

Posted on November 20, 2015 by ekyoung06

Churchill Downs in Louisville Kentucky

95% of Photos taken by Lilly

Instagram

Posted on November 15, 2015 by ekyoung06

Really need to get my computer cord so I can post again.
And get these widgets set up that I have been researching.
Follow us on Instagram! It’s the easiest way to see what we are in the USA.

youngkansas

Really easy.

Omaha.

Posted on October 24, 2015 by ekyoung06

When it becomes cooler, aka fall, the rv parks and campgrounds in this part of the country decided to winterize. For those of us who can not boondock for more than two days, this isn’t a good thing. I need a shower. We need electric hookups. Our info for the Omaha job came on a monday and we left on a wednesday evening. I researched and found ONE park open. A Casino outter parking lot. Water and Electric. A shower house with key code. Kids were super excited. I explained we would not be going near the actual casino but that didn’t matter. 😉 Another interesting story for sure, “one time we had to park at a casino and the lights were awesome.”

Anyway, Omaha. What do you do in Omaha that is educational and fun? The Zoo of course!

We spent a cold, long day there and loved it. The kids were super excited about the tiny mice. Funny what caught their attention.

Grace found Nemo. We survived the Shark tunnel.

Tired Momma at yet another restroom stop. Ride across the park and back way up high. Kids ridding the Polar Bears while waiting for Daddy to join us for lunch.

Rain Forest. Monkeys. Fruit bats eating.

Penguins!

Looking up through the mountain in the Dome. My kids as Minions.

Tiny Mice. That sleep piled on eachother. Pretty much how my three would like to sleep if allowed. But only on my bed, on top of my head….

Photos By Lilly.

More great Photos By Lilly.

Carousel – Lilly had a blast. Aiden didn’t throw up ( yes, that happens) Grace didn’t want me standing near her ( it was required because of her height).

Butterfly Garden. Nope no pics of the butterflies. The kids, though interested in the butterflies, were not keen on them landing on them.

12hours

Posted on October 8, 2015 by ekyoung06

I was the oldest of 7. I would hide for a week when sickness came. I want to hide from my own when they are sick.

We just experienced our first sickness while living in our 5thwheel.

Diarrhea and vomiting. Small spaces, everything is splattered.

I just want to buy a ‘new’ rv. New everything. Leave it all in the plastic. Burn the old to the ground so I don’t have to find more splatter from the child who didn’t make it the 5 ft to the bathroom at 4am.

I don’t know a mother that enjoys cleaning up body fluids.
If you do. Yuck. Just wrong.

Fall

Posted on October 2, 2015 by ekyoung06

Fall. Not my season.

I start to withdraw. I hurt. I cry.

Ran into a friend a couple years ago at the beginning of spring and noted on how tan she was already. “oh, I have been tanning.” Knowing she is a super healthy health nut kinda kindred spirit, I said, “oh?” “Seasonal depression hit me really hard this year,” she replied. “Well, you look great!” said I.

What was ‘Seasonal Depression’ I thought…

Mayo Clinic Definition –

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that’s related to changes in seasons — SAD begins and ends at about the same times every year. If you’re like most people with SAD, your symptoms start in the fall and continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody.

I mentioned what I had found later that day to my Husband and that I thought I might have it. His reply was somewhere along the lines, “yeap. Makes sense.”

ugh.

I get mean. I get overwhelmed easy.

I hate being cold.

I feel like I stop fully living during the fall and winter.

It doesn’t help that my mom passed away almost three years ago in the fall.

I know there is a partial chemical imbalance. I know I need more vitamin D than most. I also know there is a spiritual side to this all. The devil knows I am effected by the cold and takes that and makes me a mean person. A sad person.

This year it feels like it came in early. I have fought to enjoyed the warm weather all the way to Oct. I fake it till I make it….. But it’s the 1st and it is suddenly colder. ugh. I fight it. I do. I look at the green colored leaves instead of the changing ones. Thought beautiful, not my cup of tea.

This year I am dealing with new stresses. Teaching my kids. They are feeling the effects. I need days of recess with them instead of 15 min. I am trying to finish a building, a camper, do paperwork for a company ( hello- business paperwork is so stressful in itself!). I felt like I have been a crappy friend. And a crappy older sister to every single one of my siblings.

I need the south. I need warmth. At least to try it. To see if it helps.

The company we contract for has us in Nebraska next two weeks. That is not Florida like we were told would be this last two weeks +

But then would that we just a change of scenery? Would this seasonal crap still be dragging me down?

I need prayer. I need hugs. I am sorry for being this way right now.

Spring will come. I will be overjoyed. I always am. I just need to find a way to make my body believe that fall can be just as happy as spring.

Hiking

Posted on September 9, 2015 by ekyoung06

Devils Head Trails.

What an experience. Driving farther/up into the mountains that have been a huge part of our view while in Colorado. I have gazed with wonder at the rain, the haze, the beauty of these rocks.

We started our Labor Day with donuts for the kids and a quick shopping trip for the Hubby and me to the outlet mall we have been passing for a week. ( BTW, we bought a few things at the Gap and further realized we are not name brand people, nor comfortable in Suburbia – but that is for another post.)

After lunch and half way up the road to the hiking trail, I had a panic attack. Yep, that happened. I was driving. “Honey, its no problem for me to drive, it is your day off. Go ahead and nap on the way.”

Off road, narrow road, busy road, UP HILL, in a mini van…

No cell signal. No sight of our friends, whom we were following, up these twists and turns.

I have had only one other big, while driving, panic attack before. Almost 9 years ago. In the middle of a blizzard, heading to a funeral, 8 months pregnant. Emotions were high.

Yesterday, I finally found a place to pull over, get out of the vehicle, walk to a fence post, and hang on for dear life. Bless my husband. He admitted later that he wasn’t the best help. He kept telling me that my actions weren’t helping and to get in the van. I made him hold me till I could breathe again.

5 min later, he was driving and I was shaking in the front seat, up the rest of the road to Devils Head.

I was super upset with myself. Been looking forward to hiking since we had arrived in Colorado. I wanted the challenge of different terrain, while enjoying the beauty of the mountains and forest. Why was I freaking out about a road/drive?!

But isn’t that life? We look forward to a challenge, a change, and when it comes, it usually comes with an ‘extra’ we didn’t foresee or plan for. Blah. No matter how strong we are, we all have our moments of weakness where we allow fear to overwhelm us.

The Bible tells us 365 times… DO NOT FEAR. It all works out. Time passes, pain lessens. But then fear doesn’t listen to reason. It attacks. Reminds us that we are human and can not do all things on our own. No matter how tough we think we are. We have to let ‘someone’ else take the wheel.

We had a great time. It was beautiful. The drive down was fine. We took a different road, one a little less traveled because of its twists and turns. Had way better views. Hubby drove. I took deep breathes. Glad we have this memory. Really.

FYI – click on a group of photos to enlarge 🙂

Tornado Damage. Crazy. Tornado on a mountain.

I need to make that photo into art… any thoughts?

Last photo in the last group – G is fine. She ask to be “carried like a baby”.

Aquarium

Posted on August 27, 2015 by ekyoung06

Turns out. I had “duh” moment on Sunday. (Thanks Sarah)
My cousin, whom for 10 years of my life lived two blocks from me, literally, not only lives in the Denver area, she is THE curator for the Denver Aquarium.
So, yes, we had to visit. No question.
I loved it. Really!
Those that know me well would know I love museums but am not an animal person. And tunnels…do not get me started. But this was awesome.

Highlights? Mermaids and then Tigers around the corner.

( please excuse the cellphone pics. I forgot my camera. For the love )

G found Nemo and was super excited for a picture with him.

L thought this flower in the corner was a must picture but didn’t want to go near it, even though it was plastic 🙂

A pingponged all over. I love that the two oldest can read.

Oh and this. This was nuts.
Piranahs. Huge. And not really swimming. Just a creepy float. I had to take two pics to show my real emotion. You’re welcome.

Lunch at the Cafe. Seated near the fish tanks. Brilliant entertainment for all.

( and yes, not just cell pics, but a snap chat as well. I am on a roll.)

I even spent some time on my phone booking a flight for my hubby (long story) and the kids didn’t got nuts with my lack of attention 🙂

Arriving back at the camper, we decided to conquer some math. We have stated slow, one subject a day so far. Getting a feel for the way it all works. I have learned what each kid needs to focus during a lesson and the work they do on their own. Aka, A by himself during math and L ,with me, sitting there answering her thirty questions with mostly a “what do you think the answer is?”, response.
We will get this figured out.

If only we could just visit places for all of their schooling. Maybe a field trip to an accountant or bank will help with math….