September 2, 2018 – Our Nomadiversary

HOORAY!

WOW! It’s been a year since we rolled out of our home town of Acworth, GA.  One year full-time on the road, one year full of memories and one year filling our hearts and minds. Thank you to the Mangels family for our celebration package!

 

Chris had former Disney imagineer, Raymond Kinman, make this amazing plague for us as a surprise. I’m blown away. We are huge Disney fans and having him carve this for us means so much. We will set it in the front window when we are stationary.

 

Stats from the first half of our adventure:

The RV has driven 11, 411 miles and the Jeep has driven 15,879 miles for a total of 27, 290 miles driven across our great country in one year.

We’ve stayed in 56 campsites.

We’ve visited 22 states and 2 other countries.

We’ve visited 20 National Parks and many more National monuments, sites and recreational areas.

We’ve driven over the continental divide and the Mississippi River more times that we can count.

We’ve met some really great people along the way that will be forever friends.

It hasn’t been all cake and ice cream. Dealing with the unexpected is strengthening our flexibility and resilience.

We dodged Hurricanes, volcanos, fires, and a crash landing in an airplane.

The RV has needed a few repairs along the way, some more inconvenient than others.

The Jeep’s top was slashed and a backpack stolen.

It’s impossible to express all that we’ve learned in the past year living in the RV.

Being on this adventure has provided many gifts to our family. Chris and I have had more time with one another, we’ve had more quality time with the girls, and more time to learn, reflect and appreciate our gifts. Time is the key recurring theme.

We sought to give the girls an education of a life time and to get freedom that comes with living a life that is intentional.

I have gained self-confidence that doesn’t come from the roles I play in my community.

Our road schooling education has proven that learning new things with all your senses builds the strongest memories.

Two students with different strengths and dreams so I can teach them individually.

They collaborate and explore what they have an interest in.

Instead of sitting in rows at desks and only allowed to speak when called on, their classroom changes daily, they sit in rocking chairs or towels and talk freely. We can discuss and grow our minds when the idea presents itself.

We have had the opportunity to volunteer in communities we have visited over the past year. During these experiences we get to see first hand how others live which has fostered empathy and understanding.

Even if we don’t retain all the details of where we’ve been, we weaved the importance of history, science, education, family time, priorities and making your dreams come true into our souls.