Friday July 30th 2004 Add Another Item!

Well its time to add another item to our completed list!! I have spent the week working on my
recipes. Going thru all of my cookbooks and little pieces of paper. I have now completed putting all of our favorite recipes on disk!! And am now going to try to sell the over 20 cookbooks!! Geez, its amazing what we accumulate!
I have also been trying to get together more items to take to the flea market this Saturday and have gotten them together and am now done pricing and boxing them up. Right now I am just getting rid of the junk!! I haven't really started getting rid of the items that kind of tug at our heart and I am sure its going to be tough going when that starts happening.
The weather for Saturday doesn't look that promising but we are hoping to at least get a few hours in at the flea market and maybe we will break down and go on Sunday also. Even tho I am sure Dennis could use a day relaxing in his recliner watching the Nascar race :-) Guess if we are lucky to make anything this weekend it will go against our mortgage again to try to get it paid down some more!! Every little bit counts!! Another baby step completed! YAHOOOOO!!

Sunday July 25th, 2004 Off to the Flea Market

  Well we packed up both cars and went to the flea market yesterday morning. Ewww, getting up at 6am on a Saturday doesn't really sound good to me! But to get there early means a good spot! This was a last minute idea so we only had junk type items to get rid of. Once I start getting rid of things watch out!
  Well we ended up making about $100.00 even more if we hadn't found such a great deal on strawberries, bananas and peaches! hmm, and we ate breakfast at mc donalds, hmm and ate a hamburger at the flea market... hmm, sounds like we could have made alot more if we wouldn't have had to eat or buy fruit LOL! Oh well, that is $100.00 that is going towards our mortgage to pay it off even more.
  We thought about going again Sunday but both Dennis and I got sunburned so decided to get some things done around the house, and maybe try again next weekend at the flea market. Dennis painted the gutters this morning so now we were excited to add another item completed on our list!!
  Wow, so long to go, so much money to save, so much to get done!! But even the small baby step of getting the gutters done is exciting to me!! another step done!!!! Whoo Hoo!

Monday July 19th, 2004 Family Visit

Dennis mom and stepdad came for a visit this past weekend. They live in southern Kentucky and we only get to see them a few times a year. We haven't told them about our dream of fulltiming as of yet, in fact we haven't told many people at all! (guess we are afraid that they
will think we are crazy!)Dennis sister knows and also our best friends but that is all. We know that there will come a day when everyone will have to be told and we will be asked a zillion questions and just want to make sure we have the answers to those questions.
We also know that it is going to upset some family members since we live right next door to an aunt, uncle and down the street from cousins, and nieces. I also think it will be tough when it is time to say goodbye to family members and friends for both Dennis and I. But with communication and travel the way it is now we have to remember that we can fly "home" anytime we want, or pick up a telephone, or find a way to get on the net to communicate, heck we will probably write or talk to our family more then, then we do now! Except for my best friend who I talk to 2 or 3 times a day. I am sure I will go thru Denise withdrawl as I call it! LOL! But even with having to leave family and friends behind we both can't wait for the journey to get started!!
Dennis started working on the gutters this past weekend and just about has them completed. I told him once he completes the job he needs to get on our blog and added to our completed list!!
That will be another job done and another baby step on the road to our dream!!

Friday July 16th 2004 Our Motivation List!

I thought I would sit down and make a list of some of the things that we have accomplished in the past few months to reaching our goal of being fulltime rvers. Even tho all of these are baby steps I feel each and every item listed is a very important step. This list is for Dennis and I, for the times when we feel we just aren't getting anywhere! I plan on posting here daily,weekly, monthly, whenever we feel we have done something no matter how small to reach our dream!
 
1.)  Have purchased life Insurance for both of us!
2.)  Have sold the bar and bar stools
3.)  Have picked up paint for the house trim and out building
4.)  Have requested information on cemetary plots and funeral pre-planning
5.)  Have each made out our wills (need to get notorized!)
6.)  Have read the "Movin On" Book
7.)  Reading post after post on Escapees message board.
8.)  Have researched different 5th wheel plans
9.)  Have gone out and looked at different 5th wheels
10) Have subscribed to workkamper news
11.) Sharon has made out her resume (but needs tweeking!)
12)  Have started transfering recipes to a software program
13)  Have gotten supplies to replace gutters on house
14.) Have gone thru Dennis clothing drawers and got rid of some items
15.) Have gone thru Sharon's clothing drawers and got rid of some items
16.) Have made a list of items that need to be kept
17.) Have made a list of items that need to sold
18.) Have made a list of books that need to be read
19.) Have sold some Nascar items, (have more to go tho)
20.) Have started this Blog!!
21.) The Gutters Are Done
22.) Completed transfering recipes from paper to disk
23.) Have sold the upstairs desk
24.) Painted the exterior house trim and storage building
25.) Have sold our exercise bike
26.) Have sold our downstairs freezer



 

Tuesday July 13th 2004 Fulltiming Dream

It was one year ago today when my husband Dennis and I decided that fulltime rving is what we wanted to do when we retire. Like some fulltime rvers we have camped locally a few times a year but have never taken on this kind of project. I call it a project now, because it seems like the fulltiming lifestyle for us is so far into the future.
We haven't done a very good job at saving for retirement. Since we weren't blessed with having children we kind of lived the day to day, week to week, month to month lifestyle and did pretty much whatever we wanted to do. Now, even tho we are 20 to 25 years away from what social security thinks should be our retirement age, we won't have the money to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous! So instead of waiting that 20 to 25 years for our social security checks to come in, we have decided, "Hey, why wait!!
It has been a very slow process to where we are today,(which isn't far!) but we have made some decisions. When we go fulltiming which we are planning to do in 2010 or 2011,we are going to sell our home and everything in it! Dennis will work outside of the campground, since we will still need a regular income to pay health insurance, travel expenses etc and I will work inside the campground being a campground host to recieve our site free and hopefully a little income.
We have read, read and read some more and have learned so much from fulltimers who have been on the road for 20 years down to just a few months and we have alot more to learn!! We are just now starting to sell a piece of furniture here and a collectable there. You know, going thru items in closets and boxes, wondering where the heck did that come from!!
We hope to write in this blog at least weekly to post our baby steps to fulltime rving, and also links and things we have learned. In the future we hope to had pictures and stories of our travels for our family and friends to enjoy and as a way to keep in touch.
Here's hoping you enjoy reading our preparing, our travels, our heartbreaks, our happiness as we head into another chapter in our lives.