ReCreating Home

Do we ever really know what's going to happen next? Of course not. Like it says in The Gospels (paraphrased,) we can make plans for the future and move towards them, but it's all "God willing."

When we had the exciting idea of being full-time RVers, traveling around the country taking pictures and writing about it, working where ever we wanted, doing whatever we wanted (see, I'm getting all excited again) we just had to take a chance on a dream. We wanted to put family time first, have flexibility and freedom to travel, enjoy this amazing country, not be tied down and prisoner to "things." Heck, a lot of people would like this, right?! The majority of folks who heard what we were attempting were totally jazzed for us and many envious. So we went for it. We went for a dream, we leapt at our goals.

After a major road trip and two months of full-time RVing we concluded that our dream wasn't so hot in reality. Many of the things that were pluses at first became major minuses. Too little space, to hot outside to play long, and no quality time together. Brian began to feel the walls closing in on him and finally shared one morning a few weeks ago that he was going nuts and wanted to try the house which he had still been prepping to put on the market. Though I had been feeling similarly, I thought that things would improve once we sold the house and figured out our next move. With Brian taking classes full-time at Austin Community College using the GI bill and me booked with weddings in Central Texas through September 2011, it didn't look like we were really going anywhere in the near future anyway. So...why were we living in an RV if we weren't, you know, going anywhere?

I was devastated that we were apparently giving up on our dreams, but seeing how much happier everyone was with our spacious home, I soon got over it. There were several items left from the moving sale we had -actually, everything we really need is still here. And now that we aren't overflowing with things we can utilize the rooms for their best purposes.

Wilder and Waverley each have their own bedrooms upstairs, Brian's office is now our shared private work area -complete now with a lock so I can edit and Brian can do homework in peace (though not at the same time, of course.) We're going to turn the downstairs front room into a real studio space and we're experimenting with using the spacious master bedroom and suite as as second studio. It has ideal light and a great layout, far superior to the smaller downstairs room that only gets morning light.

Do we regret our decisions in the past few months, swinging so wildly one way, then coming back to a sort of middle ground? Nope. If you never take chances, you'll never move forward. And while what other's thought used to mean so much to me, this journey has been key in teaching me it's okay to fail and I don't have to make everyone happy. We're good, we're happy, we're taking care of each other. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

I've been learning to keep my trap shut about my grandious plans, or not get my panties in a twist when my big dreams flop. Heck, at least I tried something. My 100 Miles A Month may not come to fruition, either. So does that make me a lazy loser? A floppy failure? Thanks to Brian's encouragement, I now believe the answer is "no." I love that I can dream big, have unconventional ideas, set goals and go for them. Whether we succeed or not, we are committed to caring for our family and living a life that we will, as a family, look back on with great fondness.

And the RV? We're still deciding what's the best thing to do regarding our little home on wheels. The little grey cells are still at work...

For now, here's a sneak peek at the first photo shoot in our new studios.