I will be honest and say that living in TX was something I never wanted to do. I don't have anything specific against TX or people who live here. There are just other states further up on my list of places I would prefer to live. But, if I must live in certain places there are certain requirements I have, to make it much more pleasurable. So if I am going to live in TX, because of dh's work, then I was determined to live some place on the coast.

So here I am, living in Baytown, TX (about a half hour from Houston). It is surrounded by water (Galveston Bay) on three sides. The Bay is right out our back door here at the nice RV park we are staying at. Now I just need to convince dh to stay here for our whole time here and not move to a place closer to where he may work.

The best part about being here is, the breeze. TX is hot and humid and pretty much miserable inland. I like heat but this humidity is killing me. By the bay there is a constant breeze. It is still ungodly hot, but the breeze takes a bit of the edge off.

Here we are in our first week of living in our RV. We are in Tennessee right now just west of Nashville. So far so good, but there are many challenges we have to work through.

First is where on earth to put everything we brought from our house? As I open boxes I think one of two things. Either, "where can I find a spot to possibly put this?" or "what was I thinking when I packed this because there is no way I am gonna need it here." lol In an RV you have to make the most of every little bit of space you have. This is something I have never been good at so it is a learning curve for me. I am constantly putting things away, then moving them, then realizing I have no room for it and probably don't need it after all.

The kids have a whole other take on the RV. To them it is a new type of jungle gym. In the front door and out the back, making circles through the house (eh em, RV). Running up the stairs to the loft and back down. They don't seem to listen when told to settle down and inevitably get hurt or in time-out. Last night I was sitting here at the table and see Matthew fly across the room as he fell, tripped or jumped from the stairs and landed on the kitchen floor flat on his face. It is amazing when kids get hurt doing something they aren't suppose to do, the first they do is get up and say "I'm okay".

For occasional camping in an RV things are great, but you find other problems when you decide to live in one full time. Yeah, they really need about another half dozen electrical outlets in this thing. Good thing I married an electrician lol. The ceilings in the living room/kitchen/dinette are about 9 feet high which is awesome. However the top cabinets are too high even for me (at 5'9") that even I need to get a step stool to reach things. Then the are 3 steps that go up to the bedroom and bathroom which makes those ceiling about 6 feet tall (or around that height). So when I am blow drying my hair in the bathroom the blow dryer hits the ceiling when I am trying to style my hair. Showers can take extra long too since the water pressure is about 40 lbs of pressure or less. The park we are staying at now has real low water pressure and I swear I will never get all the shampoo and rinse out of my hair. Also, where on earth do I put my ironing board? To me ironing my clothes is second to breathing. I haven't ironed anything since we have been in the RV. I am really "slumming" it now lol. My two standard sized cookie sheets I had to give to my MIL. They won't fit in my teeny, tiny oven lol. Time to go shopping for some teeny, tiny cookie sheets.

But hey, so far so fun! Oh, did I mention dh "may" decide to take us to Idaho for work instead of Texas? It depends on work in Texas and we should know the first week in July so I will keep everyone updated.

At least that is what your gonna think! Just let me say we have researched this long and hard.

First things first. It seems we have bought one heck of a big fifth wheel toy hauler. It has 3 axles and is just shy of 42 feet long. That means that an F-450 truck just won't cut it and neither will most other trucks in the same class. What we need is a commercial truck. How insane is that?

We finally found one in our price range and it will do the job like no other.



Hopefully we can run up to Vegas next Wednesday or sooner to get it. The owner *said* he would hold it for us and I hope he does.

Here is one of the cool parts too. It has 5 leather captains chairs in the cab and since there are 5 of us it will work out perfectly. I am not too keen on the green but hey, we all have to make sacrifices lol.



So, when it is all said and done this is what we will look like towing our vehicle down the road. I hope there is enough room for us in those RV parks lol


Now to answer all your burning questions.... No, you do not need a CDL to drive one of these truck. Why you ask? Ok, maybe you could care less but you came here to learn right? This particular truck started out as a 2 axle semi tracker but it has since been cut down to a single axle and converted to something that will tow an RV. Single axle means you do not need a CDL, provided the truck does not weigh more then 26,000 lbs.

Now a tid bit about me. I used to have a CDL (I dropped it when I got my AZ license). Anyway I have driven a semi with a 53 foot trailer across this country over every mountain range in the U.S. However I will probably let dh do all the driving of our fifth wheel but if push come to shove I can drive it. And I should say it was fun as heck driving a semi. I loved being the biggest thing on the road. Of course I hating the parking part of it and ultimately that is why I don't do it any more.


P.S. I got a molar pulled the other day. My face is swollen and I am still in pain and on meds etc... So if I sound a little out of it, please forgive me. And the really fun part is, in less then 2 weeks I get to go get another molar pulled on the opposite side of my mouth.

P.S.S. Have I mentioned lately we leave AZ in less then a month and I haven't even started going through anything in the house yet to get ready for this move? *JUST SHOOT ME!!!*

We got our loan paperwork for the fifth wheel yesterday (yay!!) So that is signed and sealed with our down payment (ouch) and in the mail. Oh and get this, out first loan payment is due before we even get the fifth wheel LOL. Gotta love that!

Still waiting to hear about our truck loan. They said it may be Wednesday before we hear anything, but I am going crazy waiting. I really hate waiting *sigh*

We had a banner moment as far as dh is concerned. He has been going back and forth on getting the new truck or getting a used one. He hates to buy anything new. And when he buys new (this applies to almost anything) He always buys the cheapest of whatever it is then wonders why within a year it breaks and we have to go out and buy a new one of whatever it was we bought in the first place.

Well hey, he finally figured out if we get the good things to begin with, albeit more expensive, the longer they will last. I don't mean expensive just to be expensive, but better quality which usually means more expensive. Wow, it seems like forever for him to get to this point. I honestly never thought it would happen.

We are getting a new truck!! The paperwork is going to the bank tomorrow through the dealership. They use 17 lenders, there has got to be one that will approve us, yes? I am worried about even posting about it yet, but here I am doing just that. Just to be safe though I am not going to post any pics yet.

In fact we haven't even seen the actual truck we are buying. It is a model that not the usual person buys so they don't make too many. They didn't even have one on the lot. The only one is in California so it has to be brought here to AZ and that will take about five days or so. We really need this truck to pull our 5th wheel so please send positive loan vibes our way.

When it is a done deal I will reveal the type of truck and bunches of pictures!! Lets just say it is a monster....

to my life?? We have so much to do to get ready to move into the RV. I don't even want to think about it let alone do any of it.

Everything we own really (except what will fit in the RV, which is pretty much necessities only) needs to be gone through and either sold, trashed or set on fire lol. This is going to suck because for one I am a pack rat. I still have a few boxes of things that used to hang on my bulletin board when I was in Jr high. I never look at any of it but just the fact that those things are like 25-30 years old keeps me clinging to them.

We have things we haven't seen in years. When I do go through boxes it is like Christmas all over again. I am like "Wow, how cool, I remember that!!" In which case I again just can't throw it away *sigh*.

Also I am very bad with clutter in that I get overwhelmed with it and have no idea where to start. I just take one look at it and make up some excuse why I should be on the computer or cleaning the toilet. Anything to not have to deal with all the things I need to do between now and the 23rd of May. My dream would be to grab what we needed and then set the house on fire. Out of sight, out of mind. If I don't see it I am not going to miss it.

Just imagine taking a 4 bedroom house with a family of 5 living in it and scaling it down to the size of a studio apartment. It reminds me of the George Carling routine he used to do about "stuff". If you have never heard it before it is really funny and you can find it on Youtube.

If anyone wants to volunteer to help I'll provide the beer and pizza!!

We got a loan for the RV! Dh just happened to call a friend in Michigan to ask a question about something. Come to find out this friend's wife worked in the loan dept at a credit union dh used to belong to (or maybe still does, he hadn't used the account in years). She got it approved for us!!! In fact from looking at our credit report she said she couldn't understand why we had been turned down by the other places we applied. It doesn't matter now cause we are approved and everything is in the works. Below is a quick video I put together of what the RV will look like (inside). Well, except for the fact ours will have a more pleasing interior design color. I hate the black and such they use in these photos.

The RV is currently on order with the manufacturer. We decided to have it built to our specs because it saved us about $15,000-$20,000 then buying it through a dealer. Now the fun part, the manufacturer is in Ohio and we are in AZ. It works into our plan though. We are intending to go to AL and TN after school is out to see dh's mom who has cancer. So, we will swing up to Ohio while we are there to get the RV.

Now for the really fun part. We both have to drive our vehicles the 1700 miles to AL. Dh is a driving maniac, meaning he can drive for hours and HOURS at a time. He travels all ove the states so he is used to it. As for me, I am good to go the first day. After that I just want to sleep and say screw this! That is just over 14hrs of driving each day for 2 days and that does not include stops for 3 kids and 2 dogs. I told him I will meet him there in about a week after he gets there LOL.

Oh yeah, and I am driving my piece of shit van. For those who are unaware of my van and the problems and anger it has caused me you can find out HERE.

Then after the visiting of family is done it is another long drive to Beaumont, TX (2 hrs east of Houston) where dh wants to set us up at. Just hope there are no hurricanes around that area anytime soon seeing as it is close to Galveston.

I am hoping everything goes as planned. But, since things rarely go as planned for us, keep looking for my updates on our "new" life starting the end of May.

Seriously no matter what we do things just seem to go the wrong way for us. We are looking into getting our new RV. We have done everything to get our credit score up to that point that banks like. We have been cutting back and saving for our down payment and it has been all for nothing I guess.

Now banks, credit unions etc are telling us that we can't get a loan because we don't have a car payment, house payment or some other "secured" debt and that makes us a bankruptcy risk. WTF?

We have gotten and been turned down for our share of credit in our life but this is the first time we have been told that. And anyone who follows my blog knows of my stupid vehicle issues and I wanted a new van back in October but dh said we couldn't get one because we needed to keep things off our credit and save money. A lot of good that did us huh?

The same thing happened yesterday when my sister and her fiance went to get her wedding band at a well know jeweler. They were given the same reason we got. Needless to say her fiance was mortified when he was turned down since he has excellent credit. The ring they wanted was only $500

Of course dh did not have another plan in the works for this senerio because he always assumed we would get the loan for the RV. So now he has to figure something else out. The kids and I staying here in AZ is not an option for him though. And the reason we were getting the RV and not just getting a place (rental house, apartment) everywhere he worked was because it cost too much to keep moving an apartment full of belongings place to place.

So, I swear if dh moves us back into his mom's old piece of shit 29ft RV I will seriously blow a freaking gasket!!

What a week it has been. Obviously living in a house takes up more of my time then an RV, hence the serious lack of blogging. Does that mean I will never be living in an RV again? No, it does not. According to dh it is just on hold till next summer when the kids are out of school and we (dh that is) buys a new RV.

Here is what is going on. Dh is headed for Washington state next weekend to hopefully get a job there. There is a phase of a job manning up that will be overtime and last till in to December. So, I won't see dh till around Christmas time. If that all works out he will then head back to Vegas to be there the day after Christmas to sign the book for "show calls". Show calls are one to two week jobs, but are all overtime and excellent money. When you end work on one you just take the next show call out. It can be a few months of good work.

It has been busy here. Packing, moving, unpacking, setting up my room here and so forth. Visiting with my family and all the things that go along with that.

I will try to be better on my blogging. I even missed Wordless Wednesday, I am ashamed...

Oh, and dh came from Vegas this weekend. Well actually he got here mid morning Saturday and left just after midnight. He was only here for barely over twelve hours but it was better then nothing I guess. He has a lot to do to get ready to leave for Washington next weekend. The boys are really gonna miss him and he is going to miss the boys tons too.

It's been crazy here and I would just like things to be semi normal for a change (HA! as if).

I consider napping and sleeping (going to bed at night) in very different ways. I can nap anywhere. My comfort is almost irrelevant. I can nap in a chair or on a sofa or even the floor. It doesn't matter what I am wearing or if it is daytime or how much commotion going on around me. Of course I don't get to nap nearly as much as I would like.

Sleeping on the other hand is a totally different story for me. The conditions need to be perfect, to get a *good* nights sleep anyway. Needless to say the RV we are in right now does not have these *perfect* conditions for me.

For example, I need total darkness to sleep. Here there must be half a dozen L.E.D lights in this place. The microwave, the alarm clock, my laptop, the Direct TV receiver and TV. I turn off some but the ones I can't drive me insane. How can such little lights light up a room so much?

Don't get me started on our bed, or lack thereof. I sleep on a Jack knife sofa. It basically folds out the same as a futon does. It is old so the highest part is the middle and each side kinda slants down, so either I feel like I am going to roll out of bed or I feel like I am slammed up against the counter that is runs along the back of the sofa. Also dh and I have to sleep separately. Well, we don't have to but I need lots of room. It is hard going from a queen bed to a pull out sofa barely bigger then a twin bed.

Dh sleep in the dining area of the RV. The table comes down and the bench cushions lay over the table and benches to make a bed. There is no leaning there but it is way too hard for me to sleep on. I wake up with every bone in my body hurting when I sleep there.

What I wouldn't give for an awesome nights sleep.

We found a really nice RV today. It is sweet, bigger and better then the one I posted about earlier this week.



Finally something both dh and I agree on, yay!!! This puppy has everything, and then some. Can't wait to get it!!!

That is what we did Wednesday. Dh was let off work at 0630 because of some issues at work so he came home and woke me up, way too early I might add.

We decided to go look at fifth wheels. We shopped for them just like we shop for house, we each have very different preferences. I want something nice, livable and pleasing to the eye. He wants something practical and could care less what the interior looks. I agree we need tons of storage space but I am the SAHM and I am the one that has to sit home all stay and stare at the walls and they had better be a nice color to stare at all day. The furniture better be comfortable and be set in a way that works for me. Our three kids better have plenty of their own space to be.

This is the one we found http://www.bigskyrv.com/rv/index.php?id=N4203 I love the colors and style very much. The pics have a different interior color then the one we want, but anyway.

We figure it will take six months of really pinching pennies to pay down our credit cards to 30% and save up for the down payment and taxes. Of course this means that the fifth wheel will be our house and that is where we will be living for a long time.

Why would I want to live in a fifth wheel?? Good question. Well I will be the first to admit I am a wanderer. As much as I hate to pack up I do like to move. After the age of 20 I have done nothing but move, even if it was just to a different part of the same town. I get bored and need change. Except for family I have no close ties with the outside world like friends, work etc....

Also I have found that the smaller my place is the less junk I can have and the easier it is to CLEAN lol. That alone is a good thing because I hate cleaning with a passion!!!

Maybe I am crazy, I know my family thinks I am. You never know in life if the decisions you make are right or not. Guess we will find out!

First, a note about my cat. She came home last night!!! I am sooo happy!!! She was a little dusty but no worse for wear.

Anyway last night my dh went to do laundry. We live in an a RV park so the laundry has to be done at a laundry mat on site. fun, fun. Soon after he started the washer the water went out in the park, grrrr. It kept going on and off all evening. Finally after midnight dh went to go get the clothes, which didn't get washed properly so couldn't be dried. Now I have a van full of sopping wet clothes that I need to go back and wash today. Needless to say I have nothing to wear since everything was in the laundry!!!! Gotta love the RV life, NOT!