Journey of the Raptor

After a lot of debating (A LOT), Josh and I decided that we should buy our own fifth-wheel, camper, or RV. It's so much easier to deal with a mobile home when your job takes you on the road so much. We did a lot of research and found a Raptor Toy Hauler that we LOVED! It was huge, had a master bedroom, a bathroom with two entrances, a large kitchen/living room, washer/dryer hookups, a toy hauler which can be used as a second bedroom (queen bunk beds come down from the ceiling), and so much more! The big kicker was that it was on sale and marked down $30,000 from the original price! 

The problem was that it was still expensive and we needed a loan to make up for what we would put down.

We called the RV Center that had the Raptor and talked to them for a while about finances. They told us that we probably couldn't get a loan (Total BS BTW!) unless we have a cosigner. We called trusted people in the family but couldn't find anyone to cosign (something I was VERY upset about at the time but now understand). 

So, Josh and I decided to cut out the middle man and go straight to the bank. 

Josh and I arrived in Wisconsin Sunday (August 25th) afternoon. We headed straight to Shorty's to see how the RV was doing, move all of our things into his giant shed/barn, and then headed to the hotel to get things ready for our meeting with the banker.

We arrived at the bank early the next morning and explained our situation. The loan officer told us that it usually takes 3-5 days to get a loan approval. We didn't have that! We had to BE in Indiana in 3 days! So our loan officer got to work and really dedicated himself to our cause.

Because of my great credit, Josh's fine credit, and Josh's income, we were able to get the loan and got approved within the day! Take that RV Center!

We called the RV Center immediately and told them we would be there in the morning to sign the final paperwork and to take our new baby home!

[The Raptor on the lot]

We arrived the next morning, signed the necessary paper work, handed over the check from the bank, wrote a check for the remaining amount, and then were told to come back in a few hours to pick up the Raptor.

We came back a few hours later and took a tour of the Raptor with the mechanic, got Shorty's truck (he let us borrow it to pull the Raptor down to Indiana while he had Josh's little truck) all hooked up, had the sales representative take our picture, and then we headed out!

[Me in front of the Raptor and Shorty's truck]

[Proud owners (yes, the sun was DIRECTLY in our eyes)]

We pulled the Raptor to Shorty's were we hooked it up for the night and then went to A&W to celebrate!

The next day we spent HOURS unpacking and organizing our things. There is plenty of storage space but finding a good spot for everything was hard. We also took a lot of pictures so you can all see what she looks like:

[The toy hauler folds out and becomes a large patio. Those benches can also fold down and become a queen-sized bed]

[Me for scale] 

  

[Inside of the toy hauler when it is all folded up. The beds come down and become queen-sized bunk beds.]

[The rest of the toy hauler with a door to the outside (on the right), a door to the kitchen/living room, a TV, a hook up for the Dyson vacuum, AND washer/dryer hookups.]

[Me in the living room showing how high it is]

[Living room]

[Complete with an entertainment center. The door on the right goes to the bathroom and the door on the left goes to the master bedroom]

 

[And yes, it has a fire place]

[View of the living room/kitchen]

[I LOVE the large fridge too!]

[Bathroom]

[Door to the Master bedroom] 

[Master bedroom]

[Master bedroom with a door to the bathroom]

[Outside] 

We are so excited about our newest purchase! A lot of blood, sweat, and tears (all on my part) went into getting this and so far there has been no regret!

Exodus from the Land of the Frozen

This last month has been CRAZY for Josh and I! We moved twice, bought a Raptor, got engaged, and ended up in Indiana. I promise all these things will be documented here on this blog in due time :-)  For now, here is the story of how we left North Dakota:

For the last month or so we knew that Josh's job was going to be coming to an end in North Dakota. Around that same time we found out that Josh got a new job in Indiana. Great news right?! Well, it was and it wasn't. First, it is very nice to have jobs lined up. BUT when there is very little time in between them it is hard to move and get things organized. What made the situation even more difficult was the fact that Uncle Shorty needed his RV back (the one we had been living in for the past 8 months) *Booooo!* because he was going out on the job in Indiana too *yeah!*

Also, Josh's job in ND had some sweet bonuses BUT you had to "finish" the project in order to get them. The first one is that they give you a $80/day bonus (so everyday that you work you get an extra $80 and it comes in one lump sum) and then the second one was a flat $2,000 check. Between the two bonuses Josh was going to get well over $10,000 so we really needed him to "finish" the project. 

Needless to say we had a lot on our hands: we needed that bonus, we needed to get Shorty's RV back to Wisconsin, we needed a place to live, and we needed to get to Indiana ASAP!

Can you imagine the stress?!

Well ,Josh's job ended just in time and he got the bonus checks! Score! So we could mark one thing off the list. 

Even though we had a lot on our hands (where would we live once we got to Indiana? How would we get there?!) we really needed to focus on getting the RV ready for transportation back to WI.

Shorty told Josh that he could drive it back (such a trusting guy) to Wisconsin so that Shorty didn't have to come all the way out to ND (a 9 hour drive) just to pick it up and then drive all the way back.

So, Josh started getting the RV ready while I packed our things on the inside so they would be easier to move out of the RV once it got back to Wisconsin. Done and done. Pretty easy. 

[I moved all of our movies into a CD case to save space]

The hard part came when Josh was trying to get the RV slides (2 of them) to come in and the motor decided to die on us! You can't move an RV with the slides out! What will we do?! We called Shorty and explained the situation. He and Josh talked on the phone all day and tried all the tricks in the book but nothing worked and the clock was ticking! Shorty then decided to grab one of his buddies and to head our direction. While they were driving out here our neighbors at the RV park came home and offered to help us. They tried a few different things too and nothing worked. Ugh. I was on the verge of tears! Then someone suggested that we use "man power" and push the slides in manually. We all lined up and pushed like crazy! And guess what?! It worked! With their help we were able to get both slides in! Booyah!

[Josh standing next to the large slide that was stuck]

[We had to remove the couch in order to get a crank in the floor to help us pull in the slide]

  

[Good ole "man power"]

[All in and ready to go!] 

We called Shorty and told him the good news. He was really happy and told us to get on the road and we will meet halfway. We scrambled to get things ready and then headed out. 

[Last meal in ND]

[All ready to go]

  

[I felt bad leaving our spot in such a mess but our neighbors offered to clean it up for us. Such nice guys! Pipeline people form a family and really watch out for each other!]

[Josh filling up with gas (it cost $300 to fill up that beast!)]

[And yes, he towed the Silverado]

[I pass this little red barn all the time and I love it! It's leaning a little and it has such character. I'm going to miss it!]

[Josh following me]

We met Shorty and his friend just a few hours down the road (they could go a lot faster then we could). By this time it was 11:30 PM Saturday (August 24th) night and we were exhausted! Shorty and his friend took the RV and headed back to Wisconsin (they were both truck drivers at one point so pulling an all-nighter was in their blood) and left us on the border of MN and ND to find a hotel for the night.

Phew! 

My Birthday and Big News

Well, another year has come and gone. And what an eventful year it has been! 

Moving from Utah to Colorado, Josh making operator, spending Thanksgiving with my family in Omaha, going to a Packers game at Lambeau Field, going back to Colorado just to learn that Josh got a job in North Dakota, packing up and moving north, dealing with living in an RV in the middle of the winter, celebrating our 2 year anniversary, Luke coming home from his mission, going on an epic Spring Thaw Trip, the Neilson Family Kauai Trip, going on a doors-off helicopter ride in Hawaii, Suzi and Clay getting engaged, Phew! That's a lot! AND This last year I was able to knock 9 things off of my 30 Before 30 list. I think that's pretty good!

My birthday this year was nice and simple. I got cards, text messages, Facebook messages, and phone calls from my family and friends. I got Kindle books from Suzi, Clay, and Charles; Ryan, Missy, Luke, and Brady; and Jessi and Ally. My parents got me a Disneyland pass (actually purchased in March so I could go to Disneyland with Luke when he got home from his mission). My Aunt Lisa sent me a dinosaur card and a cute California bag. And Josh got me a food chopper, a bottle of my FAVORITE perfume, and a book by Phil Jackson (now we just need to hunt him down so he can sign it!). AND my nephew Brady sent me (with help from Missy) a cute video of him wishing me a happy birthday!

Josh and I celebrated by staying in and having another homemade sushi night. Since the last one was such a success we decided to try something new: using tempura.

[Battering]

[Dipping]  

  

[Eating!]

The tempura was a huge success! I even bought some cream cheese so we could make our own Las Vegas rolls! YUM!

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes! I struggle with my birthday so I really do appreciate the love!

And now onto the big news....

Drum roll please!

.....

WE ARE MOVING!

Yep! As of right now* we are moving to (or close to) South Bend, Indiana for Josh's next pipeline job!

In the next month we are hoping to be done with work on this job in ND, take the RV back to Uncle Shorty in Wisconsin, buy a Fifth Wheel, move to Indiana, and then start the new job. 

I am actually really excited/nervous/stressed/excited again! I have never lived in the Eastern Time Zone before and I am so excited to see Chicago! And, most importantly, I am so glad to get out of ND before the winter comes! I am stressed out about buying a Fifth Wheel though. Those things aren't cheap (well, the nice ones aren't). But if you are in the pipeline business this is definitely the way to go. It'll save you a lot of money and heartache in the future. Wish us luck and I'll keep you all posted on our progress!

*subject to change .... things are always unpredictable in the pipeline world

**UPDATE: We are moving to Valparaiso, IN now. And that city is not in the Eastern Time Zone. Bummer. But it's okay because it's a college town that is only an hour from Chicago.

I Need to Chill

I like to learn. I like to know things. I like to know what is going on. I like to appear intelligent (because we all know I'm really not).

If I could, I would go to school for the rest of my life. Not for grades, but to gain knowledge.

As a result, I have been obsessing about Graduate School and getting my Masters ever since I graduated from BYU with my Bachelors in 2007. The problem was there are just too many options! Should I go back into Archaeology? No. Should I do something new? Information Systems? Health Care? Education? Business?

I had a really hard time picking a major in college because I wanted to do so many things. Everything interested me. I couldn't narrow it down! I went from Chemistry to Pre-Med to Humanities to yada, yada, yada, and then finally landed on Anthropology. It was hard for me to settle on a major and even after I picked Anthropology I wanted to change it again.

When I was in Elementary, Middle, and High School we took a lot of those aptitude/career choice test. I always scored really high in math and science and was told that I should pursue a career in those subjects. I wanted to! I really did! Even though I loved math and science I also loved history, art, psychology, archaeology, and humanities.

I was torn and I still am. That's partially why I chose to major in Anthropology, it has a little bit of everything.

After doing a lot of research, talking to my family (mostly my dad and my uncle), and pondering, I have decided I just need to continue to learn, but without a Masters degree.

Maybe it is something that I can do later. It's just not the right time. Getting a Masters in a different field (then the one I've worked in and graduated with my Bachelors in) through an online program (I can't go to a campus when I move around so much) is just not a good decision. I really wish it was a good decision. I really wish it was the right move. I have a lot of down-time right now. BUT I need to chill and take a break.

It's hard. This is a very hard decision for me. I want a higher education. I want to earn a Masters. I want to work hard. I want to show that I can do it. I want to feel like I contribute to society! I want to be important! I want to do great things! I want to prove to all of you that I can do it! I just want an ounce of respect! I want people to stop rolling their eyes at me and giving me nasty looks when I tell them I'm a stay-at-home girlfriend. I'm not a dead beat moocher (even though I feel like it sometimes).

Even though I am not going to attend Grad School right now, I am going to continue to learn. I am going to try to take classes at a local college when I can, but when I can't I'm going to read and do research. I'm good at that. I did a lot of reading, researching, and writing while I was in college. The Anthropology major does not have many test. I don't think I took a single test my last two years at BYU. I did write 4-5 papers (5-20 pages/each) a week though.

A few days ago I was feeling down so I went shopping and bought some books about small business, bookkeeping, accounting, home buying, investing, and finances. 

I think I am going to start here and once I finish these books I am going to move onto another subject that I am not completely familiar with. Maybe computers, or cars! I do really need to brush up on my math and science skills too. Oh there is so much to do!