FEBRUARY
Original source: FEBRUARY.htm2002 January to July July August September October November December 2003 JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY FEBRUARY 1 I have a new opinion of the area now that we've been to San Padre Island. The gulf was just like the ocean. We saw dolphins and a sea urchin, many pelicans and lots of seagulls. I could live on the island. Especially when the sun is shinning. We heard they have a hatching of caterpillars that will stain everything they touch. So in all honestly I don't think I would really enjoy the humidity, bugs, and mold. It is just too much for me. I know I like the desert. We are all on vacation so to speak. The kids have had school but our schedule is still two hour behind the time. We are on California time and me miss a lot of the day by waking up at 10:00 am. God has dealt with me about reading scriptures to Ron at night. I was so nice to hear His voice again. I already missed a night but I had a good night with the Lord asking forgiveness. I really love God more every day. My desire is to love His people with all that I am. I look forward to being used in His name. February 4 We have been in Conroe Texas for three days now. We are parked on a peninsula that was 5 feet under water on Thanksgiving. It has been very windy. There are sites at the top of the campground that are not as windy. The view is better down here though. The sun sets over the lake and it's beautiful. Nikole has come to appreciate the sun set. She is the first one out to take pictures. The children are doing well in school. I was reading with Zakary just a few minutes ago and it's amazing how much he's improved since we left. When we left he was barely reading at all. Now he can read a level two book with a little help. The Clifford books he can read on his own. He needs to be monitored though because he will use the pictures and not read the words, or he will substitute words. Over all I think he's up to his grade level at least. Ron has been calling a realtor. We are trying to look at a house in the town of Spring. Here it is very much like home where there is plenty of stores and activities. Huston is only 30 minutes away. A 4 bedroom 2 bath with 2 car garage home is selling for 89,000. Something we can afford. And the best part is there is plenty of work around here. I truly believe we could start over easy here. Ron has been talking about buying and selling in a few years again. I think he should have been in the military he likes to move so much. The only concern I have is what the summers will be like with the humidity. I was in shorts yesterday so I know the winters are to my liking. The ocean is only an hour away. Storm may be a problem but I'm up for a little weather. So we'll see. If it's God's will then here we will be. Our time together is such a blessing. I am really enjoying it now. We have adjusted to all day drives and weeks at a campground. It's much nicer having Ron here that at work. We are getting along much better now. He has shown me in so many little ways that he loves me and he's trying to strengthen our relationship. We are constantly meeting new strong Christians on this trip. We met two new families the day we drove in. One is Elaine and she is traveling with her dog Meg. The kids just love Meg. When I asked Elaine if she was traveling alone she said now He is with me. It is so nice to hear people who are willing to acknowledge a firm belief in God. I also met another woman who had a cancer tumor removed who has no faith at all in God. I witnessed to her as best I could without trying to be pushy. We are working for her now passing out flyers for Western Horizon so we will have contact with her in the future. Her name is Eve. Please pray for her and us that we will be able to say the words that will lead her home. February 15 It amazes me that I have all this relative free time yet I can't find time to write in this journal. My day consists of getting up between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m., making breakfast for the family, getting the house cleaned up and the kids dresses. During the week we would start school. It's now about 11:00 if all is going well. There are days when we just can't get out of our own ways though and it's almost 12:00 before we start school. The kids usually complete their work in two hours or less. Some days it's like pulling teeth others they work hard and it's almost easy. Then by 2:30 we eat lunch. I try to get the kids to go outside every day. If it was up to them they would never leave the motor home. Then we eat around 6:30 or later and bed is attempted by 10:00 pm for the kids. Ron and I are usually asleep by 2:00 am. I feel tired most of the time. The air mattress is not the water bed. I'm just not accustomed to this life of leisure. It is tiring doing nothing all day. Seriously I've picked up a few new hobbies. Socializing being the top priority. We have made many new acquaintances both dog and human. We have also picked up jig saw puzzles, and needle work. It's been nice having time to teach Nikole how to use a needle. Ron is hosting a computer social. I sort of volunteered him. It was in the hopes that he would get some business as a tech for people who had problems. So far he's gotten to trade software with a man from Canada. It's mapping and it's really cool. He just loves helping out so it's all good. We are in Louisiana. So far the weather has been good. It rained when we first arrived but the last 4 days have been sunny and warmer. We are in shorts and tees it's in the 70's! For valentines day I got a picture sent by Valerie of what her world looks like. I am so thankful we are here. My mom said it's sub zero back home. Thank you Lord we are here! New Orleans in my opinion is dirty run down and slummy. I would not work hard to get there again. We are in Abita Springs. It is a nice little town. It's county though. It takes time to get to stores and restaurants. Last night we drove to a town north of here called Bogalusa. We ate at the Old South Buffet. We tried all sorts of new foods. I didn't recognize most of what was offered. The crawfish and shrimp still had the heads on them. Ron was grossed out. They did have roast beef, turkey, potatoes and a salad bar as well as all the seafood. Nikole and I were the adventurous ones. We tried frog legs, collard greens, corn fritters, crawfish, boiled shrimp (both of which were spicy), and oysters (which tasted a lot like fried clams). We all enjoyed the fried shrimp. The biscuits were worth the trip for me! I enjoyed it. Ron wasn't impressed. Down here they are preparing for Marti Gras which is March 4. We haven't been to any parades yet but we saw some floats. Beads and king bread are in every store. King bread is a circle bread that is glazed sugared in purple, green, and gold. There is a plastic baby that represents Jesus in the cake. The person who get the baby brings the cake next year. It all goes back to the early days when the French were here. This campground is nice. It's camping. Woodsy with a small pond for fishing. It's very relaxing. We are only 45 minutes from New Orleans. There is a shopping area only 15 minutes away. The kids are with a woman we met at Conroe Texas. She has a dog named Meg. They just love playing with that little dog. She is really cool. Ron wants one just like her "someday." I would love to have Bear here with us. I miss him more and more each day. It would be harder with him here but it would be good too. It would give the kids a job to do everyday. Zakary misses him as much as I do. Some days he cries even. I can understand. If the Robinsons were to ask us to take him back we would without hesitation. I know he's their dog now and I wouldn't ask for him back but if they approached me he would be with us for the rest of the trip. We have seen lots of cats too and I didn't think that they could travel in the jeep so we wouldn't have had to listen to them cry. Hind site. I would have kept them too. I don't know how well they would have adjusted but they always did fine when we moved. I guess I miss my old life a little. All right a lot. It's hard to see where this is leading me. At times I feel I am wasting so much time. We are doing nothing to improve our financial situation. We haven't really found anywhere to live. Huston Texas is now on the list of possibilities. We didn't spend enough time in New Mexico or the warm parts of Arizona to make a decision about those states. Ron wants to work in South Dakota this summer. I would like to have the kids in school next year. When I say that I think California in the Indio area. But to be honest that would put us right back into the run around life style that we are trying to break free from. Huston would put us in a better financial position. It's tiresome thinking about it. I concentrate on remembering that God's grace is sufficient for today! I need to appreciate today and not worry about tomorrow. I can see God's hand working in our family. I read the bible to the kids every night. I am reading to Ron now too. (He falls asleep right after) I have time to pray and to enjoy God's gifts. I am very thankful now and I take time to enjoy the small things. I am never too busy to help or do anything for the kids. I am definitely less stressed. I know God has us where we are meant to be. We have been surrounded by fellow believers and have gotten fed every time we were in need of teaching or a word from God. There are so many people who have encouraged and helped us along the way. I am so thankful. I know we are blessed. I am looking forward to the day that God sees fit to use us as vessels for His work. I guess He is using us right now we just can't see it. That seems to be the way with God. We miss it until we look back. Then it's so obvious. February 25 We arrived in Alabama last Friday. It rained all day. When we set up it was pouring. The water was flowing under the motor home like a stream. I was soaked to say the least. Lucky for us they have an indoor heated pool. It was very nice to relax in the hot tub that night. On Sunday we went to a Mobile, Alabama Mardi Gras parade. It was similar in the style of parade like the venders, bands, police, and floats. Here they had barriers to hold the people back from the streets. It was a very nice day. The sun was shinning and it was in the 60's. We found a really nice spot to watch. Right by the banks on St. Francis Street. The kids has a blast. We caught so many beads! Nikole was given a huge stuffed bunny with a baby bunny. Zakary hasn't been the same since. We ended up catching the same parade in a different spot. We then went Subway while we waited for the parade that night. We went to the bank again and boy did we get stuff again. We have too much stuff. The kids totaled 10 stuffed animals. I even gave stuff away that night to a little girl and her family. We have so many beads we just don't know what to do with them all. Every time we meet anyone we give them beads. We had to go to Mobile yesterday to the Target. We were there around parade time so we went to another. Again more beads than we really wanted. It's strange, I know I don't want anymore beads yet when they throw them I can't help but try to catch them. They have parades all this week as well. I couldn't imagine going to a parade every night! We are planning on going to Mardi Gras. That day there are 5 or 6 different parades listed. From what we hear every night the floats are different. It is something to see that's for sure. Today we are enjoying some down time. The kids have been doing really well with school. A week ago we trapped some ants and now we have an ant jar. They are still alive! I'm amazed. We are almost at the end of the school year in our books. The kids have been working really hard. They fight it most days but once they get going they do get a lot done. We have met another family who are traveling in the hopes of buying a campground. They have three girls and are in an older Damon without a slide. Nikole and Zakary were very happy to have kids to play with. That is the hardest part about all this traveling. The kids are lacking in their socialization with other children. Hopefully we'll be able to remedy that this summer. Over all I believe it's been better for them to be with us and have this experience than it would have been to stay home with parents who didn't want to be there and were going through major life changes. God is so good to us. We have been blessed with opportunity. It is a blessing. We just have so much to be thankful for. Everywhere we go we meet such nice people. It's funny the news portrays the worst of the world and it gets people to think that the our country is full of trouble makers. On our trips we have not met any trouble. I'm not saying it's not there I'm saying that the majority of people you meet anywhere will be friendly, helpful, folks who want life to be good the same way you do. It's been the same everywhere we've been. Different names, faces, colors, religions, but basically all the say desire to help and give. Praise God for this land He has given us. February 26 We just found out that all the mail we told people to send to us here will not be accepted. Ron had ordered a feather bed. Luckily it's send UPS and they will accept that. Oh the joys of being constantly on the move. Today it's raining! Oh boy nothing like being in a trailer in a down pour! Sometimes it gets so loud that we can't hear each other. We have a small leak in the front window too. It's nothing major right now but it exists. Other than that we are warm and dry. We tend to have a lot of condensation inside the windows. In Rockport we had mold growing. Now we are on a constant mold lookout. Yesterday the kids and I walked down to the river. They have a bon fire pit and picnic tables down there. We enjoyed our time on the trail until Nikole fell running after her brother. She is fine. Last night we went to another parade. This time we filled a bag full of stuff. They threw cotton candy and Russell Stouffer's S'mores cups. They were really good. It just amazes us that they have so many parades. Ron and I think they would save a lot of money if they just had one or two days. I guess that wouldn't be Mardi Gras though. We have been blesses with the opportunity to share with others. It's nice to be able to give our excess away. We are looking forward to going home to share with our families. January to July July August September October November December 2003 JANUARY FEBRUARY March APRIL MAY |