Month: January 2018

Full-timing & Fuller Hearted

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We are officially in our second week of full-timing, as it’s called in our new awesome lifestyle. The change from living in our old town, the girls going to public school and all of us being very immersed in it, to moving to a new town and homeschooling, and now to living full-time in our RV, roadschooling and with some days of just us, has been a big transition. However, I have to say that my children really go with the flow, embrace life and it has been a welcomed slowing of pace to the chaos of the past few months. img_8142

If anyone is concerned about my mental well-being after the first week from Hell, do not fret. Since I have had my multiple panic attacks, made my husband invest a small fortune in upgrading his truck, and froze in states where it’s normally warm, we have found a happy rhythm. It has still been unseasonally cold this week in Tennessee but we hiked, ate some good southern food, explored the beautiful KOA of Sweetwater, and learned a lot this week. While Shaun was working the girls and I bundled up and got outside a lot. Fresh air did us a lot of good!

Now we are trying to make the most of our space, personalize it a bit (which we’ve yet to do) and learn to make the most of everyday. One tip I’m learning quick is that if we are traveling or want to do a full day of something, we need to, and absolutely can, modify our schooling schedule (even doing some reading while still in bed because why get up). Part of this journey is to make the most of our days, and yes they need to learn and grow mentally, but exploring, wandering, and being free is also a big part of it. This is the part that we can not take advantage of when we are home, they’re in public school and there are rules to everything. I’m saying rules-schmules…LIFE is what my kids need!

This week coming up is going to be a GREAT part of our journey! We are headed to Florida to see the Pieklos, our BFFs/Family/Loves! It’ll be the first time we all bring the kids to Universal Studios where we will celebrate Shaun’s 40th. During the week we’ll get some quality time in. Then the following weekend we’ll hit Magic Kingdom and Epcot and the following day celebrate Dani’s 40th. That will be the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae because her and I are hitting the spa and we NEED it! It’s been quite the past 6 months for us both and these mammas deserve a 40th birthday celebratory BFF spa day!!!

I must admit that since Dani and the fam moved, it’s been sad for me (and all of us). I totally get why they moved and knew it was their dream so I support their dreams but am sad without them close by. The best part of our friendship is that we always get each other, think too much alike, support each other in our hair brain ideas, and back each up in our crazy, and sometimes illegal, whims. Other great parts are that our kids love each other and fight like siblings, which is pure love in the kid world. This week is going to be the best, warmest and funnest (yup a word!)!!!!

So, what happened this week past, I did our first load of laundry thus far. Let me tell you, doing your laundry once a week with three machines simultaneously is awesome! It would be less if Shaun’s clothes weren’t so God forsakingly big but he’s a giant so that is life. Then they had big dryers so all of it went into one big drier and was put away in no time. Mom win! Southern food is delicious, albeit not healthy but yummy. Long division and money were conquered in our roadschooling! Mom tackle, goal and field goal!

We went to the Cherohala Skyway and saw the breathtaking Bald River Falls. There were frozen sections and it was truly a display of God’s handiwork.

Cherohala Skyway

Tomorrow we start the two-day travel to Florida and we are all excited for the journey because the end of the road is going to be great! See y’all next week…might post after we depart on Tuesday 2/6 so I can give you the full download of our time but you never know, I might be too excited to share the fun also.

Til then… img_8104

Starting the 7 Month RV Life

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So we did it…up and left our beautiful, spacious, grounded new home and moved our family of four (+Gilmore, our dog) into an RV for 7 months. Monday morning we up and left our house, in shambles might I say, around 7:30am to make it to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for Natalie’s follow-up appointment.

Shaun took his job out on the road and is vlogging about it if you want to follow my man, Shaun Hamman , on Facebook and see video footage of some of what’s below and what’s to come?

*This is going to be a brutally honest account of my side of this adventure so far so be prepared.

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Sunday – Day Before Departure

Let’s begin on Sunday. I woke up not feeling so hot because of a fun concoction of horseradish cheese, veggie pizza, and wine the night before. However, after a few hours after waking, hydrating, and snuggling the girls on the couch, was still not feeling well to my confusion. There was no time to not feel well, it was 16 degrees out and I had to start packing up the RV. Shaun and my stepdad were outside in the cold most of the day doing the grunt work of getting the RV and truck ready like superheroes. Hours later and I still didn’t feel well, was exhausted, and oh did I mention it was my birthday, but NOT up to celebrating. I had not slept well in a few days so just chalked it up to that.

I needed a good night’s sleep. Sounded easy having been under the weather and going all day long but it didn’t come so easily. Natalie was not feeling well either. She woke up right as I fell asleep and threw up. Right back to bed we all went and half an hour later as I was starting to fall asleep again, she threw up again.  I had her sleep in my bed so I could keep an eye on her and that helped me sleep for a few hours. In the middle of the night I woke up in sweat soaked sheets and anxious tightness in my chest. That was the end of sleep for me. Those feelings and the added growing more anxious over knowing that my alarm was going to go off at 5am and the clock ticking closer and time to sleep being lost.

Monday – Departure Day

img_7952-2Morning of departure day comes and we all wake up bright and early and leave in a mad rush to make Natalie’s appointment. The anxiety follows me along our commute to Philly. Then Natalie and I go into her appointment and we hear her doctor give her the green light and say she’s healing great and I feel some relief. I instantly think that the green light from her doctor was what all the worrying and anxiety were about and I’m fine.

 

We get back in the car and I’m feeling a bit better. With a pit stop at the RV dealer because Shaun couldn’t get the furnace to work, yup and it was 18 degrees out. They said it was going to take two days for it to be shipped. Shaun, with his brilliant mind, asked if they could take it out of another RV so we could get on our way. They did it! We were back on our way.

At this point I am still feeling a bit uneasy and anxious. It dawns on me finally (mainly because my BFF pointed this out) that the fact that we’ve up and left the comfort and security of our home in our safe town and all that is familiar to us has led to this feeling. Especially after some really special farewells (pix below). How could I be so stupid as not to anticipate this feeling? Sometimes reality just sneaks up on you and bites you in the butt and this was one big shark bite out of my ass.

We were taking our time and moving along fine with an anticipated overnight at a Walmart along the way and make it to Louisville the next day for Shaun’s conference. We experienced some disconcerting shimmying going down a large hill. I thought we were overweight and being completely unsafe and then couldn’t get that thought out of my head of course. Panic begins on every downhill from there and builds.

To add to that awesome feeling, about an hour before we were going to stop for the night it started snowing but not too bad so we figured we’d go another 15 miles to the next Walmart. About five miles later it was a full-on freaking snow storm. Low visibility, roads covered, slickness starting, and me completely having a full on panic attack. My chest froze up, my arms feeling cold and tingly, my stomach a rock, my breath only coming in short bursts, and tears full in my eyes. I am not prone to feeling this way. Once in college during finals, when Shaun and I split for a bit while we were dating, with my Postpartum, and that’s about it. For me to be having these feelings for a few days and then to go into the debilitating feeling of panic was very out of context.

Shaun was so confident and calm for the first 7 miles of the 10 left to go. Then it got worse and the hills were giant and then it happend, Shaun also got nervous. His nerves are rock solid so this made my nerves hit the next level. Finally after a very slow and treacherous drive, we could see the Walmart sign. It was like a beacon of safety. After parking we ran into Walmart to use the bathroom, walked Gilmore, turned the heat on and was safe and breathing again. Shaun and I just sat there in silence recovering from the journey while the girls were excited to have time to play and move around.

Tuesday – Day 2

We wake up to a parking lot filled with snow. Shaun told the Walmart manager that we were hunkered in and not going anywhere for the day and they were beyond gracious and understanding. It’s freezing out, 6 degrees, and there’s snow covered roads so we were not risking it. All night I spent full of anxiety with only short bouts of sleep. I really thought that I would be exhausted from the trip but the worry of the roads, if it would happen again, what could happen next, and so on kept cartwheeling around in my brain. This feeling followed me well into the morning.

Mid-morning Shaun walked into the RV after his morning call for work and a few other calls and said to pack it up, we are going. My body froze. I was not going anywhere again in that weather, in that truck that was not handling the size and weight of the RV as planned, and with my babies in danger. Ready to pick up my phone and call my mommy to come and get us (yes, I am not ever above calling my mommy to save me), he said he spoke to the Ford dealer and we’re headed that way. Long part of this story short, we dropped A LOT of money on an upgrade and left with an F 250 diesel and most importantly the feeling of safety.

It was still snowing a decent amount, however the roads where we were were finally well maintained and I can honestly tell you that I had so much less anxiety. Shaun and I finally felt safe and ready to proceed with our trip. What a great blessing and relief to have our family safe and ready for the junket ahead. With a few stops at Sheetz along the way we proceeded. We stopped at a Walmart again that night because we were delayed by the truck buying process and then Wednesday morning we proceeded to Louisville, Tennessee.

Wednesday

Arriving safely, we all ran to the showers excited to refresh, change, and chill out. Shaun went off to his conference for work, I finally had the chance to make our bed (Shaun and I had been sleeping on the couch because we didn’t feel like opening the slide for our room), unpack/settle, and the girls were so excited to have some play time.

Road schooling Day 1, and an extra day of work added on from the longer than planned trip, has begun! We are hunkered in because when the Hammans arrive to Kentucky where it’s usually 50 degrees, it’s a high of 10 degrees for the day. Heat on, NJ winter clothes on, and some massive chill time was what the second half of our Wednesday consisted of and we couldn’t be happier!

Day 1 of Roadschooling
Gilmore wanted to learn too

Thursday

I am so thankful to report that we are safely, a bit more warmly, snow-free and enjoying Road School Day 2! Shaun went off to his conference again and the girls and I are enjoying another day of life as it normally is at home. After our schooling it’s going to be a movie and popcorn kind of day and I couldn’t be happier.

Summary of This Week

The beginning of this trip SUUUCKED! I wouldn’t wish that feeling or what happened to us on anyone, especially a mother of two precious children. We are all safe now and ready to continue this trip! Will there be more moments that I want to run home to my mommy, yes. Will more anxiety come with the unfamiliar places and schedules, most definitely. Is it all going to be sunshine and roses, no. img_8036Is this going to be one kick ass adventure that my family will have amazing memories from forever and ever, YES! And that’s all that matters! And that I have my new RV coffee maker up and running 

Here are three panoramics of RV interior…enjoy!

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Master bedroom

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Kitchen

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Living Area

Hope, Peace and Love

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Welcome to 2018 with A Cup of Heather! Thankful for starting this blog and getting to share with all of you!

Our family
My BFFs

∧ Party on the top ∧                          ∨ Christmas morning on the bottom ∨

Love these moments
Matchy fam
My cup overfloweth!

Our Christmas was nothing short of magical. All of our people came for our annual party, we attended an awesome Christmas Eve service at the church we’ve been attending since our move, and Christmas was so perfect with our family and watching our two little blessings enjoy the day. Post Christmas I surprised the girls with a going away party with their friends from their old school. Rollerskating, donuts and friends = fun!

We also had a great, chill, and most yummy New Years Eve with some of our besties, who is also a ridiculously kick butt chef, Chef Sam!

So we are post move, mostly settled (some minor things always pop up as it does with all homeowners), post Christmas, post New Years, and pre seven month RV trip. You may ask, what are you doing with your downtime? <Insert evil witch cackling laugh in response to “downtime”> During our time in-between major life events, our eldest daughter, Natalie, had major surgery one week ago today.

Natalie was diagnosed with minor hearing loss by accident while they were trying to see if her speech developmental delay was due to physical issues. Long story short, they’re not related. Her speech therapist at her old school was a blessing to our family in so many ways. She exhausted all of her insane amount of talent and tools and told us to pursue an ENT to scope her, again, to check her soft palate. We did as recommended and following her third and painful, and as Natalie calls them “annoying”, unsuccessful scope later and I dropped Natalie off at school after that appointment and went home and ugly cried for a long time.

I was so frustrated for Natalie and the fact that we live in the New York area and couldn’t find a doctor to give us the answers we needed or, at the very least, not waste our time. After seven years of speech therapy, three speech therapists, 5 ENTs, 4 painful scopes, we decided to go to the best of the best, to the ones with the answers, and went to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. I was done with the nonsense!

After going on the CHOP website I smiled after two minutes because they had a whole clinic devoted to what we thought Natalie might have, Velopharyngeal Dysfunction (VPD). Even the secretary knew what I was saying. It was like angels singing and I was finally feeling like I wasn’t losing my mind. The downside, it took four months to get an appointment because the clinic only meets once a month. When we did go, it was WELL worth it!

They had answers for everything, everyone was friendly and warm which made Natalie feel good, they knew what they were doing, no questions went unanswered or were even met with a pause, and everything they were doing was explained to all of us. Before we left the team met and reconvened with us and we had a plan ahead of us that we felt confident with and made full sense. We were on the road to recovery!

One adenoids surgery (to get them out-of-the-way for last weeks surgery only), one crazy blood work/pre-op appointment where Natalie’s heart rate wouldn’t get to normal from nerves and took two hours, four days of knowing the surgery was not pre-certified by the insurance company until we knew it was (aka the day before scheduled surgery at 1:30pm), one wake up at 3:30am to make our 7:00am arrival time, and a 9:00am, hour and half surgery later and here we are.

Natalie’s VPD surgeon, Dr Oksana Jackson, is so confident and knowledgeable that the moment they wheeled my baby away on the table, I didn’t worry that anything would go wrong but just shed tears wishing I could be with her. The overwhelming amount of joy when Dr Jackson walked into the waiting room a long hour and half later and told us that the surgery went as expected! Post-op Natalie took a bit longer to come too than last time and was in a lot more pain. The days following were much harder than we expected also. Natalie is a big eater and the extreme pain of swallowing was getting in the way. It was sad and exhausting watching her struggle so much. She smiled through it all!

Post-op Day 2
Honored to be her Mamma <3

Back to homeschoolingAs of yesterday she really made quit a big turn in her recovery and thankfully is down to one pain med, finding eating a bit easier, and smiling even more. The soft food diet for three weeks is getting old quick, especially being a big eater, but she knows as long as she follows it she’ll heal faster. My rule-follower is right on track to recovery and, to her dismay, back to homeschooling. (Check out my new light fixture…love!)

We are keeping busy the past few days getting ready for our seven month road trip!img_7842-1 I even cracked the Instant Pot out of the box to get acquainted before the trip. Apparently it is the answer to all RVers prayers.I am also super excited that along our way, we get to celebrate Shaun’s 40th and my BFF, Dani’s, 40th together! Hammans + Pieklos = LOVE!

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T-Minus FIVE days until we are on the road!

Are we packed? No

Are we organized? No

Have we started getting ready? Yes

Are we going to have memories to last a lifetime? Yes

Will there be Target and Camping World stores along the way? Yes

Well then, I guess we are ready to go!!!

 

 

 

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. (1 Peter 3:15)