I’m not 100% sure how to start this as this is my first blog entry. Like ever. Yep! If you’ve somehow stumbled onto this page, you found a Kansas girl with no experience in writing but a fire in her heart to share her life and all the major life adjustments she’s about to make. I plan to write about mom life, renovations and DIY projects, downsizing, coping with life realities, and bits of advice where I feel I have some to give.
I’m 32 and I’ve lived in Kansas my whole life. I have two daughters, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and the most dedicated wonderful high school sweetheart turned husband of all time. The love story people hope for. I am blessed, to be sure.
About 4 years ago out life was different than it is now. Easier. Less worrisome. My husband and I have always been hard workers. Not afraid to wear ourselves out getting things done. We bought our first house at 19 years young and fixed that place up the best we could. We have a knack, you see, for renovating. We got married at 24 and decided to upgrade for more space because we had plans for a family.
I found it! My DREAM home! Yes, it needed work but good GOD, it checked every damn box I had! Big front porch, CHECK. Fireplace, CHECK. 4 Bedrooms, CHECK. 2 Bathrooms, CHECK! Full Basement (it’s Kansas guys – you have to have tornado shelter!), CHECK. Big kitchen, big yard, 2 car garage and shed; literally, EVERY box checked on my list. I was working as a realtor at the time and we snagged this deal up. ONLY $50k!! SCORE!
So we worked on what we could work on. Slowly improving the house. Had baby girl #1, our Princess to her core weighing in at 8lbs 14oz. I had decided to stay home and raise her while Babe worked (that’s what we’re calling him, btw). We upgrade the midsize SUV to a luxury Escalade. Couple years go by and we realize the equity we have in the house and refinance to get some cash for even more improvements. Baby fever sets in and soon follows delivery of Wild Child daughter #2. Healthy giant at 9lbs 5oz. Life is SO GOOD! Everything I’ve wanted and the house is better than ever with a somewhat higher but manageable payment after the refinance.
Following delivery of Wild Child a series of events leads to me being diagnosed with a disease that’s expensive to say the least. Medical debt consumes our life and the only way out looks like bankruptcy. So we sell everything we can and beg family for help getting a little $1800 car with what little cash we have left. We do the bankruptcy and it helps so much. We can breathe again. We cut way back on lots of things to try and survive with the new normal of regular medical expenses to manage my disease.
Babe has worked his rear off to provide for our life and has taken on 2 and 3 jobs on occasion to help keep me at home with the girls. There are no words to describe the admiration I have for this man. We’ve made some decisions lately that are going to alter our lives drastically and hopefully in a wonderful way.
THE PLAN
For starters, we’re working on completing as many projects as we can at home to get our house ready to sell. I’m going to be trying to document these changes and some past renovations as well because we’ve done A LOT to this old house. Stay tuned for posts with details on projects and DIY solutions. I will try to provide as much detail as I possibly can on these including links and obviously pictures!
After the house is ready to sell, we’ll sell it and take the proceeds to buy a camper to live in.
That’s right. We’re going to be downsizing from our 4 bedroom, 2 bath home to a RV. Once we’re in the RV, we’ll be DEBT FREE. No mortgage. No debts. Just the ongoing medical expenses to keep up with and some minimal basic bills to keep life connected. This will allow us to save massive amounts of money for about a year to be able to purchase land to live on with cash, remaining debt free. I plan on sharing all the details with everyone as our life unfolds. The good, the bad, the innovative, the missteps, ALL OF IT.
I hope you’ll join me on this journey to live a life that most people shy away from! Small sacrifices now to live the life we’ve always dreamed of! What are you most excited about seeing from me?
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