Unexpected Part 2

It is now June and we are back in VA living in a 2 bedroom condo we just bought 3 weeks ago. Talk about unexpected! No, we did not get homesick and feel the need to rush home. Far from it actually! We ended up settling in Southern CA in the Murrieta/Temecula area. Oh my word, it felt like heaven on Earth. It felt like home, which is why we needed to leave.

Don't get me wrong, leaving was incredibly painful. I shed a few tears; but, we felt God telling us-Not now, not like this. Let me backtrack a bit....we stopped in SoCal to visit friends and many of my relatives. We intended to stay a few days, then a week, then it was Christmas, then my cousins offered Kay a job, and we just never left to head up to Northern CA. The whole point of going to NoCal was to save up money in order to live in SoCal. Friends were offering to let us park our RV on their farm for much less than the cost of rent in SoCa. We hoped we could make enough with the jobs my cousins were offering Kay and thought it would be a good idea to move out to Murrieta/Temecula and "check it out" before settling there upon our future return from the farm.

Christmas with the cousins!

We stayed with my Aunt and Uncle for 2 weeks and found an amazing apt. in Murrieta. Seriously, it was the best apt. I have ever lived in. And we absolutely fell in love with the area. Extremely family friendly, affordable, diverse with farmer's markets on the weekends. We even found a wonderful church within walking distance. It was like a small town community with big city amenities.

Our bright living room 

Our view at sunset

However, Kay's full-time job was in Tustin/Irvine and he was  leaving in the dark and getting home in the dark. On top of the commute, we were spending $600+ in gas/month. Purchasing another fuel efficient car just wasn't feasible. He looked for employment closer and found a driving school willing to employ him and even help him open his own school in the future, but the licensing requirements are very different than VA and we were told it could take "4-6 months."

We knew this wasn't going to work for us for much longer. The #1 reason we sold our house and bought an RV was to have more quality time together. So he either needed another job closer or we needed to move closer to the one he had. We prayed and applied and decided to put our apt.up for sublease and make the move to the OC.

The hunt for an apt in Orange County was pretty depressing. We either had to spend close to 2k/month for a small 2 bdrm or live some place I didn't feel comfortable. The price to live in paradise. We almost committed to an apartment in Laguna Niguel, but really had to gut check our purpose and priorities.

Time together. Being debt free. Living below our means, not paycheck to paycheck. Being able to travel with the kids. Moving to Orange County or staying put in Murrieta were both directly against these goals. Southern CA is not a place you move while trying to pay off debt.

So many memories of Redondo Beach Pier. Now more!

Did we make a mistake in staying and not continuing on our plan? I don't believe so! We knew it would be tough, but we gave it a valiant effort and had an amazing time!

In the 4 months there, we reconnected with my loving family and several friends. My girls fell in love with their cousins the way I had with mine. I took them to the places of my youth and my heart swelled with such unimaginable joy. It changed what I thought I wanted.  I had envisioned a nomad/RV life for years to come. Being a homeowner again sat very low on my list. Yet, for the first time in 20+ years, I experienced the sense of  "home" again. I had moved back to CA for about a year many years ago, but it did not produce the same nostalgia as it had this time. Although I loved it, I was in a different place. I hadn't met my husband and had not envisioned raising my kids with a childhood similar to mine.

My old stomping grounds

Laguna Beach on our anniversary in February

My lovely cousin with her hubby. Miss these guys!!

Little Corona (Corona Del Mar Tide Pools in Newport Beach) 

Checking out the sea life

Fast forward...a great guy took over our lease at the end of Feb. and bought all of our furniture. We put the rest of our belongings in storage in Temecula. Drove back to VA. Moved back into our 5th wheel. Saved up some money and paid off a few bills. Bought a low maintenance condo that will rent well in the future. Until we are debt free, we will call it home. Kay got his instructor license for CA the day before we left, which is good for 3 years, and has a job waiting when we go back. We are not sure how long it will be until we're debt free and ready, but we know it's all in God's timing. We hope much sooner than later as we can't wait to go back!

When the Unexpected Is Better Than You Thought Possible PT.1

 Soooo...it's been 3 whole months since my last post. Left you on the eve of our departure, but we didn't actual leave then. See my sweet hubby decided to put the tuner on the truck the day before and whatdoyaknow....the oil temp was running borderline hot even before we hooked up the fiver. Not an immediate issue if the truck was just the truck, but loading up 14k lbs and driving cross country would not be pretty. So, we called Ford (we have an extended warranty), but the earliest they could get us in was in a week. So we waited the week.

Then they called and said their diesel tech up and quit and it would be several more weeks before they could get us in. But, it didn't make sense we should be back in this boat. We just had this issue "resolved" a little over a year ago. Literally. It was Just. Over. A. Year. by a few weeks, so the oil cooler was no longer under warranty. I seriously couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. And if we went down the path of getting it replaced (again) it would be another warranty battle and obviously this would not be a forever solution. Kay (hubby) was so over the truck. Actually he's not even a truck fan (I'm the truck fanatic..this was my 3rd) and he especially did not care for this beastly thing. We then had a very relaxed and simple convo that went something like this:

Kay: I'm so over this and this truck. We're selling it. End of story.
Me: What about the 5th wheel? 
Kay: We're selling it too.
Me: Where are we going to live?
Kay: No idea, but we're selling it all and just driving to CA. God will work it out b/c we've come too far and we're not staying here.
Me: Hahahahaha....ok, honey. While really thinking, "My sweet man has momentarily lost his mind."

Well, apparently, my husband was spot on. We had a few weeks of time share saved up, so the new plan was to stay in local resorts until the items sold. Not if, just until. We were confident they would sell...and guess what!! The truck was sold within 4 days of listing it for the full price we were asking. We also had a very nice stay right on the boardwalk in Virginia Beach with an oceanfront suite and enjoyed views like this for a week.

Virginia Beach (view from bedroom balcony on a beautiful 80 degree day in Oct.)

View from living area window (rain clouds moving in)

We then stayed in Williamsburg,VA for 3 weeks (I think) which was further from VA Beach, but here we had a huge spread (two units really) and were able to have friends join us and have a very nice time. While in Williamsburg, we decided we would buy a used SUV with some heavy duty tow power. This way when we got to CA we could buy a pull behind travel trailer to live in on our friend's farm. We also decided to pull a small U-haul trailer to take what remained of our possessions. We still had our Honda CRV, which we had put for sale WEEKS earlier, but didn't mind keeping as our nephew in college agreed drive it out with a buddy for us and fly back (cool road trip for him!)

Well, we found a great deal on a very clean, well-maintained 08 Dodge Durango on Craigslist with a Hemi 5.7L and third row seating that can tow 9,000 lbs, just about any reasonable trailer. The people we bought it from were extremely nice and made the experience very pleasant. Plus, it has leather, height adjustable seating, and a dvd system (my must haves that Kay thought would be impossible to find in our price range. HA! No limits on God!).

Then, a day and half before we were going to set off on our cross county adventure, we get a call from a guy who wants to buy our CRV, but he's in North Carolina about 6 hrs away. Apparently, his daughter saw our ad on Craigslist and said, "That's the one I want." He asked us to meet him half way in a few days, but we explained we would be leaving town and could not do so. He then said, "Well, I don't mind buying it sight unseen. If you want to check with your bank, I'll go make the payment and come pick it up next week if you want to leave it with someone." Ummmm....who in their right mind DOES this??? This guy right here pictured with his lovely wife.

So, he went to our credit union in NC the very next day, made the payment, and trusted us to give him the car and the title. We went to DMV, got the title, and drove the car to him and his wife in NC a few days later. This was the first stop on our cross country voyage. In meeting them, we learned they are strong believers in Christ and do this kind of thing when it feels right. All God. We also stopped here for the night as Kay's Aunt and Uncle live just 10 min from here and enjoyed the evening and breakfast with a few more family members before continuing on.

Kay and his Aunt Denise

Kay and Aunt Barbara

Cousin Corey bonding with our youngest

Everything we own! CA bound!

I'm going to pause the adventure here as this post is long enough for now. But I will divulge that we made it to CA in December. We did NOT make it to our friend's farm in Northern CA, nor are we living in a travel trailer like we thought. What happened is even better. Details on our cross country trip to come! Thanks for reading. God bless!