Life.

When we were looking for an apartment, we really wanted one with a garage.  A place to park my car out of the weather (hail storms and snow), but also for the extra space.  We needed somewhere to put all of the tools and things that were in the under storage area of our camper and we also wanted to have a place for a small chest freezer.

Because we waited til the very end of summer to rent our apartment, they were having a special...free 2-car garage included (it was going to be a few hundred $$ extra per month earlier in the summer).  I'm glad we waited, free is my favorite ;).

So, we got the garage and a freezer to go in it.  Time to fill it up!  I enjoy canning and freezing fresh foods when I can get an abundance at a good price.  The fresh food co-op that we have been participating in here in Williston has been so awesome for that.  When the grocery store produce shelves often look like this...

...and there are lines like this waiting for the store to open...

...it is SO nice to have an alternative.

One of the first things we put in our freezer was sweet corn.  This is something that we hadn't done in years, it is so time consuming and we haven't hardly been still long enough.  Knowing that we would most likely be spending the winter here, we decided to put up some corn...

The kids were such big helpers!  It was awesome! 

It took all of two Saturdays, but we ended up with 96 quarts of corn cut off the cob and ready to eat.  I'm glad we have it for the winter, but I'm also glad we don't have to do it again anytime soon ;).

Another thing that we were able to get through the co-op was Hatch Chiles.  I had never done much with peppers and decided this was the time to change that.  I got two 25lb. boxes on two separate weekends.  When I roasted them...the smell, ya'll...it was di-vine. 

Roasted, peeled, seeded, and in the freezer they went.  I have been pulling them out to make a chile rellenos casserole that we love and slipping them in various soups, etc.  Definitely going to be putting more of these in the freezer the next time I get a chance...

and that drink...fresh prickly pear limeade...SO good!

We canned tomatoes...

making homemade tomato soup

...diced and froze some of the sweetest mangoes ever.  Pears, plums, cauliflower, grapes, blackberries, and blueberries...into the freezer so that this winter, when it is 30 below zero, we don't have to venture out any farther than our garage to get the groceries.

Some of the things we get from the co-op are new to us.  Like red corn...

southwestern chopped salad with some of "our" corn

...and Italian plums...

making plum tarts...

...one of the kids' favorites

I love it that my kids will pretty much try anything...and usually they like it :).

When it was time to set up our apartment with furniture, we didn't want to spend a lot of money.  We have nice stuff in storage (in Florida), so this stuff needed to just be nice enough.  With a little effort we were able to pull it off.  A cute vintage dining set from a shop in Bismarck ($39.99 ya'll!) and a truck load of (free!) pallets for building shelves and a bench really helped to keep the costs down.  We had to give the table and chairs a good scrubbing and Dan had to build the pallet stuff, but it was worth it for the amount of money it saved us vs. buying the items new at a furniture store.

vintage suitcases...I keep the kids extra school books in these.  they look cute stacked up :)

When the first storm came, it was such a relief to be in a solid structure and not the camper.  It was still a little scary, the glass in the sliding doors to our balcony was flexing like your chest does when you breathe in and out, but we felt much safer.  The weather up here turns wild with a quickness...

We have celebrated two birthdays so far in this apartment.  Ashlyn turned 13 (!!!)...

...and exactly two weeks later, Tyler turned 12 :)...

For a special treat, we went to see a movie in town.  Dang, it's EXPENSIVE.  And just a fyi...if you find yourself in Williston, ND, and heading to the movie theater...take cash.  Lots of cash.  They don't accept debit (or credit) cards. 

the old theater..."Our Screen Talks"

The birthday kids chose to see Dolphin Tale 2.  It was cute...and made us completely homesick for the Gulf Coast of Florida :(.  To help forget about our woes, we hit up the thrift shops before heading home.  There is one shop here that gives out free books, the kids always like to go in and see what they have.  Of course I go too (or maybe it's my idea to begin with ;)...)...and of course I always find something...

vintage tablecloths...my picnic table gone be lookin good ;)

Life.  The times of constant movement...and the times of slowing down...they compliment each other in the best way. 

Christmas at the beach

pink reindeer?  only at the beach :)

This year, the kids wanted to be 100% in charge of decorating our Christmas tree.  They chose a pre-lit white one and even put it together by themselves...

...which left me with free time to stand out on the porch of our vacation rental and take pictures of the beautiful sunset :).  I can handle that...

funny how different the colors came out in these pics...this pic shows how vivid it really was

Over the next several days, the kids crafted paper chain garlands and snowflake ornaments to go on our tree.  They did a great job, it all turned out beautiful!

We made our annual gingerbread houses...using empty cartons for the base and layering on frosting and graham crackers...and tons of candies (some even made it onto the houses ;))...

The only thing missing was Dan :(.  He had to work this Christmas up in Pennsylvania (where our camper currently sits, also, thus the need for a vacation rental...in case you missed it, I said why in this post).  We have been married for 17 years and this is the first Christmas we have ever spent apart...and hopefully the last.  It just wasn't the same without him here...

RV Remodel - The Big Reveal

Today I'm going to show ya'll the rest of the changes we made to the main living area in our 5th wheel.  You can see part one here...and part two here, if you're interested.

As I mentioned earlier, we took the couch and dinette out of our camper and sold them on Craigslist.  They were ok as far as being comfortable, but they didn't really "fit" us. 

**I have to stop right here for a minute and give a shout out to two other fulltime families... this family and and this one.  Reading on their blogs about how they tossed all the factory furniture and replaced it with things more suited to their families gave me that final push to "just do it".  To those families, should you ever read this...THANKS :)!**

We decided for us that it was more important to have some really comfy seating (vs. a little seating and a little dining table) and enough of it so that we could all watch a movie together or just hang out in the evenings.  For my husband, that meant having a recliner.  We were able to find a small wall saver one that fits just right.  We added in a futon that also fits nicely and that left room for either a small table or another chair.  Or both!  I had initially planned to get one of the IKEA Poang chairs, but after I put in the table and lamp (which I think really make the space feel more like home), there wasn't enough room.  I decided to try out a little pinkish colored chair that we already owned and it fit perfectly!  Yay for not spending any more money :)!  For a dining table we use the picnic tables outside or we put up a few small folding tables and sit on the couch/chairs in the camper.  So far, we are loving this arrangement :).

When we are traveling, we put everything like this to run the slide in (the lamp rides in the recliner)...

Once we stop, we move the pink chair over and angle the recliner to make things more cozy...

In the picture above, you can see something else we changed.  Dan took out one of the drawers under the tv so that we could put our satellite receiver there.  It was too big to go in the cabinet above the tv, so he put it in that space and secured it with some velcro.  We don't watch much tv, but it sure is nice having the dvr for when we do.

I also hung some of my favorite art on the walls and set out some special mementos.  They make me smile :)...

we had these made at Disney World when the kids were little...btw, camping at Ft. Wilderness is super fun, if you've never been, you should make plans to go!

another peek at my "polyester pantsuit" curtain :)

love the painting I got from this super talented lady

i take those toss pillows outside when we are sitting around in our lawn chairs :)

Monterey Bay sea glass and Cape San Blas shells...<3

The last two things we did really make our space more comfortable to live in...first, we changed out all of our lights to LED's.  It is amazing at how much cooler the LED lights are...the old lights used to get so hot, not to mention the extra electricity the old ones used.



Second, we got a Berkey for our drinking water.  Love!!!  It fits nicely on the kitchen counter and it's so easy now for the kids to get their own drinks.  No more heavy jugs of bottled water nor the waste that comes with that.

Some before and after shots for you:

before

after

before

after

before

after

We are getting ready to do some extended traveling, so I don't know exactly when I'll be back (depends on internet, might just be a day or two).  When I do get back, I have some bunk room changes to share with ya'll. 

Thanks for looking :)!