Summer: A time for lazy days, popsicles, beach visits, and if you live in Florida – profuse sweating!
This summer things will look a little different for us. The last day of school we came home and began the process of moving out of our rental home that we LOVED. It was definitely a place that God dropped into our laps right when we needed it and we have enjoyed living there the last 19 months. In the last few months, the Lord has been speaking to us about changing our financial situation, downsizing, making space in our minds and wallets. Emptying our plates, so to speak. So at the beginning of May we decided to leave our rental home and live for the summer in a 29 ft camper trailer: with 2 kids and a cat! Borrowed trailer on borrowed land thanks to parents who love us and friends who have learned the beautiful gift and art of expanding love. (seriously, that’s a whole other blog post).
We have been moved out of the house for nearly 2 weeks now, but with all the hullabaloo and getting set up, etc. we have only been in the camper for about 4 nights. So far, things are going well with only a few minor hiccups. We are learning how to get around one another. I am learning how to not step on the cat.
There are of course privacy issues and a severe lack of alone time with everyone being in such close quarters, but so far no one has gotten on anyone’s nerves. With a mama that’s a HUGE introvert, that’s a big deal. I’ll be blogging more soon about things we are learning, enjoying, hating…and the list goes on. But today I’ll just give you a little picture tour of our Home Sweet Home.
We start with the dining room. It has a nice window, and the far seat has storage underneath that the girls put toys in. They also have much of the storage above the table (not pictured) for books, toys, backpacks, etc. I think about 1/2 the stuff in here is theirs!
Directly across from the dining table is the kitchen! There is a small fridge and freezer at the far end. Stove, Oven, Microwave, 3 drawers and a cabinet on top and bottom. My coffee stuff takes up most of this space right now and I am still figuring out where to put everything so there isn’t so much clutter. It’s a process.
Next up is the bathroom. Again, we still have some clutter and my current problem here is where to hang our towels. We have a lot of command hooks in various places around the camper, so that may be what we need to do in here. Other than it being tiny, it’s functional and we haven’t had a lot of problems.
Up top is a loft for the girls and on the right you can see some of the storage that is above the kitchen table. They have their bed, some toys, and 3 drawers that they put their clothes in. The curtain pulls shut for some privacy for them. They seem to like it up there. They like to stick their heads in the skylight! You can see one of the cuties and my husband sitting on the couch playing the Wii!
Which brings us to the back room. We have a couch and small tv set up in here. It’s really meant for storing motorcycles, but since we don’t have those, we’ve made it into a livingroom. I didn’t clean up in here before taking pictures. It seemed pointless. It’s not pretty, but it’s cozy and functional. Behind the couch are stored cleaning supplies and extra clothes.
This is the bedroom…and Mr. Bean. There’s a little ledge on each side along with two drawers, a teeny closet, and a little shelf up top. As you can see, I do some work here. I switch it up between here and my kitchen table on getting work done. I’ll probably hit up a coffee shop or two here pretty soon on days when I need some serious uninterrupted time. 
So that’s it! I also threw in a bad picture of my one decoration from the house…my beloved painting that has been almost prophetic since I got it in March! This is a daily reminder to me that God’s thoughts and ways are higher than mine. I didn’t think 6 weeks ago that I’d be living like this for more than a few days. God had other plans. What those plan entail for the summer are yet to be revealed here. So I invite you on this journey of crazy with us!
Happy Trails, adventurers!
Lawana Gray 