You asked and here it is! A tour of our new home sweet rolling home. We aren't done yet, still moving in a week later. MAN, it is as much work as moving houses. Oh wait, that's pretty much what we are doing. LOL! You know, when we moved into the first RV, 3 plus years ago, from our country property in Kansas, we just guessed what we needed. When we bought our bigger black and grey RV that very summer, we were up in Washington, so it ALL got transferred over again. That means, just now, with 2 RV's parked side by side at our home sweet hub, we are able to really gut and PURGE the extra items that are unnecessary. The next layer of simplicity is emerging, but MAN IS IT MESSY! And you have to find homes for everything AS YOU GO, because it determines where the next basket of household items lives........ We have 3 tables set up in the garage for things that do not yet have a home, or things that will be donated etc. Feels good! We actually didn't get fully moved in before our maiden voyage to a class 3 hours away. I worked a day and well into the wee hours of the next morning and still didn't finish, but I at least had us ready for the weekend. One of the things we do, when looking at an RV, is close up the slides and make sure we can still function going down the road. A lot of the new ones, it is too tight to walk, let alone have 5 people function back there going down the road. That is because the majority of people buying these are a retired couple with no kids at home! :) It's all good, this one works great for us all closed up! Boys hung out up front, resting and reading. Girls claimed the master for their reading time. Dale says she drives like a DREAM! Technology has changed a lot in 11 years. Once we pulled in and got set up, I had my first chance to take some photos of our new home! Come on in! The living room is bright and cheery! We loved the oversized couch, the fireplace and all the cabinets for school books. The kitchen has a slide out work station, and a dishwasher that we will use to store pots, because let's be honest, I bring my own 4 dishwashers. ;) Slideshow of living room and kitchen: The bathroom is a big part of why we loved this floorplan. It isn't the normal skinny hallway style bathroom, rather runs sideways, creating a large space and a great hallway for storage! Storage is EVERYTHING! :) We even used the tip out hamper as the chip and snack bin because we ran out of room in the kitchen. Hey, whatever works!!!! Dale loved the huge shower. I have to tell you a funny story really quick: In our very cute, very little, first diesel RV, the one we moved into 3 and a half years ago, everything was small and darling. Even the shower. Dale is 6'1" and easily 225# and the first time he showered, I about died laughing. His head and shoulders were GONE, literally, his head disappeared up into the big skylight, as he barely maneuvered his arms up there to shampoo his hair. And two distinct white butt cheeks were pressed flush against the door because there was literally NO ROOM for him. Poor guy! He used bath houses a lot back then. This one is nice and spacious! I also liked that the toilet was alone in a room, because will, PU. Bathroom slideshow: The master houses a King bed, and the washer dryer (behind the double doors), our family closet and drawers for clothing. I am still needing to get a duvet cover, some pillows, couch pillows, rugs etc. but here it is for now. This coach has heated floors, neat lighting features, and more bells and whistles then we have even figured out yet. Outside, there is a huge awning that covers the entire side of the coach, making a neat place to hang out in the evenings, lights line it for ambiance. It has an alarm, keyless entry and all kinds of neat features like roll out "basement" drawers for storage, and a deep freeze under there! Our maiden voyage went off without a hitch, and we had so much fun with our friends the Ferchos, taught a class and business overview and celebrated Paxton's birthday while we were there!!!! Paxton Clay is 8! For you 4 little Ferguson's readers....do you remember this chunky monkey little miracle?! He sure is growing up! Final summer hurrah at the lake before we start school next week...... Paxton wanted to make a birthday village. So we have a Pixton volcano, (he said Pixton sounds meaner than Paxton and volcanos are mean) Clay mountain and Ferguson's Castle with a moat around it, as well as Floss Pass. Mena had a summer birthday too! We all got to celebrate together! There is much left to be done and I am still moving us in, several days later. Trying to be careful and simple and picky about what we bring along.
I am feeling so so grateful to my Father in Heaven, for not only providing us with our dream RV, but orchestrating the details, the bargains, the fact that we were the first to go look at it (Before two others flew in on one way tickets within the next 2 days) because we "happened" to be home unexpectedly. The fact that it is a higher end model than we were even searching for, with a better floor plan and low low miles?! I mean, serious! The LORD is in the DETAILS and I LOVE it. Today, I am celebrating our new home sweet rolling home, and the whole time I am out there moving us in, I am just breathing prayers of thanksgiving for His goodness. Talk to you again soon! Time to go.... Hugs, T
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WOW, hard to believe it's been 3 years already, and what an amazing ride it's been! 47 states and more adventures than I can recall later, we are still loving RV life..... It wasn't easy to drive away, we knew it was a treasure, one we probably wouldn't find again. We were scared, a bit nervous we had sold our beautiful place, but totally at peace because the Father moved in big big ways to make it happen. Our path, for the moment, seemed clear. We were to go and travel! So, we moved our family of 6 and 2 dogs, into our first cute little diesel bus thinking me might be on the road 6 months or so, before settling back in Kansas. 2 weeks in, we knew. THIS was the life for US! :) Over the years, our family has learned to live simply, to crave experiences, not things. We have grown closer, our business has grown bigger, and our heart more full of gratitude each and every day that this, THIS amazing life, is the life the Lord mapped out for us, long long before we even DARED dream it up. I am humbled. I am honored. I am grateful each and every day I wake up, that this is our journey, our destiny, our blessing from a Father who knows how to lavish on His children. Who blesses obedience time and time again....
Happy 3 Year RV-Versary, Ferguson Family!!!!! So blessed to be "doing life" with you in 400 sq ft of intentional living! <3 After living in such a colorful apartment for so long this winter, the black and gold RV looked positively DULL. I begged Dale to let me add some color, and he said, ok ok, if you must. I am a super duper bargain shopper and got most things for a little bit of nothing, even the quilt set, was like $30! Check it out, it's happier already! :) I found a SUPER cute vintage banner from the same gal that made the orange and blue one in the apartment.... Here store is on Etsy and it is called Greenbug Marketplace. She always does a good job accommodating my colors.... Look what my team got me! LOVE it, there's no place like home. <3 Love my doTERRA Dorothy team! I also painted the black pot and chicken in the kitchen to be HAPPIER.... Blue to match the garlands on the windows. Isn't that OH Happy Day sign cute?! 40% off at Hobby Lobby! The mustard and red paisley tray on the oven didn't match anymore, so I spray painted it blue like the chicken....I am SO bad at before and afters, just afters get photographed. It looked like a louder version of this plate. Blue looked much better next to the Oh Happy Day...... I also got a few plants here and there to give a little life to the place. I found a plain wood colored USA cut out, and decided to paint it the same blues as the rest of the colors. It now hangs in the bathroom next to the Not All Who Wander Are Lost sign. This room is also what we call our War Room, I did a blog about it here: RV War Room. The bedroom might be the biggest change, its WAY brighter with the lights bouncing off the bright comforter as opposed to the black and gold one...... Look how HAPPY it is! Before and after. It's not the kind of RV makeover with the pretty painted white cabinets and new floors and all that, we hope to sell this one and get another, so I wasn't looking to do anything permanent......but its FUN, right?!
What do you think?! HAPPY? Sunshine and Skittles for SURE! :) Have a blessed day! Hugs, T 2 years ago today, we handed over the keys to our home of 12 and a half years. The only home we have ever known, actually, and set out on the biggest adventure we had yet to experience. If you have done some reading on this website, you know the Lord moved BIG, 3 times in 3 days, to make it clear we were to hit the road. And boy are we glad we listened! But lets go back 2 years....we were hopeful, we were excited, but this moment, captured below in a photo, we were scared and mourning a big chapter closed. This final moment, of no turning back, was VERY difficult. Were we doing the right thing? Would we regret our decision? What if we didn't like life on the road? What if we wished forever more, for this home back? This is the home we came home as Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson. This is the home that we lost 4 little newly growing Fergusons in utero, and after a season of fear and surrender, brought 4 beautiful incredible miracles home to. The 4 little Fergusons you know today, in this place,the only home they have ever known..... We laughed here, we had water fights in the kitchen, played flashlight hide and seek, made forts under the table, played games by the fire in the living room on cool evenings, knelt for prayer on these floors, cried out on the sidewalk WHY in the early morning hours of sunrise. We watched snowflakes lazily falling from the kitchen window while baking banana bread in our kitchen. We made steaks (long story) and s'mores on skewers over the fireplace here, went for a walk in the pasture to watch the sunset, and buried beloved family pets out back with homemade wooden crosses. We planted gardens here with excited children, got chased by mean roosters, and celebrated new life as a baby chick would peer out from under momma during egg gathering time. We planted fruit trees in Papa's honor, watched the windmill lazily turn in the breeze, built a tree house for the kids, and watched them zipline out of it. We cried, mourned and fought for our marriage here. We celebrated beauty from ashes within these walls, as a new in Christ couple, and restored family. We loved on Papa in his final weeks, here, in this place. These sticks and bricks that form walls. These walls that house laughter, love and so so many memories.... How on earth can you ever put into words, the things that make a house....a HOME? I couldn't. So instead, this is what I put on facebook that day: We handed the keys over to a family the Lord hand picked for us, to make the transition even smoother. We are thankful for them and their love of our home, an answer to their 2 year long prayer for a country property! # What a leap of faith and blessing this adventure has been.....and continues to be. We plan to continue to travel and see state #48 this year and pin it on the map. (Working on Alaska and Hawaii sometime too!) We are excited to hit all the states again, and see more amazing sites and meet more amazing people. There is so much more out there to do, experience and see, and our bucket list continues to grow..... I wouldn't have even dared to dream up this kind of life for our family, and I love that the Lord just knows what we need and allows us the blessing of walking in His perfect will.
I am forever grateful for a Father in Heaven, who makes beauty from ashes, and blesses our obedience 100 fold. ❤ You could tell me today, "Tonya, I will give you back the keys to your home and country property, but in return, you have to give me the RV keys and stop traveling." And I would tell you, no thank you. We don't need sticks and bricks because.... Wherever we are together, THAT is HOME. Hugs, T
In September of 2016, after doTERRA's convention, Dale and I booked it 12 hours down to Los Angeles, to prepare to be on a TV show. T.D. Jakes producers found us through our 4 little Ferguson's blog, and followed us over to this new one.
We have walked away from TV show offers before, but this one felt different. We approached it cautiously and held it with open hands. No doors closed, in fact closed doors, swung open as details fell into place. They booked us an incredible RV park and asked us to be ready for an RV shoot and studio shoot, within the few days we were there. We were SO exhausted from convention, but so super pumped to have this experience! Dana and Micheal, the producers of the show, were awesome to work with!
Now, the trick, our kids were in Kansas, what to do what to do....
PAPA to the rescue!
Can you believe that guy drove from Florida to Kansas in his RV to go pick up the grandkids and then proceeded to drive them CROSS COUNTRY ALONE?! That is brave!!!!
They picked up Grammy, after she flew to AZ when her time at work was finished! And they all headed to LA! Can you imagine? What GREAT memories our kids will have of their trip with Grammy and Papa!
We had to get up BRIGHT AND EARLY to get to the studio in time. Rush hour morning traffic is NUTS! I saw all kinds of people eating and doing makeup on their drive in. Crazy.
We arrive at the studio and a guard escort us inside, where we had to wait in our dressing room for hair, makeup and wardrobe. I kept pinching myself!!! And smelling doTERRA's amazing Balance oil so I didn't pass out from nerves. ;)
Being on a TV set is totally different then I thought it would be. There are lots of cuts and redos, coaching of audience clapping etc. Pretty awesome! TD Jakes and his crew were AMAZING to work with, and so kind and fun. We had a ball!
NO cell phones are allowed on set, so I don't have any pics from that part. The kids stayed home and did school with Papa on studio day, because they would've had to school like 5 hours with a tutor, AND cost the station hundreds of dollars in liscensing to get them on set. They were part of the RV on site shoot, so I wasn't worried about it.
They made a video montage of our family, but we haven't got to see it yet.
Did you know they beef up shows AFTER they are taped live? So the live audience saw a 2 minute intro of us, the TV show will have a longer one with more photos tucked into the story. I am so excited, but SO nervous to watch it. It's always hard to see yourself on tape, right?!
I was just given the link to our episode last night, so am popping on here to add it before I post this! :)
When we prayed for the Lord to open doors and expand our territory, we had no idea this would be part of His plan. I love when we get to share our story and point to a Father who makes beauty from out of the ashes, and used the shattered pieces of our broken marriage, to create a BEAUTIFUL mosaic for HIS glory! We are so honored and so excited for all that is to come!
For those of you who haven't read our story of Beauty from Ashes, you can access the series here: https://4littlefergusons.wordpress.com/surviving-infidelity/ Hugs, T We spent our final days of summer, in Missouri, hanging out at the pool and the super cool playground at Basswood RV park. We also had a nice home church, everyone was asked to share a passage and what it meant to them... We utilized the RV parks movie screen as our stage. Our main objective and mission on the Missouri/Kansas border, was to get the first week of school under our belts. I didn't have any scheduled classes, so we could really focus in on getting it right. We pretty much hid out at the Hillsdale lake all week, focusing on school all morning, swimming all afternoon, and hiding out from the storms every all night. We were in a flash flood warning several times! And BIG ol' thunderstorms, ahh, welcome back to the Midwest! We started school Monday morning, bright and early. Sophie is always my little school helper, close by at all times. After school and lunch each day, we pretty much spent the rest of our time here, just fishing, swimming and relaxing... I cooked most of the week, but Thursday night we took the kids out for dinner to celebrate a GREAT first week of school. We went to the #1 Trip Advisor restaurant, Joe's Kansas City. WOW! Yummo. Have you ever made the Million Dollar Spaghetti that goes through facebook all the time? WOW. Was it ever good! Serve it with a HUGE green salad to make yourself feel better for eating all those amazing dairy fats. Cream cheese, cheese, cottage cheese and BUTTER. 4 main food groups, right? I used this recipe, but did linguini noodles, a lot more seasonings, including seasoning up the cream mixture. Everyone went crazy for it! http://sugarapron.com/2015/10/21/million-dollar-spaghetti/ The highlight of our time in MO/KS, was reconnecting with some friends we made along our journey this past year. Meet the Fercho's....... So we are in Texas last Spring, waiting for the Midwest to thaw out enough for us to go back home for a while. We are just chilling, enjoying the Texas sunshine and teaching classes. We park for a few days at an RV park and as we awoke, look over to see a family our age, piling out of an RV. Everyone else is in school, so right away, the kids are intrigued. They have kids! They have kids! they shout to us. Dale walked to the bathhouse and noticed they had Kansas tags, and struck up a conversation with the dad, who handed him a cool Meet the Fercho's calling card. Dale looks down at it and says, That's funny, our last name is Ferguson. The conversation proceeds to, my name is Dale. Oh wow, my name is Dawson. What's your wife's name? Tonya. What? My wife's name is Tiffany. Crazy. Turns out, they too, hit the road for a year of Adventure with their 3 children. They too, were road schooling and seeing the United States from the comfort of their RV. WHAT are the odds? We all go about our day, and the next morning, Dawson Fercho, walks up to Dale Ferguson, and says.... OK, what's your middle name? Dale says, Lamar. Dawson, No way! Mine is Lee!!!! DLF meet DLF. Hahahaha!! HOW crazy! :) Our families spent the next 3 hours together talking as fast as we could get words out, before we had to pull out to head to classes in Amarillo. We had so much in common!!!! Their 3 kids, all similar ages to our 4. We found we had so many things alike, even down to their dog named Summer and our dog named Sophie. White and big, black and small, but still "S" dog names to match the theme. :) We love how the Lord works to bring people together! Turns out, we had literally been staying at the Florida Sun N Fun RV park the same week, and just never met. Thankfully the Lord brought us together in the Lone Star State! Well, as soon as we pulled out, we knew we had to get the Ferguson's and the Fercho's together again ASAP! Fast forward 5 months, and here we are, within 30 minutes of our new friends home base. We HAD to see them! The kids were shy around each other for like .5 seconds, then went right back to where they left off....... We spent the day at the lake, then the evening having pizza at their place. We stayed way too late, and had way too much fun. We could barely drag the kids apart by the end of it all. Love love love this family, and how the Lord just brings Brothers and Sisters in Christ to encourage and fellowship with each other, in every state we go to. We are already talking about some winter trips, Ferguson-Fercho Style! Love this crew! Bye friends, see you soon!
Hugs, T Have you seen this movie? You should. In fact, you should own it. And Courageous. And Fire Proof, and Facing the Giants. Man, I love Christian films with quality, heart tugging, God moving stories. Plugged In Review says this: War is as old as human history, an aged widow named Miss Clara narrates in the opening moments of War Room. "We fight for power. We fight for riches. We fight for rights. We fight for freedom," she says. "There always seems to be something to fight about." That's as true for individuals as it is for countries. Yet despite the reality of relational conflict, Clara observes, "Very few of us know how to fight the right way." We fight each other instead of recognizing our common spiritual enemy, she says, the thief who comes "to steal, kill and destroy." If we hope to thwart Satan's schemes, to counter his cunning strategies to divide us, we'll need a beefy battle strategy. A strategy that can come from only one place: time spent asking for God's guidance in our prayer closet. Or, as Miss Clara calls it, her "war room." This movie lit a fire in me like none other! I told Dale, we have to find a place for a War Room in our home sweet rolling home. 'Cause I pretty much wanted to do THIS....... I settled for THIS........ Tin bucket from Magnolia Farms, Bible verse cards, cardboard place cards for prayer requests, cute clothespins all from Hobby Lobby, pens and a jute twine or two, and we were set. Our bathroom is by no means, big. But there is plenty of space to hang a couple of twine ropes across the wall for easy readability while you um, PARK. I also found a cute prayer sign to sit by the sink too! Here is our prayer wall in the War Room: I love reading through these, and catching a glimpse of the heart and concerns of my family. I love making and decorating praises and requests too! I also ADORE that my kids are hiding God's words in their hearts with these Bible Verse cards. They are SO proud when they get one down pat and can put up the next Bible Verse card to review and commit to memory. You don't have to clean out a big closet to have a War Room. You don't even have to use a closet. Nope. Not as long as you are intentionally committing a space to share your requests, praises and prayers! Even a tiny RV toilet room can be used to go to WAR on the enemy!!! Hallelujah!
Now flush the toilet and wash your hands. There are 5 other people needing to use the restroom! Hugs, T When I last left you, we had worked our way through our home sweet rolling home, right up to the kitchen and dining area! So there is food storage above booth, as well as school boards flanking either side of it. This gives the kids a visual during our school year to know what comes next on the schedule. The papers taped up on the window box, are our timeline from last year, walking through the Bible and History together. I will have to do a school post when we start the next school year! Gotta have little pops of home! I adore this pillow from my good friend, Kristina. It lives on the bench in the kitchen and reminds me of the land of Oz, where we come from. :) Now, lets head down the hallway to the bathroom and master bedroom! One of the questions we get asked most is about privacy, and I always tell them we are good to go. Pictured is one of 2 solid wood doors that close on either side of the shower room, as well as functioning to separate the master bedroom, from the kids room. You know how fun and freeing it is to be on vacation and enjoy your marriage perks fully? Yup, that's pretty much life on the road. Woot woot! ;) As you head past the fridge, you will see our Vision board. Making our dreams and goals visual and committing it to prayer, has been really moving and exciting! See the second wooden pocket door there? That's where it closes off the bathroom and bedroom.... So when you first walk in the bathroom area, this is what you see. To the left is the shower, to the right, the toilet room, and straight ahead, this sink space...... Its a really nice, open, bright space thanks to 2 skylights. These cabinets are super deep with tons of storage space! It has heated floors so in the winter, it's LOVELY!!!!! We are thankful for a second sink and toilet behind this door...AND .it's also a great place to hide away all the kids towels. Toilet is tucked behind the door area of this shot. Again, nice and bright, just wish they had put an AC vent in here, it gets warm! It has heat, but no cooling. Strange! The master is very spacious with tons of storage, but very very hard to photograph. You can walk around the entire bed. In our old RV, we had to sit on the bed to make it because there wasn't walking space. You walked in to the foot of the bed in that one. That gives you an idea of the different set ups of RVs. This one is pretty much wall to wall cupboards and storage too, which we are SO thankful for! Dorothy/oz themed pillow #2 is from my friend, Brittany from Kansas. It goes perfectly with the bedding. She is also the one that made our Ferguson Family adventures pin board we track states on. Love it! We use this set of cupboards beside the bed for a coat closet and doTERRA storage, as well as school paperwork. This is to your right when you walk into the bedroom. To the left of the door when you walk in, is Avery's closet, pictured below, as well as lot of drawers for the kids clothes. It also houses the TV. It used to be the box kind of tv, but once we got a flatscreen, Dale made it hinge thing {that is a super technical term, I know} that pops the TV up, so we have more usable space. Movies, dvd player, and oils hidden away in the TV box area...... Kids bedding when not in use...lives up in this set of cupboards. They tear down and roll up their bedding each day, with the exception of the fold out bed. It can stay made except the bulky top cover. Here is a pic of Dale and my side of the closet. We use drop down metal hangers to help save space {and be able to fit more clothing options, YESSSSS!} and shoe racks to make the floor of the closet more functioning for my shoe and apparently, my Chucks addiction. ;) Destiny, Tylan and Paxton shares the other side. It looks similar to this one, extra space, shoe racks and all. See that grooved cabinet to the left of the closet? Guess what is in it? EEEK! a washer dryer combo. Let me tell you, I ADORE this thing. I think they should make a set of these for homes. Each one would do a load from wash to dry, and no wasted time when you forget to move a load to the dryer! Do you know how FAST a momma could get her laundry done?! We load it up, go about our day as it washes AND dries, then come back an hour or so later, dump it on the bed, so the kids can fold and put away, and start the next load. I am telling you, GENIUS!!!!! See that On Guard Laundry soap? Oh man, I love that stuff. That bitty bottle does 64 loads! It's that concentrated and amazing! We have been so pleased with every natural product we have tried from them. And no more chemical filled clothing! Once I found out my All Free and Clear got an F grade because of cancer causing agents on the ECW.org website, and its ingredients caused developmental delays in children, I threw it out! Gross. Everything in our home is now homemade from essential oils, water and vinegar, or bought from doTERRA's cleaning line, and I am saving a ton of money. LOVE it all, and it all smells amazing! We are a 42 foot Class A diesel RV, pulling a 24 foot enclosed trailer. We are a BIG rig going down the road! But it works so well for us!!!! Another question we get a lot is why do we pull a trailer and what is in it? A cool car? Haha, Dale wishes! WHY do we pull a trailer? Because we don't want to pull our car 4 down and wear out the wheels. We don't want an open trailer that leaves bikes and car exposed to weather. Sooo, what's in it? Well, its our Garage, per say. It houses our 6 passenger car, 6 bikes, 4 scooters, a bin of outdoor toys, a broom and mop, a grill, a massage table for aromatouch sessions, and more. Sweet Dale built me some shelving above the car, so we'd be able to have some bins of swim suits, games, Christmas decor, doTERRA paperwork and blessing bags etc. We also have our Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling for next December! :) Dale can't be without fishing gear, so it has a spot on a side wall. Everything has to be safely secured so we don't damage the car paint as we bounce down the road! Thanks for coming over! Hope you enjoyed your tour of our home!!!! :)
In the future I'd like to do a travel day post and a "day in the life of" post. Is there anything else I should cover? Any more questions I can answer? Leave me a comment! Hugs, T Hi there! Welcome to our home, come on in! I have had repeated requests for a home tour, and now it's here!!! After 5 steep steps up, you are in the living room, dining room, kitchen, school room and kids room, all in ONE! haha :) Two couches flank either side of the motorhome, a leather J Lounger and a fabric sofa.... If you turn back to the front of the coach, this is what it looks like. When we stay somewhere for more then a day or two, we turn the front chairs around to make a nice conversation circle in the living room. The passenger chair has a nice foot rest that pops out. I like adding my own details like throw pillows, plants and wall decor whenever possible....makes it feel homey! This comisioned wood plank art work is by Elizabeth Wood of Gracefull Home! Ask her to make this when I found out we were indeed going to sell our home and move into an RV. Check out her work on facebook, amazing pieces! https://www.facebook.com/gracefullhomeshop/ Everyone always asks me about storage space. And I tell them part of RV life is SIMPLICITY! It's very empowering to let go of excess..... But I understand their are comfort items you want to bring along, right? Thankfully, this RV has really nice deep cupboards for us to utilize! Some are for vitamins and oils, others for Bibles, crafts and Adventures in Odessey CD case. And an entire section to store our school in! Some of the newer ones don't have these deep cabinets anymore. I guess trading "pretty" for useability is a thing, but I'd rather have functioning space for sure! I also have to remind myself, most people that buy these kind of rigs, are 2 retired folk, not a family of 6. SOMEDAY, I am asking the Lord to connect us with an RV Company that would let us help them design a family friendly Class A coach! I am so thankful to not have to run out underneath the RV to get cots or school books like we used to in our old RV. Everything fits neatly in one space! Above is an entire years curriculum for an 8th grader, 4th grader, a 2nd graders and a little guy who is skipping kindergarten and half of first grade, since he did it all with his sister the last 2 years. He will do the last half of 1st grade, while also doing some 2nd grade with Avery. The Lord using that mischeveous little mind that kept me hopping when he was a toddler, for good! ;)
Across from the kitchen is the booth dinette. This is where we eat as well as do school, color, work and play games. The bin you see underneath is for bulky bags of chips. Usually everything goes IN it, but apparently the day I shot this photo, no one wanted to take the time to do so. I am just now noticing! haha :)
The little's legs are still small enough that they can fit back there fine with it under foot. I fit on one side with 2 kids, and Dale pulls up a folding chair we store in the bedroom, to the end of the table. Well, I should stop for today!T his post is VERY full of photos! I will pick up where we left off, in part II of the tour soon! Hugs, T If you read the "Our Story" tab, you know how God moved 3 times in 3 days, LOUDLY, to show us His will for us to sell our dream home, 30 acres and a life we loved, and trade it for an adventure of a lifetime, on the road full time. If you haven't yet, go read it now! :) http://www.rvoilers.com/our-story.html The RV we live in now, is actually our second motorhome, since we left the midwest a year and 3 months ago. The Lord provided it for us while we traveled through Washington and Montana last year. It was SO cool how it happened! We were traveling for the summer with Dad and Drea, having a ball, caravaning and seeing the sights together for most of the summer. We saw some amazing west coast beauty!!! California, Oregon, Washington, and our favorite state, Montana!!! Here is a highlight reel of that summer trip..... So after a day of travel, we decided to stop for the night in Spokane, WA. As we pulled into town we passed row after row of used Bus RV's lined up at a huge RV dealership..... Now let me tell you, we about cracked our necks of swiveling our heads to see it all as we drove by!!!! There is nothing Dale and I love more, then looking at RV's!!!! Ever since we were courting!!! Dad and Drea love looking too, so we get set up at the RV park, dropped our cars and headed into town, just to see if they were still open. The dealership looked dark, but a man came out and said they were staying late to work on a big fairgrounds RV event coming up, so we were free to wander around. The friendly salesman asked what we were looking for and we kinda chuckled and said, "Oh, we are just looking for fun. My dad is interested in upgrading, but we own our RV outright and just love to look." We told him we are always keeping our eyes open for "THE ONE". He turned us loose on the lot, and we walk over to the row of used diesel class A motorhomes, and into a beautiful grey and black diesel first. It was awesome! Very roomy, light and airy, and a great set up for a family. We walked through the next 3 or 4 buses, but kept coming back to the first one.......there was just something about it! It was a 2005, and it had 17,000 miles on it. One owner, and still had original plastic on the carpet and tags on the lamps. An elderly couple bought it, tried it, stored it, and decided RV life was not for them. Sales guy says, "Gems like this only come once a year! It's rare to find an '05 like this, practically un-lived in, and such low miles" He said they had 40 new rigs coming in and had to clear the lot. {Right right, tell us more....} He said the owner of the dealership had stopped in while we were looking, and what would be our offer on something like this? He'd like to run it by him. For fun, Dale says a number and says if it comes back $1 more, we walk. We love our RV and don't HAVE to buy anything. I smile as the salesman asks us a few more questions about our RV that we owned, and took his clipboard inside to talk to the boss man, because I knew this was all just part of the game. We all crack up laughing, because there is NO WAY we are getting this big beautiful fancy RV with those kind of numbers, and our cute little trade in. This is like 5 steps up from what we have, and we know its always a process to grow equity to get there. The man comes back about 20 minutes later, holds out his hand and says to Dale, "Well sir. You have yourself a deal!!!! I gasped loudly, I swear I did. I swing my head over to Dale to see what he is thinking about this announcement, and here is what I see.... Dale staggers back, all the blood drains from his face, and his hand slowly moves to his chest: "Wha-what? We never buy anything on the first day. I didn't think you'd take my offer seriously." Salesman smiles and says, "I told you, we have to move the RV's on the lot before the new batch comes in. I am very serious!" It's super late at this point, so we agree to sign some papers and put some money down, making sure we could get it all back if the deal wasn't agreeable, and walked away praying for the Lord's will to be done. We set a number, commited it to the Lord, and agreed if it came back even ONE DOLLAR OVER, we'd know it was a NO, and told the sales guy as much. We ate dinner out, and as planned, traveled on into Montana the next day, while the RV dealership contacted banks and credit unions about a loan. Now, not many banks want to loan on an RV. We have high credit scores, but not a lot of credit, because we do cash only most of the time. Even our previous 14 year house mortgage didn't help us, because it was closed. We had sold the homestead and that part was done! We realize, we still may be walking away from this yet, and getting our money back, and we were ok with that. We loved our little RV and it was paid for. We just wanted the Lord's will to be done. So for 2 days, we wait and pray, pray and wait. Excited, trying not to be too excited, trusting His plan, feeling kinda nervous and trying not to be. Dale finally gets THE call while we are hanging out on the picnic tables outside, and walks away from the group to take it. (I HATE when he does that! I want to hear! hahaha) A few minutes later we hear a WHOOP! And we knew it was ours! Here we are with the Old home and our new one the day after moving day: Get this, they gave us MORE for our trade in then we asked, dropped the price on the RV we were buying AGAIN; all to make sure we stayed under the dollar amount Dale had given them, as our walk away monthly payment. God is so good! And Freedom RV is the bomb diggity! They did a 100 point inspection on our new coach, and let us live at the RV park, full hook ups, while we waited for them to fix the steps and a few other minor things for no additional charge. They gave us some store credit to go shopping in their RV store for supplies too . Then ALL of one day, we moved out of our old RV over to our NEW blessing from Him. That was a ton of work, but worth every hour it took to find new homes for everything! They even had us sleep in the new one there on the lot, one more night before we left so we could test it all out, and make sure they didn't need to fix anything. Everything was awesome, so we headed back to Montana to pick up our car trailer we had left at the RV park there, and headed to Wyoming to enjoy our new home with dad and Drea. We parked our new home, right next to theirs. Soon after we arrived, it rained, and not long after that, a rainbow filled the sky right above our coaches......... Looking at that rainbow of promise above our new home, we felt loved, thankful, and so humbled, by a Heavenly Father who gave us our hearts desire, that we didn't even know we were needing!
We absolutely ADORE our home sweet rolling home, with tons of room to fit everyone and everything we need, to live a simple wandering life we love. We still, a year later, wake up and look around and smile, thanking the Lord for His awesome provision for our family. So, I thought it'd be fun for me to give you a home tour.... NEXT TIME!!!!! :) Hugs, T Why hello there, it's been a long time since I have blogged something. I have to say, while I am not ready to jump two feet back into blogging our lives, when the time is right, it will all take place HERE. For now, I am having too much fun living life without blogging it! :) However, I DO try to keep you up to date on our adventures on Instagram and our 4 little Fergusons travel page on FB. Come on over and like and follow us! We love making new friends! So, welcome to our shiny new website, and RV Oilers blog! Where we muse on oils, family, adventure and everything in between. I am so glad you are here! Much has taken place this past year on the road, and I hope you enjoyed Our Story tab to get you caught up on how it all came to be.... You know, when I wake up in the morning, with nothing but our schooling, adventure, and a day of leisure awaiting us, I just grin. "This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it, thank you for my MANY blessings, Father," I murmer, then go right into my prayer time. I pinch myself as I pray, because I just can't quite believe this is my life yet. There are so so many things to be thankful for.... I love that on a Sunday night, I am no longer filled with that feeling of dread, or anticipation of the busy week to come. Of school and homework, projects and events, activities and errands, phone calls, or a list of to do's a mile long on our country property. The last 4 years leading to this one, have been tough! Time spent in the Refiners Fire always is, isn't it? It is painful. It feels lonely, as if our Father has forgotten all about us. He never does though. He always waits, right outside the door, anticipating the MOMENT when He can pull us out and plunge us into clean, cool, refreshing water. We had to go through the past 4 years of famine, to get to the green luscious lands. The bountiful harvest part, the cool water part.... First financial discipline, leading to the breaking down of walls keeping secrets, our marriage broken before Him, then restored to better than before. Next, 2 Daddy's fighting cancer at once, one winning his battle by going to see his Jesus, another winning fight after fight here on earth. It was brutal. Life shattering. Exhausting, to say the least. But when we keep our eyes on Jesus and do the hard right things, He blesses that obedience many times over and He gets us through in His loving arms. Not only does He give us every tool we need to do our job and take our journey, but he walks through the job with us, helps us every step of the way, and THEN, when it's all done He REWARDS us as if we did it all alone. That is amazing, and THAT is the God we serve! Amen! So when I look around our little apartment like RV, treasures here and there from our latest adventure, pillows just so, no clutter, no mess, no chaos, no stacks of bills and mail to sort through, just sunshine streaming through the windows, my husband and best friend by my side, and kids outside shouting and laughing to each other as they ride bikes back and forth, waiting for us to join them on a bike ride, I think.......
This. Is. IT. This is our bountiful harvest part, the kind where the store houses are so full, you have to build new store houses to hold all the blessings. Wow. Thank you, Father! You have restored what the locusts have eaten. You have given us our best dream come true! Our new life makes the old one I loved so much, pale in comparison! Our dream of travel is happening NOW, not when the kids are grown and gone. Making memories all as a family, all together, like I only daydreamed about, as we were running to and fro, living life as you are "supposed to". I like living outside the worlds standards of normal. I love it. I wouldn't go back. We have zero regrets, just JOY and hope to do this a long, long time! Our word of the year is taken from Isaiah 58:11. "The Lord will guide you." We ask for His guidance as we travel the US, and share the good news of Jesus Christ, and the Creator who made things to be used for our benefit. We commit our travels and our calendar to HIM, the one who knows better than we do, our path and journey! We cannot wait to see the great things He has in store. So, what questions do you have about our travels? Our RV? Our life on the road? What do you want to see on here? Give me your best ideas in the comments and I will do my best to create blogs to answer those questions..... Blessings to you, as you click from tab to tab on our shiny new website! Hugs, T |
Tonya Ferguson
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