Don’t Stop Me Noooooow

Hey, guys! Sorry it’s been so long. We are still kind of in a holding pattern to getting on the road, but we are pressing on. We had a list of things to work on to get us closer to this dream, and looking back at our last post we have scratched some of them off of the list. Life has thrown in a few curve balls in the last few months, as it does, but we’ve got this.

I got rid of my car with it’s ridiculous car payment and bought an old (2004) 4×4 Jeep. We paid cash for it and it will be our tow vehicle. It’s really nice to not have that car payment anymore. It was a huge burden on us. The Jeep is fun and I love her and we have taken her on some paths in the mountains we couldn’t take before. We still really miss the Falcon and we both still get kind of sad that it isn’t around anymore when we’re out in the woods. The most devastating part about losing the Falcon was that the guy that bought it flipped it on Craigslist and Karl came across it when he was perusing RVs. We just try to keep focusing on all of the new adventures we’ll have in the new RV.

We are currently cleaning the house out so when it is time, we can sell it. We have a Yard Sale date set in May and we are pretty much selling everything we don’t absolutely have to have. We love this house. Karl and his dad bought it and his dad put a lot of work into it before he passed away. It is an old house, though and it has a lot of issues. We had considered keeping it and using it as a home base, but it needs a lot of love and repairs and we just don’t have the time or money to put into it. We are both also ready to leave the area. I love East Tennessee, but neither of us care too much for the small town we are in. We are considering a quick sell on it to a company that just comes in and buys houses. We don’t feel like it will sell well in this area and we really don’t want to deal with inspections and repairs and such. We’re kind of tired.

We are still trying to figure out remote jobs. After Karl took some time off after he left his old job, he got a job locally as a shift lead for a retail company. He is miserable and looking for remote jobs daily. I am still at the library loving life, but feeling poor. There is nothing I want more than to put all of my time and effort into selling my art and things i make, but the small amount I can put into it doesn’t yield any profit. People are very supportive and love it, but not a lot actually buys it. I do pretty well at small art fairs, but I don’t have the time to work a regular job and do those regularly. I would really like to do a larger show and see how it goes, but it is too much of a risk right now financially. Yes, I have an Etsy shop. No, I don’t use it. Etsy is terrible. After all of their fees, there is no profit for a small business. I am looking into my own website, but that is risky too because I have to drive all of my own traffic to it. I drive all of my own traffic to my Facebook page, and nothing. To say I am frustrated is an understatement. I’ll keep at it, though. It’s what I want to do, so it’s what I will do. I just hope it actually helps us at some point.

So, that’s where we are. We’re moving forward at a snail’s pace, but we’re still going. Oh, we also have a new member of the family. A dear friend of mine passed away in January. It has been a difficult time for me and everyone who loved her. The love of her life was her French Bulldog, Pearl. In February I drove to Texas to help her mom and our friend Jennifer go through her things and Pearl came back to Tennessee with me. It has been an adventure. Pearl is funny and a hot mess. I am honored and so happy to take car of her. Pearl has her own Facebook and Instagram pages if you would like to follow her adventures. You can find her at both at @punkrockpearl713 .

Thanks for being patient and following along guys. I will do my best to update more even when things are a little slow.