Hello everyone,

I am thinking now is the time to finally introduce ourselves.  This is Kim speaking......the other (some say better) 1/2 of JackKim.  Jack is the balder 1/2.  

I want to 1st say Thank you all for this forum.  I have been lurking for about 3 months and you can't know how many times you have relieved my fears and reminded me of how excited I am for our adventure to begin.  It has actually begun, but let me back up a bit and catch you up to today.

About February we began to explore the idea of living in an RV.  The thought had occurred to us years ago in thinking it might be fun.......but never a real working towards the idea.  But this past 2 years have been life changing for us.  We went through a financial crisis and had to make the decision to let the home go that we thought we would sell one day for profit.  But to our dismay and lack of great financial planning......the home market here makes it near impossible to sell our place for profit, and due to income loss we are unable to keep it.  So we are in the middle of a foreclosure that be it sad and hard, is actually come with it's blessing of leaving us free to do whatever we want to do.  

Looking at our finance's, we have realized that we just don't want to make a S&B's (I think that is short for sticks and bricks?  I am trying to get the lingo) home our future.  My husband is semi-retired and when he quits his part time job, we only have so much fixed income to live on.  In a regular home even just renting something small, that requires it all it seems.  I am in direct sales and have loved it for years, but think I may have to give it up for the road.  No inventory, but the kit takes lots of space as well as the office stuff.  I am still praying about that.

Anyway, as you can tell this might be long as I never know what to include and what to leave out.  And I am a little wordy by nature.

Back to finance's.  We think we can make it on the road.  We are trying to make a budget work on about $1900 a month fixed.  We don't want to take anymore than we have to from retirement as Jack has to take so much a year, but it has been hit hard with economy and too many years of using it to keep afloat.  The decision was made to walk away just to save what we have left.

I also have a part time cleaning business which will also have to be let go on the road, so I must try to find work as we go.  I have looked at the possibilities of workcamping and other things and that is appealing to us so I am sure it is in our future and will help with expenses.  I am actually excited about it as I love to work and love people.  So it shouldn't be impossible to find work to cover our overages.

We bought a used 5th Wheel and we blessed enough to pay cash.  We had moved from our home that is in foreclosure thinking they would kick us out and so we rented a home and lived in it for 10 months.  But we still have the old house and last month we had an estate sale at the rental and got rid of most of the furniture and lots of stuff and have since moved into the 5th (I call it my "Tiny Home on Wheels"), and have downsized quite a bit.  Although I still need to have a sale at the old farmhouse we have because it has loads of stuff still in it.  I am so excited to become pretty stuffless I can't even describe my feelings at the prospect.  Anyway, one thing at a time.  I am now working on the stuff in this house for a sale at the end of the month.

Back to the rig.  We went 5th because we already have a 1999 F350 and it made sense.  Because it is used we are using this time to go through it and make any necessary repairs.  Jack is redoing wheel bearings as I write and is on the last one.  The rig is a 1995 and in excellent condition.  It is an Alpha See Ya, which is not the top quality, but it was in great condition and we could pay cash for it.  We knew it would come with some work, but Praise God, our son's Father in Law is an RV service manager.  What luck huh?  (I don't believe in luck only Providence).  So we have much help in getting this rig Full time ready.

He has taught us how to take the windows out and reseal.  There has never been leakage, but we are doing them all for preventative main.  He has taught us how to do the roof work and we have changed vent covers and are getting ready to reseal the roof.

Anyway, here I am giving you more info. than I am sure you cared about, but I guess it helps me to just put it all together in one posting for now.  

Our plan is to winter here in NW Oregon/SW Washington.  We live in Rainier OR and work and worship in Longview WA.  We are going to stay on the property till they ask us to leave.  They actually were happy we moved back even if it is in the driveway.  Then in Aprilish.......God willing and enough cash in the checking account we are going to take off for parts unknown.  Our plan is to move slowly east to PA as Jack has family there and we hope to be there by late Augustish 2014.  

We are looking forward to the road and just getting out and seeing more of this amazing land we live in.  We have had a travel trailer years ago when the boys were young and we took 3 6 week trips across the country and many local ones.  So we are not totally new to rving, but living in it is another story.  

We also have plans of workcamping like I said and drycamping to save money.  All the plans are not set in stone as we live by the Proverb (The mind of man plans his way, but The Lord directs his steps).  That is a Scripture I am hoping to have decaled on the front of our rig one day.

I am in the process of organizing the inside and trying to fit my oodles of cooking stuff (I have been a Pampered Chef consultant for a long time and I love to cook), and the other things I think we will need.  The giving up of some things is hard......like books and bibles.  Other things are way easy for me like clothes and shoes.  Although there still isn't enough room for clothes.  But will there ever be?  LOL

We are blessed to have this time in our driveway to get adjusted to living in the rig and yet still being able to take stuff out that we really don't need and put stuff in that we do.  We have a few more weeks to decide on the rest.  The estate sale here will be  the last and anything that doesn't sell and that we don't have in the trailer will leave one way or another.  

I am most excited about meeting people across this country, and seeing family that I might not otherwise visit, but for the fact that we have our own home to take and not put anyone out and go home each night to our own bed.  I am excited to visit and worship at different churches and meet more of God's people out there.  I am excited to see what God has and is calling us to do on this journey of faith.  I have many scenes in my mind of how that might look, but again I live the Proverb, and let God lead.  Maybe He will lead us to meet many of you one day.  I hope so.  You really can't know the hope and assurance you have given me in your willingness to share your journey's on here an in your blogs.  I really need to THANK YOU again for taking the time to ask and answer the millions of questions we newbies have.  

So I will close with the words from a song that we have as our traveling song........from Steven Curtis Chapman.........

"I set out on a great adventure, the day my Father started leading me home..........He said "there's going to be some mountains to climb and some valley's your gonna go though".  Well I had know way of knowing, just how hard this journey will be.......cause the valley's are deeper and the mountains are steeper than I ever would have dreamed.  I know were gonna make it, I know were gonna get there soon.  I know sometimes it feels like the world say's were going the wrong way. It's just a long way home."

So we go out with our eyes wide open knowing that it won't always be easy, but we also go with our hearts filled with anticipation of the joys and wonders we will see and meet along the way.  Blessings to you and thanks for listening to our story.  Jack & Kim Perseghetti

See Ya Soon!