More Can Be More

I strive to keep our things to a minimum, our extra curricular activities limited, and our schedule from being overwhelming. Less is more? Right? Based on our shift in values since transitioning to the RV lifesytle, I took a huge left turn when applying for VIPKID. 

VIPKid is an online teaching service. Teachers from North America teach students in China. 

My #momlife is already abundantly full. I have cutback on our chosen curriculum because our toddler consumes a lot of everyone's time. I still have not really figured out how to incorporate Selah into the daily lessons. Scott and I struggle to carve away time to spend one on one. The sink is never empty. I could go on and on. But you know life...you live it too. It may look differently, but those 24 hours melt away quickly despite all the resolve to use the time better the next day. 

I chose to dabble in the idea of a mobile job at the most inopportune time. Scott's job in Utah was coming to an end, we were in a location with zero wifi, and we needed to prepare for moving and finding the next destination. I had no idea when I applied for VIPKID that I would be pursued relentlessly to set up an interview. I was certain I was not ready...so far it was just a silly idea. 

As I started to prepare for my demo interview, I was intrigued by the challenge. The girls were involved in my preparation and really spurred me on to keep improving. They were also learning in the process. Little did I know that once I passed the demo, a clock would begin ticking for me to complete two mock classes with a current teacher. I had six days to get it done. The same week that we would be leaving. Challenge accepted! More time preparing, more involvement from the girls (Selah was learning her letters and sounds), I was stimulated in so many areas that had gone dormant in my day to day routine... new challenges, problem solving on a different level, intellectual stimulation from learning something totally new, a fun way for my children to learn with me. The pursuit to contribute to our family financially at the same time as pursuing a passion...PRICELESS!

It started to feel like Mission Impossible as I was given task after task via email to complete in a timely manner. I never spoke to a live person except to do demonstrations. I needed to advertise myself to parents via a bio, pictures, and a short video. There was so much to learn about the teacher portal, how to teach different levels of proficiency, and finding a consistent and reliable way to stay connected.

This first week of teaching has me feeling all the feels, and I have been reflecting on the difference a week makes...

 Family Support
 I have experienced a great deal of mom guilt over this pursuit. It seems strange to do anything for myself or something that I enjoy. I love to read and write, but I rarely give myself permission to make time for it. I feel incredibly selfish because the initial learning curves require more daytime hours than I expected. Scott has been incredibly supportive of the time that I have needed to take. He has even expressed pride in my efforts. Scott has been preparing for a new job in California...testing, classes, testing, more classes, and yet he has gone out of his way to make sure I have the time I need to educate myself and prepare for lessons. My girls get involved in my online workshops and preparing lessons with me. I am beaming with the thought of what my family will do for me and making the choice to invest in me. I have never felt so loved.
 

More Time 
It would seem that adding a job would take away the time that I have. But in reality it has organized my time and made me more available. My homeschooling schedule is more routine and predictable. I have wanted to wake up early and get the day started sooner, but I never found the right motivation. I really did not know there was anything that would make me wake up at 2:45am! And guess who I will get to see every morning? My husband! Our schedules have been so opposite for so long. Now we are both too tired to stay up at night, and we can be early risers together...I am still working on the morning mood, though.The techniques that I am learning have also added to my teaching ability for my children. They ask..."Are you going to teach us like you teach the Chinese kids today?" I am writing my second blog in two weeks, when before it would take me months. 
 

Caring for Myself
I have not done well in the self care department. My self care has consisted of staying up too late on Facebook or watching a meaningless show on Netflix. That is not necessarily the wrong way to spend time, but waking up grouchy because of staying up too late for nonsense make no sense. I now make sure that we have an established bedtime routine so I can get to bed quickly. I have a whole new community of teachers that have helped me through my learning curves, messaged me, and video chatted with me. My time on FB and YouTube has consisted of fueling my mind with knowledge. I am able to get up early enough to do the quiet time that I have so desperately needed. And my prayer life has improved as I pray for strength to do all that I can to be the best at all that I do, that I not pursue something God does not want for me, and gratefulness for the awesome opportunity. I also make time for naps as I get used to the new schedule. I have not done that since JoJo was itty bitty.  

 

A Passion that Makes a Difference
I get to wake up to smiling children on my screen every morning! I am in awe of these amazing children learning a second language at the ages of my own children. They inspire me! I had a mom this morning try to explain to me that her son was very worried. It was my job to ease his nerves and make it a fun learning environment. He came to life and his mom was so grateful. I got to watch a little of their interaction before my camera came on, and I was in awe of a mother hard at work desiring more for her son (just like me), and she was all the way around the globe.

It is making a difference in my home as well. I feel more enthusiastic about being a mom and homeschooling, I am more self fulfilled, I have a greater reliance on my creator, I will see my husband more in his "peak" hours, I feel more loved, and I am challenged. The only thing that is in the negative is my sleep...and I have certainly done life on less sleep before (4 times over). And I never regretted that investment! Sometimes more is more!

The Journey of Finding Calm in the Chaos

It has been awhile since I have written. It seems like a lifetime to capture in a short synopsis. This lifestyle makes it feel like several lives have been lived in a small amount of time. After leaving Connecticut, we were able to spend time with our families for the first time around the holidays, and then make it to Georgia for time with good friends and workcamping for a few months. We love this campground because we can really be at peace with our surroundings and let the kids run free. Then, we thought Utah would be a good stopping point after attending a marriage retreat in Branson, Missouri. It all seems like a whirlwhind. We went from a frigid Spring in Heber Valley to a house for the  month of May while we remodeled the RV. Then a little spot in a driveway just South of SLC that gave the girls a chance to meet new friends and be entertained by horses each day. And...So many reunions with good friends catching up.

 As I look back, I realize that we have not been in the realm of the unfamiliar for quite some time. We have backtracked and criss crossed paths that we have already been down. It was a good season. And now we are embracing the whole reason we chose this lifestyle...the thrill and adventure of the trek into the unknown. Today, I did not like the reacquaintance with the unfamiliar. Our unique way of life begging us to rely on faith and not security. I am sure the FB view makes us seem like we are just weaving our way around with no fear of the unknown. But our faith is tested on a regular basis. I do believe that is why this lifestyle was chosen for us, because had it just been us trying something out, we would have exited stage left a long time ago. The return on that faith investment is always, always worth it.

You know the feeling of moving from one home to the other...you have to shut down life in one location and begin the set up in the next location. Every few months, that is what we are doing. We need to understand where we are and where we can find things. We need doctors and dentists and mechanics and usually in the form of "immediately."  When we first got to Georgia we had to switch phone services because ours would not work , when we first got to Connecticut we needed a pediatric dentist and new tires, there have been two ER visits on the road, and yesterday I needed a doctor for Selah and I had no idea what part of town I was headed into. I was even told over the phone that the doctor was an hour away from my location, then discovered it was actually 17 minutes away.

 It leads me to believe that we are making life too difficult for ourselves. It has Scott and I scratching our heads asking "why do we do this?" The last week exiting and the first week entering our always filled with the highest highs and the lowest lows. We can even predict the chaos and anxiety and yet fall into the trap every time. And the kids...oh the kids...they just go with the flow. Teaching us each time that they trust us to not withhold good from them, yet we constantly question our heavenly father in times of uncertainty. Those Israelites that roam in the desert all through Exodus...that is us! I can read about them and say 'have you not learned anything!' and yet here we are doing the same thing. I have to remember to remember. There is always goodness just around the corner.

I have not formally introduced the way this all works for us. Friends are usually asking "what's next?" or "what's the plan?" We are always formulating a plan, but it never is the plan. Because "our ways are not His ways" and also not the Union's ways. Scott is a Union Pipefitter. The Union is the reason we have been blessed with this opportunity. I have to wonder if God was orchestrating this all along. Scott has been a Union Pipefitter since I have known him. And he never traveled because of it. Except to travel out to Utah to marry me. Scott has to speak to a Union Business Manager to discover where the jobs are located. He usually goes to the Union Hall with a direction of where we want to go. When I was pregnant we wanted to be as close to Memphis, Tennessee as possible. That is how we ended up at a Nuclear Plant in Georgia. When we were burning up in the South, we wanted to go North. The Union told us about a job in Connecticut. We took a break after traveling from Utah to Georgia to North Carolina to Kentucky to Tennessee to Connecticut (and all the states along the way to those destinations). Scott was unemployed for a few months (our sabbatical), and then we headed back to visit Utah after being gone for over two years. When the job ended in Utah, we started looking NorthWest.

This is where it gets really exciting for those of us accustomed to routine and security. There is not always a job, and if there is a job, it can be filled before we make it to the next destination. It is first come first serve, if someone shows up before us, they get the job. IT IS NEVER CERTAIN THAT THE JOB WE WANTED WILL BE THERE. It is also never certain when we will get that first paycheck. Scott has to pass a gate test to prove his skill, there are safety trainings and orientations, and start dates that do not always align with our timeline. We did not get our first paycheck for 5 weeks when we went to Georgia. So our savings account goes through major peaks and valleys.

We are in California. Originally, we were told to go to Portland, Oregon. But that job was filled and no longer had an opening. We have lived off of faith for so long, that we were just going to head to Seattle, Washington and wait for jobs that we were told would be opening up at any time. Then the day before we were going that direction. Scott received a call that he was definitely needed in Concord, California. We have arrived, and we have not been assured that there is a job. In fact, Scott was told the job we came here for has been filled. However, they expect that there will be a call for 40+ welders within days or possibly weeks. Scott will be taking a necessary training for the next two days to ensure he is ready for that call. Yikes! Just typing it makes my stomach knot up.

BUT I was frantic when I arrived in Connecticut. I threw a fit when I found out we were going to Memphis (why did I want to live in my hometown in an RV that was supposed to take me to new places), I was very hot and very pregnant and covered in mosquitoes and gnats in Georgia...and the list goes on. And God showed up in HUGE ways and the experiences have been AMAZING even miraculous. It becomes crystal clear why we are on this glorious adventure and the shaping and the molding that is taking place. We choose the hard way because the wide and predictable path is what will lead us to just that...a plan that we controlled and manipulated to feel comfortable. Trust me what is on the other side of the uncomfortable is what we all truly desire...the wild adventure we were created for.

*I do not believe full-time travel or living in an RV is for everybody. I do believe that getting out of your comfort zone is something necessary for true living, perhaps for even finding the truth.