We Bought a House!

Welcome to our new home! Yep, it’s got wheels… and with any luck it will be rolling through Colorado in a couple of months. How did we get here? Well, let me tell you.

Our journey started almost two years ago when we met an amazing family while camping out in Arkansas at 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell. At the time they were a family of five (now six) and they were living in a C class motorhome. We were so inspired by their lifestyle that we spent the whole ride home from Arkansas scheming of ways to follow in their footsteps.

However, we were still heavily in debt at the time and pregnant with our second child, so the timing just wasn’t right. We revisited the dream several times since and something always held us back. Then suddenly, in March of 2015, everything began falling into place.

We became debt free! This was a major accomplishment and something that we had been working on for almost four years. With our newfound financial freedom, we began thinking about purchasing our first home. But as we looked at the housing market in Austin, we became discouraged that we would ever be able afford a home. Moreover, the thought of going back into debt again, all for some sticks and bricks made us a little queasy.

In our family mission statement, we wrote that we value people and experiences over possessions. Hmmm… this whole buying-a-house thing made us really bring our family mission statement to bear. What was most important to us? After lots of prayer and discussion, we felt like our most authentic choice was to go wild and free.

So we sold Caleb’s beloved Subarizzle (2009 Subaru Outback) and put our plan into motion. Within a month, we had the cash in hand and an RV in our sights. The next step was finding our perfect rig. We wanted a travel trailer with a split bedroom set-up (bunks in the back and master bedroom in the front). In the spring, RV’s go fast as people are gearing up for summer vacations. We found several good deals on Craigslist only to find that they had sold within hours of posting. There were definitely moments of discouragement, but we knew that this journey was in God’s hands.

Sure enough, Kristy’s step-dad found a great travel trailer in New Braunfels – a 2006 Four Winds Travel Trailer. It was exactly what we needed, just below our budget! We had to wait a few days for the RV to be ready to show and we were growing giddy with anticipation. Thankfully, Kristy’s step-dad went with us and asked all the right questions and tested everything out. We felt like total morons, but I’m sure we will learn it all in no time.

So, we bought our first house! We know it’s not conventional, or what most people would want, but to us it’s a dream come true.

Stay tuned for pictures of the inside as we start redecorating and making this tiny house a home!