Homeless... Home less?

Tomorrow Chris and I will embark on quite the adventure... a new job where our home will be 8x6 and fit in a 75 liter Gregory. Yep, all things needed for daily life will be carried on our backs. Here's the list:

8x6 tarp and ground cloth
8 x 6 heavy duty plastic tarp and ground sheet
a well insulated sleeping bag rated at least 0 degree to -20 degree
an external backpack (65 liters, 4800 C.I. minimum)
polypropylene long underwear top & bottom
hiking boots
3 water bottles or something equivalent that carries at least two quarts of water,
cup for cooking in the fire (steel for example)
spoon or spork
3 pairs of socks (not cotton)
rain gear (do not bring rubber or plastic based fabrics, they will make you sweat and freeze in the cold)
warm outer layer with wind protection
50 feet of cordage/ P-cord
hat and gloves (fleece or wool work well)
toothbrush, paste and floss
notebook and pen or pencil
sleeping pad
work gloves for the fire
a knife, pocket knife or all purpose tool (no machetes please)
2 bandanas
bear bag for food
headlamp (include spare bulb and batteries)

Optional and helpful to have:
personal sun protection (sun hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, lipbalm)
camp chair (e.g. Crazy Creek or Therm-a-Rest chairs)
scarf in winter
personal hygiene needs
compass

Yes, that's right, personal hygiene items fall under the OPTIONAL section. Chris is excited about that, of course. I may not be fru fru and frilly but I like to shower at least once a week. Maybe twice. This will be something I learn along the way.

But seriously, we will be like turtles, everything we own on our backs. A pretty heavy back, but we are really excited. Nervous, but excited. Our bellies are full with a great "last" meal and we are ready for a good nights sleep. We don't know what to expect, but that's all a part of the deal. So say a little prayer that we come back learned and excited for this adventure. We think we will be...

#22-25

#22 Become Debt Free. Working hard on this one. It is very hard, especially when you think about buying houses and whatnot. Hopefully we accomplish this one before we retire or die.


#23 See Jerry Seinfeld Live. Funniest man alive, if you have ever heard his stand up you'd agree.


#24 Grow a Beard. This is really just for Chris, not Beth. I'm not talking about this spotty stuff on my face now, I'm mean a thick beard I need to comb and shampoo.


#25 Travel with the Florida State Football for a Season. Go to all home/away/and bowl game for a season. Watch every game for a season live! This is a lifelong Nole's dream. It wouldn't be that expensive; camp along the way, bum tickets to home games from my parents, buy away tickets from disinterested boosters who would rather drink, wait I meant students.

Over Labor Day weekend Beth, Grits, and I went camping in southeastern Missouri. We stayed at Mound Ridge Presbyterian Camp on their gravel bar right on the beautiful Meramec River (which if you want to do some canoeing in Missouri I strongly suggest this river!). We did some hiking on the Ozark Trail (just as protect as the AT, not nearly as popular), kayaking on the river, and general river camping activities (read: hanging out by the campfire).

Beth and I had a lot of time to talk and ponder and wonder about the many things happening in our life. If you have ever traveled, hiked, and camped with just one other person you probably understand! Beth asked me some very thought provoking questions (as she does often) about our upcoming move:

What am I most excited about? There are a couple of things I am most excited about, one is of course living in North Carolina. That is a dream of mine to live and play in the smokey mountains. After a year.5 of living halfway across the country from family, friends, and the south in general (read: sweet tea and fried chicken); I am also very happy to be closer than a flight to all of these. I'm also excited about the thought of having my job being hiking and camping. I love doing all of these things but I rarely have had the opportunity to get out and do them even as a camp director.

What am I going to miss the most? The connections I have made. All of the staff from the past 2 summers are amazing people that I have gotten to experience only a piece of their life. The Heartland Center staff, these people welcomed me into their family and made me one of their own and I am sad to leave them. Also, the connections made with the folks from PCCCA, it's amazing how quickly a connection and friendship is made when you have camp in common with someone.

Grace

To go along with Chris' announcement of our latest life happenings, I would like to add a few ramblings of my own:

Grace. We have learned, in volume over the past month, that grace comes in many shapes and sizes and is called by different names. In a faith-filled child, in a mother of 4, in an organization full of lies and broken promises. Grace covers all. All.

I put my resignation in at the YMCA last Wednesday. Not 10 minutes after, I receieved an email from the VP of the Membership Division calling a mandatory meeting for all Youth and Family Directors (13 of us in all). The meeting was scheduled for the very next day, so I knew something was up. Considering that I had just given my last day, I didn't know if I needed to attend, and as it turns out it "didn't apply to me" so I did not attend. On my way into work Thursday morning, I called one of the other gals to hear the report of the meeting:

Me: Hey C, I was calling to see what the meeting this morning was all about.
C: Oh, you missed a good one.
Me: Really, what happened?
C: We all just got fired.
Me: What?! You are kidding me!
C: Nope, they have eliminated our position across the association.

After several seconds of silence and complete disbelief I tried to console my broken spirited friends and immediately began to thank God for his immaculate timing and changes that he has allowed in our life. I mean, not even 24 hours before I would have lost my job, I put in my resignation. God is good.

This past weekend Chris and I learned a precious lesson on forgiveness. Without going into detail, a picture of grace freely given was painted right in front of our faces. We learned the love a man should have for his wife (and a woman for her husband) that illuminates the love that Christ has for his church. Marriages may struggle and spouses may stray, but grace covers all. All.

So God has been BIG in our faces in many ways. It's crazy to think we are getting ready to close this Kansas City chapter and move on to a life we have dreamed about for a while now. I am so thankful for this chapter and the lessons I have learned. I can't say that I will miss a lot about the midwest, but what I will miss, I will miss a lot. This has been a great place for us to get our feet on the ground and learn to be the Fords together... we are eagerly awaiting what is just over the mountain for us.

We will share much more as we begin to explore our new adventure...

#21

DONE #21 See Jack Johnson Live.

Check.

In Kansas, nonetheless.

#18-20

#18 Travel to the Philippines. My dad's 1st memories come from the Philippines when he lived there with his family (Grandpa Ford was a doctor in the Navy). To visit the place he has told me some many stories about would be truly surreal.

#19 Dreadlocks. We love dreadlocks (clean ones) and what they stand for (which is not showering I guess?). Long white person dreadlocks...say yes.

#20 Convince Beth to VOTE. For anyone.

Accomplished Items

Well, I haven't really decided how to check off completed Items but Beth & I are 3 weeks removed from accomplishing some of our goals!

We have been offered and accepted positions (well invited to training) to work with a company called Second Nature Wilderness Programs (http://www.snwp.com/). We will both work as Field Instructors, which means we will hike and live with troubled adolescents in the wilderness.

The organization is located in Clayton, GA and we will be working in the mountains of Northern Georgia, about 10 minutes from NC.

We will work 8 days on, 6 days off shifts with the organization so we will live in North Carolina most likely...probably in Sylva, Waynesville, or Asheville. We are super excited to move closer to family/ work together in the woods!

There will be more about this and our changes to come!

So:
#1 Live In The Mountains DONE
#17 Move Back To The Southeast DONE

Bliss

Laughter. Smiles. Giggles. Hide and Seek. Frisbee. Grits. Dandelions. Photographers.
This is what Life is made of.

#16-17

#16 Work a Season at a National Park. I think we would be great rangers and tell really cool stories around campfires and make up interesting facts about nature. It would be great to have a whole summer to play in Yellowstone or Yosemite or Smokey Mountain or Glacier. But I think we would settle on a smaller park too!

DONE #17 Move back to the Southeast. Preferably North Carolina. Preferably Western North Carolina. Preferably Asheville or Waynesville or Clyde or Black Mountain. But anywhere will do. I mean I love Kansas and the Midwest and all...it's just wear my heart is.

#11 - 15

#11 Pursue photography on the side. To be a part of life-changing moments in other people's lives is a gift. We would like to be the ones who capture those moments.

#12 Be published. Either in words or image, it would be amazing to see our own creations in print. We think we're that good, I guess it would depend on if others shared the same opinion.

#13 Thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. Or at least piece-hike it.

#14 Compete in a triathlon...Or some crazy sport-ish event. I have to prove my outdoorsy worthiness to the Hubby.

#15 Travel the country in an environmentally friend RV when we retire. When we say retire, we mean from camp directing. And we don't really mean retire and not do anything, no, we would rather travel from camp to camp volunteering our skills and not get paid for it. Seems backwards, huh?

#6-10

#6 Own/Drive a hybrid automobile. Every little bit counts... Even though we aren't trendy people, Go Green, people.

#7 Eat Locally for 1 Year. or maybe 1 month. I mean come on, how could you pass up bananas for a year!

#8 Eat Vegetarian for some length of time. I don't know how long we could uphold this one! But everyone is doing it...

#9 Visit All 7 Continents. Well, maybe just 6 of the 7. I mean what is there to see in Europe...you know...speaking of which, why the heck is Europe a continent? Isn't it just part of the Asian Continent? So I guess it should be to Visit All 6 Continents or 5 minus Antarctica.

#10 Be Co-Directors at a Camp. This may be bad news in the end. I think the Wifey would be a way better camp director than me and this would allow us to create our vision of what camp is. I can't think of any better program team in the nation. If we can only find a camp that would hire both of us and figure out a way to not kill each other at work.

#1-5

DONE #1 Live in the Mountains. I doesn't matter where, just high enough to see other mountains. Who doesn't want to walk out their front door and be immediately in an outdoor playground.

#2 Have Children. After waiting for 5 years from NOW. Current thought is pop one out of the Wifey and adopt one. Maybe from another country, like Africa or North Dakota.

#3 Live on the Beach. Live the relaxed beach life, hey we're from Florida! Who doesn't want to walk our their front door and be immediately in an outdoor water playground.

#4 Build our own House. I'm not talking about paying some dude too much money to slap together a pre-fab house. I'm talking me and the Wifey putting the walls up ourselves. (we'll probably need Tommy's help on this one)

#5 Travel to All 50 States. The current count is under dispute. But we're getting close to this one.

What is this blog about?

What is the blog about? Well, serving as my first blog, I thought I would make this very specific. After we saw the cheerful movie "bucket list", the Wifey and I decide we should make our own list to finish before we had our final edit (get it, that's the title of the blog...I've worked hard on this). So I will be adding to the list periodically...