Working For Smith Honda......

Working For Smith Honda.......

Just  a couple weeks into the job search I was hired by The Smith Group. Actually, I thought I could sell RV's and was quite excited about the possibility of doing something completely different for a change. I ended up taking an application to Smith RV which got forwarded to Smith Honda/Chevy. I interviewed with the managers of the Chevy dealership, began training with David Ibarra (Leadership consultant and founder of eLeaderTech Inc.) and then began my CAReer in car sales! Me? A car salesman? No way! This is a job I have never considered and, not too long ago, despised. The training I received from Mr. Ibarra was inspirational and extremely helpful in more ways than just car sales. The idea that we can transform one of the most despised professions into a trustworthy and service oriented profession is far out. I am still astounded by the honesty and integrity within the Smith Group! Getting started was quite a chore. We were due to open the doors to our new facility, I was trying to finish my Honda Certification as soon as practicable and learn a completely new trade. I am not a car salesman and the whole thing is against my personality and intimidating. It was not long before I learned to see car sales from a new perspective. If you thought dealing with a sleazy car salesman was bad try dealing with customers. No, seriously. This is one of the first difficult lessons I learned here. Guests in search of a vehicle can be rude, completely unreasonable, want everything and couldn't care less if you have a family to feed. Not everyone is difficult but there are enough people that really think cars have the same ridiculous mark up as merchandise at Wal-Mart! Another difficult thing to deal with has been something I have heard so many car salesmen say. "Better make up your mind 'cause it won't be here later" This is a very true statement though. Its happened to me, personally, at least three times. The last time the car sold hours after the couple told me they loved it and and wanted to think about it. This sounds like a "tactic" but its not. Anyway, more on me becoming a "Client Adviser" later. Let's talk about the Smith Group.
Although no job or company is without its faults, Smith Honda is, by far, one of the best jobs I have ever had. The benefits are better than I've seen anywhere else. The compensation structure is fair and the people, for the most part, are quite enjoyable to work with. This is a true family business that is very well managed by people who are really putting their hearts into their employees. Working on commission isn't something I was ever comfortable with. Through my experiences I have determined that "stable" employment has just as much instability as a commission based job. A nice benefit provided by the Smith Group is a guarantee; even if sales are horrible for the month I know I'll be able to keep the kids fed!

Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Driving and Arriving.......

Driving and Arriving.......

Thank you Lord that the trip to Idaho was uneventful! We started out our trip a little concerned as we had NO IDEA how much our trailer was over it's weight limit. We read a lot of different stories from other "RV'ers" that had flat tires on long trips. We knew we were weighted down but had a huge *sigh of relief* moment when Luke looked up the tires on our trailer....they were NOT the tires that had been factory installed. They were the size up. Another unknown-to-us-at-the-time-of-purchasing-our-trailer blessing that God had waiting for us. Every time we think we *might* have a problem with something God provides! 2 cargo carriers, a ladder and a PVC pipe filled with our projector screen on top of the van + the trailer with as many of Luke's tools that would fit along with clothes for the 5 of us and as much "stuff" we could fit in every nook and cranny available in the trailer! We. Were. Loaded. Down! We ended up arriving to Pocatello first. (about an hour South of Idaho Falls) We knew we wanted to live in Idaho Falls area...it was now just a matter of figuring out where! We stayed a couple nights down in Pocatello to try to figure out just exactly what was next. We tried to relax but honestly we just couldn't! We had too much stuff everywhere and nothing was actually accessible so we HAD to get somewhere where we could unload. So, we found a lot that accepted travel trailers and was within our price range....BUT it was in a very sketchy part of Pocatello and a very small lot and we were really uncomfortable with calling that home. So, we drove up to Blackfoot (only about 20mins to Idaho Falls) and drove around....again, not really impressed. We were tired and getting cranky and needed real food and more then 6hrs of sleep. So, once again we kept driving North towards Idaho Falls. We decided to go back to Snake River Campground (where we stayed back in March). We stayed for a couple more days until so we could unhook the trailer and actually drive around town without our 30' trailer in tow. Place after place was either a let down or we weren't comfortable with it becoming home. Finally, Luke tells me he found it! He found our new home and we need to go look at it right now! There were lots of lots (lol) to choose from, there were other RV'ers, there was a nice new playground, there was a very affordable price tag! It was perfect! Pinewood Estates was where we knew we were going to live! Luke talked to Hilda in the office and she didn't need proof of a job (Praise God!), she didn't need anything we couldn't give her. We picked out the lot we wanted to stay at, went and hooked our trailer back up and was back within the hour. Luke was backing our house into our new yard and.....got stuck!!! It had been raining all day and he had to drive in the grass/mud in order to park. We got out and looked at how far we had sunk and knew there was nothing we could do about it. Luckily, Hilda had given Luke Jeff's (the maintenance guy) number, but before we could call, a pick up truck comes driving down the road. Stops. The 2 guys get out and ask if we need help. They hooked up our van and in 2 seconds had us pulled out. Turns out they were the landscaping crew, and they were amazing and so friendly and just awesome! We decided parking would have to wait so we parked in the driveway unhooked and went out for some lunch. Luke called Jeff to let him know that it was too soggy and we would be back to park after lunch. Jeff said to give him a call and he'd come and give us a hand. When we got back there were rails in the yard...all we had to do was drive straight back on the rails and we wouldn't sink! It worked! Yay! We were finally parked, we were finally home! A pine tree, 3 apple trees and a mostly fenced in yard, a brand new playground (it was actually undergoing construction our first week) and plenty of driveway, neighbors we would come to really appreciate and a great location, only 5mins to everywhere we needed to be with a country feel. If memory serves me right, we went to Walmart right away and bought a bunch of totes to get everything we didn't need in the trailer OUT! Finally, we could breathe and relax and sleep and start looking for a job!

                                       

                                          

         

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

    He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

 

    He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

    for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

    I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

    your rod and your staff,

    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

    in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

    my cup overflows.

 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

    all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

    forever.

And the Pilgrimage Continues........

And the Pilgrimage continues.........

Here we are, on the road to Idaho once again. This time, to stay.
We have been all over the place this last month in Ohio as we've been preparing for this cross country move. It's been very exciting and if we are completely honest, a little scary! We are moving 1800 miles to a place that all we can say is there, is God's leading.
NO! We do not have a job lined up.
NO! We do not know exactly where we are going to stay
NO! We do not know anybody (we met some great people at Christ Community Church during our last visit but haven't made any other connections)
NO! We don't know what life is going to bring us........
BUT, we do know that God is leading us to Idaho. Do we really need to know anything more?? We've already tried taking things into our own hands and making things work....and it completely back fired. We don't want to do that again. We've had responses from both ends of the spectrum regarding this move and our decisions the last few months...not that it would affect our decision one way or the other. When God tells you to go, you go!
I don't think we are being irresponsible. I don't believe that we have to have everything under our control and planned out in order for us to have the ''perfect life''.
We get a lot of people asking us, "What is in Idaho??" or "Why Idaho?" and its been most possibly one of the hardest and easiest questions to answer. Yes, God is leading but no, He didn't come to us in a dream, He didn't hide it in a Bible verse, He didn't plaster it on a billboard somewhere, He simply gave us the opportunity to evaluate our priorities.
Homeschooling was the biggest most important ''make it or break it" decision for us. We are not on board with most state laws regarding homeschooling and we know we are lead to homeschool our children, so it only made sense to find a state that supported our calling in that specific aspect of life.
Another big deal for us was the access of healthy and more specifically raw foods, at an affordable cost. We were completely blown away with the cost of certain foods that we would have to drive an hour away just to find and spend an arm and half a leg to afford in both Ohio and Minnesota. We value whole foods and don't believe God ever meant for foods to become a synthetic and chemical filled filler to sustain our bodies. Our kids' "virgin tongues" have been tainted with all the nastiness that is considered normal in todays society and for once it would be nice to find some like minded people that don't feed the same mainstream kid themed poison that the FDA calls safe to their children. We saw that in Idaho!
Churches and a like minded community of believers is also a must. Churches these days are all growing as big and as fast as they can and focusing on the growth of the congregation not the growth of the individual's hearts. We've been longing to go to church again. We got burned out on church in Ohio and that is really sad. Church is not supposed to burn you out! We tried several and nothing was really what we needed and nothing we felt comfortable going to.
Honestly we wanted to be South. We were looking forward to no more snow and a longer growing season for gardening and that awesome southern accent but God closed every door. We have even still been looking at Real Estate in Ohio thinking that just maybe something would come up. It never did. More closed doors. Everywhere we were looking seemed to result in closed doors and we were wondering if we weren't trying hard enough or maybe trying too hard and finally we decided that we have nothing to lose in just going. We prayed, and then prayed some more and then again. We kept looking at Idaho as somewhere that wasn't going to actually happen (like the results from the last year and a half) and it was hard to take it seriously...and then, all of a sudden there was such a certainty and peace about Idaho. We felt no fear and didn't have any doubts. So, we moved!

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;

    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Getting Stuff Done

So, after a bad experience at Jamie's Flea Market, we have had two good experiences. We set up at my brother Ezra's house for the annual Grafton yard sale. It was a major success! Our good friends, Tim and Rachel Turnick, went on a trip and let us use their house for the whole week! A week of yard sales in Elyria was extremely productive. We got to the point that allowed for us to get rid of our 10x30 storage unit. We went ahead and took a couple trailer loads to Goodwill and found homes for a few various other items. We were then able to get rid of our 10x10 as well and started saving all that money that was previously being "thrown away" saving stuff that was just going to be given away! (If we only could have known!!!) 

Another blessing is that a friend has offered his property for us to park our trailer, for free, for a couple weeks. We are rapidly approaching our planned departure date! One exciting thing that has happened, is the near completion of our generator box. We wanted our generator to be able to be used in the box so we would not have to move it every time we wanted to plug it in. The hastily, yet soundly constructed original box needed just a few minor adjustments. The door that had to be screwed shut has had hinges added and a hasp mounted, but still needs a little work done. When we opened the door it revealed a broken wheel on the generator...thankfully not a big deal. The box has now been painted as well and vents, fans and an exhaust have all been added too. Very exciting! almost done!

Our New Campsite.....Timber Ridge Campground

It's MOVING DAY!!! Ok....so, not quite today, but it WAS moving day! And No! Not to Idaho....YET! May is upon us so that means all the campgrounds have officially opened up which means we can get quotes for temporarily or semi-permanently living at one. Most places charge nightly rates or seasonal rates (which is all summer) BUT we just wanted something in between. We aren't 100% sure how long we will be here in Ohio but we KNOW it won't be after summer. So, anyway, looking around we found Timber Ridge Campgrounds in Amherst, Ohio which is actually closer to Vermillion, Ohio but whatever. We have mixed feelings towards the campground. Some of the positives include:
*Very family friendly....every weekend (Starting Friday night with a group dinner) there are meals and scheduled activities (i.e. games, ice cream socials, dress-up contests, etc.). There is also an Olympic sized indoor swimming pool, as well as a few scattered playgrounds throughout the campground.
*The cheapest we have seen so far for pricing for a month's rent. Half of what we were paying at Findley!
*Very close to everywhere that Luke has been working which saves us time which is a huge factor for us!
*They have full hook-ups!
*They don't charge for extra kids or running your A/C!
*Owners seem to be very reasonable and do not have a ridiculous amount of Rules like a lot of the other campgrounds (i.e. if we can fit it on our site we can have it there-like friends coming over and pitching tents alongside the trailer or like running power tools or our generator, etc)
*There is a lot of improvements going on currently...which means they are actually taking care of/upkeeping their campground. There is actually a sign up sheet for gravel...if you want something graveled on your site or more added for whatever reason, they will bring it right to you! I don't know how many campgrounds we've seen so far that LOOK like they are just barely making it financially but we are wondering now if thats because they just aren't putting it back INTO the Campground. Either way, its nice seeing a campground taken care of!

On the negative side of things:
*The playground that is there is very old and not maintained....we are hoping that they have that in the budget to upgrade! ;)
*The sites are VERY SMALL! (although we've seen smaller!) It's definitely not Findley State Park...which has been by far our most favorite campsite experience in terms of "feel".

So, we figured all in all T.R.C is a great fit for us for the rest of our stay here in Ohio! Here is our new home....for the moment!

This is from the "front" of our site. 

This is on the Right side....a ravine that has a creek down at the bottom...pretty but a little nerve wrecking at first with littles running around!!! 

Ephraim blowing dandelions down into the ravine.

We are site #116...this is at the back of our site looking into the site behind ours which is currently empty.

I'm on the left side of our site looking towards the front...we have a picnic table and fire ring.

This is from the "road" (still just a gravel loop) ...the back of our site and our neighbors who have yet to come down to their trailer this year.

Behind our trailer...I hope no one rents the spot behind us till we are gone. It's been nice having a LITTLE more space! 

The kids LOVE being outside! They set up their little chairs and chill.

The playground is a very short walk from our trailer BUT regardless of how close it is the kids are not allowed to go by themselves. So, we like to all head over there to play....even if its super soggy (like it has been since we've been here!)

Havi LOVES to swing and giggles and squeals!

Jireh honestly is NOT impressed with the playground and theres not really too much she can do.

Ephraim hasn't been loving the playground as soggy as it is either....the water under teh swings goes all the way past his ankles! Good thing the kids have rain boots! Or as we have been calling them, "Mud boots"!

Trying to get onto the swing without getting too much mud everywhere. He likes to play in mud, but with laundry NOT being a "convenience" we have to limit our mud playing to one time a day. So, he's being very careful!

Jireh trying to push Havi but not really getting the hang of it! A second after this picture was taken Jireh walked right in front of the swing and was knocked down by Havilah...silly girl!

More dandelion picking and blowing...

Havi enjoying being out in the sunshine!

Look at those hazel eyes! Just like Daddy's!

I've been glad that the kids have enjoyed playing outside in our small "yard" rather then feeling the need to be at the playground every minute of the day!

So, How Cool Is This????

While we were in Wal-Mart in Idaho we came across an entire section filled with Christian (I use the word loosely because of the heavily Mormon population) books and movies! Not just one or two shelves....but anyway, the cool thing:

"Ephraim" is NOT a common name....most people don't have a clue what we just said and ask us to repeat the name or just smile and nod. Sometimes we get asked if that was in the Bible (Yes, yes it is.) I've never actually met anyone with the name nor have we come across anyone who has known someone with the name. I do however recall the T.V. show "Everwood" to have the main boy character named Ephraim...I think its cool that Hollywood used it! Anyway, we ran across this movie, "Ephraim's Rescue" and of course it is a Mormon story BUT it is really cute too. When we dropped off Ephraim at the Church Sunday School then I was asked to write down his name, but they never actually asked me WHAT his name was. So, I just wanted to make sure that they knew his name. I told the lady there that his name is kind of different and its pronounced "F-rum"...she looked at me and smiled and said, oh, we are very familiar with old testament names! How cool is that???? 

Pretty cool I think!

Randomness.....

So we saw a couple of these houses while we were in Idaho.......completely underground or something??? Not sure WHAT the deal is but it would be fun to find out!!! Anybody out there know what the reasoning is behind this??? It looks like it is just a basement with a roof slapped on it.

Blast From The Past....

 There were 2 very special places that we went to while passing through Minnesota on our way back from Idaho. The first place (and where we stayed while in MN) was with dear friends....they might as well just be family. The Baerenwalds were just one of those families where it was love at first sight and it was like you were always friends....you just clicked. They were and are a huge blessing to our family and will always have a special place in our hearts.

Grandma Lovey snuggling and watching a movie with Ephraim and Jireh. Just soaking up the love.

Olivia (aka Livvy) is hanging out with Havi teaching/inspiring her how to crawl!

(Sad that most of Havilah's pictures are blurry....but man, you can still see how adorable she is!)

 

I can't stand her cuteness! Ahhh! How did we end up with the cutest kids ever??? LOVE THEM!!!!

 

Our second favorite place in the world is at Michael and Kim DeVries' "farm".  Michael is the type of guy that if you need ANYTHING he is there for ya...he might not actually be able to help, but hes there. If he can't help he probably knows who can and will "pull some strings" to make whatever it is, happen! If he can help he will work on fixing the problem/need till its done. Great kind of friends to have! We drove 4hrs (one way and through 2 other states) once to go pick them up (their truck broke down) so when we got to where they were, they treated us to dinner and then we all drove back.....I remember Luke saying that he didnt even have to think twice about driving out to get them, cause he knew if the situation was reversed Michael would have done the same.

Ephraim loves being here....he can run around and play on the "toys"!

 Is he not one cool dude or what!?!?!?

He knows hes cool and he also knows hes the center of attention....

 Gettin ready to go for a ride with Michael!

 Posing for the picture......and then they were off.

 Meanwhile, Jireh made a new best friend. She liked hanging with Kim too....lol

 Michael's shop....lots of work has been done here. We needed a box to put our generator for the trailer in and Michael and his brother came over and they helped work on it as well as supplying the materials. It took ALL DAY and then some, but they didn't stop till it was finished! (We will get a picture of the box soon!) P.S. the reason they aren't working now is because this was just a visit for fun and catching up...all the work happened 2 days later!

 Riding the 4 wheeler some more....

 Havilah was getting tired but didnt want to fall asleep in such a different place....she didn't want to miss a thing.

 Jireh was waaaay past her nap time too....but there was too much to do and see.

Hopefully we get to see our dear friends in MN again (we plan on driving through at least once more on our way back to ID) We also pray to find friends just as awesome when we get to Idaho.