People we have met along the way

There is the guy out in Nampa who is selling a bus that he doesn't have the key too. Because he needs to make money for Christmas.

The Nice guy who bought our jeep. we went out to look at his motor home and found the coolest shop that he works in. Restoring old cars with his son that he is trying to keep out of trouble. It is his hobby and his passion.

The nice guy who found Jesus later on in his life after years of his sweet mother praying for him. Who took us too his ranch in Marsing. He had a really cool business and it was fun to get to talk to him on the drive to Marsing to see his motor home for sale. He just hopped in our car and talked to us like he had known us for years.

The sweet family who bought are tent trailer. It makes me so happy that it's going to a family who is going to love it as we did.

The so so sweet older man who takes bikes from thrift stores, fixes them up and sells them. And tells us how much he loves making people happy with bikes.

And the great family that sold us our new home on wheels! They have taken such good care of this motor home and have had so many wonderful memories in it. We are so glad to continue the tradition.

The Road schooling Ryans: A family that did this very thing and was a great source of strength and encouragement through some of our rough spots. Because of sharing there blog.

I love seeing the way the human race lives it is so humbling and inspiring.

Are you going to be a challenge or a blessing?

Keep it coming! Keep the judgement and the negativity coming! Well not really I don't want negativity and judgement to keep coming. But if it does we can handle it. It actually only makes our resolve that much stronger. I am pretty irritated tonight which is an improvement from earlier today. Let me explain why. Through this experience we have been faced with many different blessings and many different challenges. Today was one of those challenges. We have been accused of being selfish. And I quote" now are you doing this for yourselves? Because it's not fair to the kids." We have been accused of being naive. Quote" It's not what you think it's going to be. I saw this very thing on Oprah and it was a nightmare for them." We have been accused of being Quitters! quote " What is your intention? Are you trying to run away from your responsibilities?" Because you don't want to teach your kids to be Quitters. Quote" It's going to be really hard are your sure you can handle it." Quote" what are you going to do about the boys school are you going to teach them? I hate to say it but your not the most studious of people.

Now after reading the above statements can you tell me any good that comes from thinking negative?

It's natural to believe that everyone in your circle will wish you well in your new endeavor. Be prepared: Not all of them will. The best way to handle the situation is to let your success speak for itself. Proving the skeptics wrong can be a compelling motivation to continue on.

I thought I would respond to each response, but then I thought No! We know who we are, we know why we are doing this and we know how we are doing this. And the reality is there will always be people who will be skeptical, judgemental and critical of everything we do. For whatever there reasons are. Two of those comments come from loving parents who are afraid. One is afraid for our safety. The other is afraid to be away from the boys for along time because their his life. And one in my opinion comes from jealousy. It's all the more reason to continue on. Don't allow others to paint you in a box and put limits on you. Regardless of why they want to put limits on you.

Now I know I have been one of these skeptics in the past as well. We all have had are bad moments. I don't want to dwell on negativity. I am learning, and this is one of the many strong lessons to come from this experience. I feel I am by nature a positive person but I know that we can easily get dragged down by others. If were not careful we can fall into the trap of being judgemental, gossipy, critical and skeptical. I choose to not be that way! I choose to teach my children to not be that way. And I avoid certain people who are that way.

Now on a more positive note. The majority of the responses have been very supportive and positive. One comment to me was," your doing what most of us dream of doing but never dare to do." Lots have said I am so excited for all of you. Many have given us ideas of where to go on our trip. And many have said you will never regret it!

Well I suppose I can get off my soap box now. Our family is so very blessed and know matter what others wonder or think, it does not matter because we are a family and we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and wants only the best for us.

Much Love the Christensen's who are daring enough to do!

Renting our home

We had a neat experience with renting our home. In one of our other posts I talked about finding a renter. Well that renter fell through. When it did I was so sad. The day after I found out I felt so discouraged then after that day was done. I realized that we still needed to have faith. So I snapped out of it and believed that Heavenly Father would provide and He did. Of course we had to put faith into action. We put it on Craigslist, Corey talked to the Bishop, and I sent out an anonymous email. I got some ?s about the email which I was afraid of. But it turned out o.k. We needed to keep it on the down low to make sure that it was going to really happen before we started blabbing it to everyone. Well this is one of the times I was glad that there was rumor(truth) going around about us. I was late to church as which has been my record for the year of 8:30 church.! I walked into church with Addy made eye contact with a couple of friends from a different ward. My one friend said I hear you and your family are heading on a trip I was kind of shocked that she knew but started to tell her and my other friend more about it. They were both very supportive and excited for us. Then one of the gals said I know who you can call for a renter. She told me a little bit about them then gave me there number. I was so excited but tried to remain calm because of our earlier renting experience. Went in to Sacrament and told Corey. Then later that day The gal called me about renting our home. I told her what was going on with us and she shared her situation with me. I told her wow this seems like a perfect fit I hope it works out.

The fit is even a better fit then the renters before for both families. There doing there residency here until July and plan to move back to where there from when there done. The house they were renting was sold and they only needed a home for 6 months the exact timing of our home. The price was the same as they were already paying. I can see now why the other situation did not work out. I am so grateful for all of these different experiences we are already going through.

Really coming together

Well everything is really coming together. We have found a family to rent our home. And on Saturday we finally found our home on wheels. We are leaving January first and will be in the redwoods by Monday the 3 to begin our journey. We are so excited! Lots to do, I had a friend say to me when I was explaining of all the things we needed to get in order for this to happen. He said it makes me tired listening to all you have to do. And usually in other circumstances he would be right. It's so funny how when you are excited about something it doesn't seem like work at all. Another thing that is a reminder to me. When we let go and turn it over to Heavenly Father it makes the work load so much lighter. Well there you have it this is really happening. We are really going to do this. Ready or not here we come.

Down and out

I suppose it's only natural that with the excitement and anticipation there will come along with it, down and out days. I have been trying to pin point why I feel so down today. I suppose it is alot of things. One of the motivations to get out of town has to do with this Gargantuon house. No its not the biggest house in the world but when it needs a cleaning it feels like its the Marriot. The rooms seem to go on and on and on. I sometimes ask myself," am I running away". And to a certain degree I believe I am. Is running away really that bad. I am running away from the day in and day out of all the responsiblities that come with running the Marriot I mean our house.

I want less stuff and more experiences.

I want less yelling at my kids to clean up the house and more hiking up a mountain together.

I want less fighting and more laughing.

I want less feelings of being overwhelmed and more feelings of being content.

I want less laundry and more time to read to my kids.

I want less emails and more talking with my kids.

I want less t.v and more games.

I want less obsession about my weight and more dancing with my family.

I want less homework and more one on one learning together.

I want less paperwork and more crafting and creating.

I want less dieting and more cooking healthy and yummy foods.

I want less energy wasted on my to do list and more energy spent on my to be list.

I want less outside world and more family time.


I suppose that you don't need to travel in an R.V. for 6 months to do all this. But for me I guess its the only way we will.



by: Richard G. Scott

Are there so many fascinating, exciting things to do or so many challenges pressing down upon you that it is hard to keep focused on that which is essential? When things of the world crowd in, all too often the wrong things take highest priority. Then it is easy to forget the fundamental purpose of life. Satan has a powerful tool to use against good people. It is distraction. He would have good people fill life with “good things” so there is no room for the essential ones. Have you unconsciously been caught in that trap?

Big Buses and Big Blessings

This was written along time ago just barely posting.
Well today started out as a fun day. We went and looked at an old bus that has been converted to a motor home. We would need to put some work into it. It is set up perfectly for our family. I love the idea of putting the finishing touches on it. I love that we can finish it, it will feel more like our home that way. I thought all day about what I want to do to it. So much fun! We are going back tomorrow to test drive it. Who knows maybe will swing by your place and empty our septic tank in your gutter drains! I'm sure you wouldn't mind. Just look for Corey in his white sweater with his black dickey. Make sure you have some eggnog waiting for us. You only wish.

I went about the rest of my day. Later in the afternoon I stopped by one of my best friends house to drop something off. As I was driving off she came running towards the car, asked me to roll my window down. She told me that one of our good friends is looking for a home to rent. She shared a little bit about there experience and said that her ward is fasting for them to find a home. I didn't say a word to her but could not believe what she was telling me. As soon as I left I called my friend and left her a message. She called me back immediately and said "Allysun, you don't know how weird this is. I have been looking for a home in your neighborhood."

I love how the lord works. Not only is he directing our path but he is blessing another family in the process. I am so glad he is in charge he does such a better job than we do. He is in the details. We are loving this journey!

Wake- Up

Are you there? Are you awake? WAKE UP! I am awake, in and out of sleep. That is in and out of sleeping(and a lot of times eating)my way through life. You know what I am talking about. When you have a quick moment that you wake up and have a thought, then somebody or something tells you to go back to sleep! Because you can't possibly be daring enough or strong enough to go through life wide awake. I am amazed at life and the gift that it is. A couple of weeks ago I had a dream. I was actually wide awake when this dream came jumping in. It usually happens when I lay my head down on my pillow. I have always been a wakedreamer(yes i made that word up ) I suppose my spirit responds best at night when everyone is asleep and I can just be and think. I had this amazing wake up moment. It was, are you ready.....? Sell everything, quit Corey's job, buy a motor home and travel the states for a year. It was so powerful that I new that it would be hours before it would let me actually go to sleep. I so badly wanted to wake Corey but couldn't bring myself to, knowing he had along day of work ahead. So I lay there wide awake filled with Excitement and anticipation waiting to share it with Corey. It was actually hours before my body won the battle over my mind and spirit, allowing me time to go over all of the details that I knew would be asked. How, what , where and when? I will not take credit for this idea it is not mine to claim. I will definitely not give credit to the adversary who wants me to stay a sleep. It came from the One who created me. He created me and my family to move, dance, sing, laugh, love, dream,believe and do! I know that when we allow ourselves to surrender and be still, He comes to us very quickly and wakes us up. Sometimes he wakes us with the morning light. Sometimes he wakes us with a kiss or a push out of bed. Many times he wakes us with another person who is in our life. Regardless when its time to wake up He makes sure we wake up and put are feet on the ground and begin are day...(life). Well I have began that day and have been pushing through lets just say my morning. I told Corey he didn't say a lot but he did say he liked the idea, asked some questions about his concerns. We talked to the boys, all of them but one are on board. Deep down Corey feels torn and rightfully so. Corey is slowly, well actually quickly(because I won't let him be) working through the idea. I have to admit that if the tables were turned I wouldn't be as responsive to this as he has been. I am convinced that is why the Lord picked me instead of him to get the message to us.I am so impressed with Corey and how open he is to making this a reality. We have been working through some of the actual details, some of the concerns,some of the reality's, some of the nay sayers, some of the believers, some of the supporters, some of the really wish I wouldn't have talked to youers and some of the inspirationers. Which is helping me to know in the future which one of the oners do I want to be? By the way I know that those are made up words! I have come across many aha moments since this wake up call. Sometimes I find myself getting a little drowsy from someone else's thoughts or actual words. But the Lord keeps me awake in all His different ways. So, friends and family this is how we have gotten to this point. I have a few different moments of validation and inspiration that I am going to share but I will do that a little while later. Hopefully this will answer some or all of your questions, and more than anything our family only hopes to wake you up if you too have been sleeping to much. Just so you know I am not implying that you have to do what our family is doing to wake up. You know what your own journey is and if you are awake or not.

Much love the Christensen Gypsy's

by : Jeffrey R. Holland
“God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic); He expects you to embrace and shape the future--to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities.“God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream. In short, He can’t if you don’t believe.”
“Terror, Triumph, and a Wedding Feast,” CES Fireside for Young Adults, Sept. 12, 2004, 2-3
Faith