Bus life

When I was a little girl and would hear people say, “My grandfather built our home from the ground up.” or “My dad made this with his own two hands”. I was always in awe with a sense that it only happened in the movies. Now I know we’re not building a mansion over here, but when Matt comes home with progress made on the bus I’m overwhelmed with amazement! He’s googled, you-tubed, researched and experimented his way to building our home on wheels. From plumbing to electric, cabinetry to a good ol’ composting toilet… all done by my hard working husband.

Before I write anything else, check out this quick 1 minute video of the very beginning of our bus adventure! Click here for our 1 minute YouTube video!

Here’s a bus review of the past couple of months! Nuts, bolts, hammer, nails, welders, wires, plugs and power! Before we dive into the interior, here’s where our baby has been parked. Do you recognize the location? Of course not! It’s in the sticks of the woods, in the middle of a town on the outskirts of a city near a beach highway in Northwest Florida.

For our kitchen, I requested that we didn’t pinch on size in regards to appliances. This is going to be home, not a weekend sleeper so I wanted to make sure we didn’t feel like we were camping all of the time. A fairly large copper sink, two burner stove top with oven, a 7.5 cubic feet fridge (not installed yet) with plenty of storage to support my mason jar pantry collection. Matt even surprised me with a vertical pull out cabinet and an overhead spice rack in perfect reach. These pictures are obviously the raw layout, but I wanted to give you a sneak peek!

We designed the closet to accommodate long hanging items, large drawers for folded clothing and a few random drawers for miscellaneous storage.

The bathroom includes a medicine cabinet, composting toilet and ventilation fan that pulls the lovely poopouri scent out of the bus. No pictures yet, but I’m sure you’ll still sleep tonight not knowing what our business keeper looks like.

We decided on a Murphy bed to allow for extra room during the day for whatever we want to use it for. A space to workout, home (road) school, games, stretching, art, crafts… anything! We also lifted Shanti’s bed up to be flush with ours, this means she has her own space in a crib sized area, but is pretty much laying on an extension of our bed. Yes, we co-sleep… gasp!

The office space will accommodate Matts monitors for editing footage, drawers for supplies, storage for his gear and enough counter space for random needs. Photos coming soon!

Matt decided that welding our 55 gallon water tank to the bus was the best idea so that’s what we’re doing! Where would we find a welder that could custom manufacture a protective cage for the tank to sit in? You guessed it, my incredible husband took it upon himself to find a friend who had a machine and some knowledge and boom… he’s a welder now!

Next up will be the cosmetic steps. Eeeeehhhh I’m excited! Watching this all come together has been a joy and now the colors, textures and designs will bring it to life! Here were are picking out the interior color scheme.

Not gonna lie, the holidays had us busier than ever with work, family and gatherings so rather than full details descriptions, I’ll let a few photos speak for themselves.

I got creative for one of Matts Holiday gifts. His mom found a bus ornament as a joke and so I painted it like ours! Even added shiplap (painted popsicle sticks), I was so proud like a kindergartner and her first macaroni necklace!

While I do hair, usually my mom will watch Shanti but on this day, daddy took he for a beach day!

Another dad and daughter photo opt!

I’ll end this post with small dedication to my dear Aunt Heidi who recently passed suddenly.

You first heard about her in one of the first Oklahoma posts in which I wrote;

Aunt Heidi, Aunt Heidi, Aunt Heidi…. What will we ever do with her? She has a blunt direction when sharing her opinion and an effortless way to make you laugh. Being around her gives you a youthful sense of life (she didn’t pay me to say that). While raising her teenage daughter, she still maintains sanity and invites me for countless hours of laughter and reminiscing.

Things I inherited from Aunt Heidi: The nickname “Shug”, love for high energy socializing and her “guns” (aka arms). Also when I sarcastically laugh, my mom says “that was SO your Aunt Heidi!”

She fell in love with Shanti from the day I told her I was pregnant and then after she was born, Aunt Heidi referred to her as “Lil Purple Snurp”. Nobody knows why or where that came from, but that’s typical for Aunt Heidis nicknames. To give you an idea of her love, I looked back at my phone and Aunt Heidi sent over 100 requests for me to send pictures, video or FaceTime. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve recorded a video just for her lately, soon realizing she wouldn’t be there to receive it… life can be so bitter-Sweet.

I didn’t post any pictures back in the day because she usually ran from the camera and/or threatened me if I asked to put any on here. Well Aunt Heidi, you should be celebrated along side the countless amount of smiles you generated while on earth. I love you and miss you so much.

Heidi Young ❤️ May 31, 1965 – January 16, 2020