Week three began with tarot reading and home birthing chats. Two of my favourite things. For those of you that don’t know I birthed both our girls at home, and now I am a home birth advocate.
I like to write blogs and share my experiences of home births and other birth/baby related topics. I want to help people look into a more natural way of birthing and help them prepare, so if your into that sort of stuff please check out my other blogs.
Since being in the van we’ve not done much cooking, we’ve been well and truly on the take out scene and I’m fed up of eating crappy. I’ve read a lot of books and researched for years on how important it is to eat a clean, fresh diet so I always feel really disappointed in myself when I have a stretch of eating poorly, I do know better. So this week we’ve been cooking a lot more and I’ve gone back veggie.
I used to have a vegetarian diet before I got pregnant with Frances, and during the pregnancy all I could stomach was meat. It’s took me up until now to fully commit to giving it up again, but I am enjoying cooking veggie again.
Halle took an interest in boxing this week so we got her some “bad ass” (as she calls them) boxing gloves and she’s started to learn some techniques. I feel like this could be the start of a new little passion for our little ginger diva!
I was having a chat with my friend the other day about how I store my clothes. The conversation started because she was sorting out her wardrobe and I said ‘OMG’ to the amount of clothing she had. She couldn’t believe that my clothes fit in a 40cm by 40cm box. So I wanted to share with you our clothing storage layout.
Living in a van we obviously don’t have much space for mounds and mounds of clothes so we have to just keep what we need. This isn’t something we just started doing in preparation for van life, this is actually how we have lived for a while now.
We recognised a long time ago that we are not our possessions and that fulfillment and happiness do not come from consuming things so we have lived a minimal lifestyle for a while, but with that being said, we’ve never lived quite this minimal.
Our “wardrobe” is inside the big box that pulls out to make the kids bed. I went on and on for weeks for Jon to make dividers in it so I could organise our clothes, he eventually did them and they’ve made all the difference.
There’s five compartments inside the box, the front one is shared between me and Jon, the middle row is divided into 3 for the kids and the back section holds towels and the duvet for the kids bed.
This week was our 6 year wedding anniversary. We found our own little private beach and enjoyed some sea air for a while. Then we managed to bag a couple of hours away from the kids, bonus. We found somewhere quiet and spent two hours relaxing.
To be honest we’re not big on over celebrating occasions, we kind of live every day like it’s a holiday so having a little break was a nice treat.
I started a new book this week. It was lent to me by a friend who has become my go-to for book recommendations!
Inspirational, philosophical books, they are my thing. I’m half way through this book and I love it. It’s quite a light read, but it is full of practical exercises to help keep the mind peaceful, which in turn will make your life happy and give you the space to become who you really want, and should, be.
I believe very strongly that things (books, people, situations etc) come into your life exactly when you need them and this is on of them. I have lots of information about how the mind works, how energy works and I feel I’ve got a clear view on how to keep my spirit alive, but I have let slip practical daily exercises that I know work so well. Reading “The monk who sold his Ferrari” this week has refreshed in my mind these ancient rituals and I have started implementing them straight away.
Starting with how I start the day. The usual has become get up when the kids wake me up, which since being in the van has been a lie in till around 8.30/9am. My kids have never laid in in their lives, usually 5.30/6am risers, but since vanlife they’ve been sleeping in. Until now I’ve been enjoying it but I’m starting to realise that it’s not working in my favour. So I’ve set some intentions, first being rise with the sun.
Second, go for a run straight away. I’ve got into the awful habit of not being able to function without coffee. I literally can’t see straight until I have one. For me, as soon as I recognise I’m reliant on something to that degree it’s a sign I need to work on it.
That first morning after deciding I need to work on my habits I got up and went for a run, no coffee. Well I ran up hill for a few minutes and then felt like I was having a heart attack so I power walked the rest of the way. We were in Coniston, parked up on the edge of a mountain next to the lake. The morning views were insane.
This really has to be the best thing about living in a van, you get to wake up in the most beautiful locations.
Another couple of things on my intention list are daily meditation and diet. Diet plays such a huge part in how you feel, as well as how your body and mind function so for me it is really important to make sure I’m feeding myself properly.
Meditation may be harder to work in, with having nowhere to be alone and quiet, but I know how powerful it is so I will make it happen. My favourite quote from the book so far has been - Saying you don’t have time to improve yourself, whether this means improving your mind or nourishing your spirit, is much like saying you do not have time to stop for gas because your too busy driving. Eventually it will catch up with you!
The week ended with this amazing, impromptu trip to the Lake District. It didn’t actually start out too great. We had decided to head for Whinlatter forest but when we got there the road leading to it was closed.
But us being our usual rebellious selves decided to take a look past the signs. To our delight there were no roadworks being done and we found this perfect little lay-by to park up for the night. The surroundings were stunning and it was a very peaceful nights sleep.
But 8am we were awoken by sounds of trucks passing. The road works had indeed started and we were blocked in!! There’s worse places to be stuck, and we made the most of it by going for a wander through a forest.
There was no internet signal at all inside the van, which Jon and the kids were not happy about. Me, on the other hand, I quite like being cut off from modern life. Jon was very impressed with his make shift 4G antenna, his phone stuck to the back of the van! Which we then used as the hot spot.
We managed to escape past the road works at about 2pm and headed to Coniston. That didn’t really work out either because the lake had flooded so we couldn't really explore. We had a little pit stop next to the lake and then set out to find somewhere to park for the night.
And then we hit the jackpot! We found the most perfect location for the night. It has to be the best spot we have found up to now. With a backdrop of tall forest trees, a gorgeous lake/mountainous view and the moon shining down on our tiny home, we ended the week in bliss.
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