When a door closes, a window opens 2/23/22

Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow – that is patience.

Leo Tolstoy

We have been readjusting to changes that will help us make more dreams come true in the future. All in all, progress has been happening on multiple fronts and we are so excited to share it with you!

Due to the weather and lack of passengers, nearly half of Jeff’s balloon flights are getting canceled recently. With the warmer weather on the horizon, Phoenix is heading into its “slow season” meaning the balloon companies will schedule only one shift each day instead of two. Needing to invest in a large generator to power our air conditioner as well as purchase other supplies for projects, we had to figure out additional income. I have been actively applying to a variety of jobs since we moved here, but none had more than given me a preliminary interview. Finally I got an email about a job I don’t even remember applying for (there were so many!). We set up a phone interview and, during that, scheduled an in-person meet outside of a Starbucks about 15 minutes away. It went great! I got the job! I have been working for AnR Cleaning for almost two weeks now and I’m really enjoying it! The days are flexible, so Jeff has been working two days a week for Josh (the glass artist) and I work three days for Brian cleaning, then Jeff works balloons over the weekend. AnR is a small company (I’m one of two employees!) that cleans upscale homes throughout Phoenix. I’ve learned so much already about turning “lived in” to “immaculate” and making it feel like the residents come home to a 5-star hotel. It’s a whole new level of “clean” that I’m really enjoying being a part of. Additionally, cleaning with Brian (the owner) and Kim is a lot of fun and the three of us do a great job quickly making homes look fabulous together! It pays cash each week, so it’s the perfect off-grid gig, too!

We have had to go back to finding a balance between working and parenting back and forth again. It’s been over a year since Jeff and I both held jobs outside of the house, but thankfully this time it’s not full-time jobs for either of us. While one of us is at work, the other keeps Braydon occupied and schooled, makes food and washes dishes, and checks things off the “Bus Upgrades” list. Some of these things are shown below!

In the back bedroom area we are trying to build another (better) bookshelf at the foot of our bed and redesign the one at the head of the bed. The bookshelf at the head of the bed, while cute, doesn’t hold the items while we drive, so is rather inconvenient when traveling a lot. We went to The Home Depot to get some more plywood and realized that it is $50-70 a sheet again! We will hold off on that project for now in hopes that prices come back down soon.

Quick update on Sue Ellen: she’s doing well and starting to look round.We are about halfway to kitten-time! We’ve been doing research about the whole process and Braydon can hardly wait to see how many kittens Sue has!

If you haven’t yet, why don’t you get yourself a sticker so you can represent the Ealy Travels wherever you go? We would love to mail one out to you! Mail from here has been taking over 10 days to get to the East Coast, but we will mail it ASAP!

Thanks for stopping by to read our updates and see what’s new with the bus! Sneak peak into next week’s episode: An ice storm 🧊 in the desert 🏜?!?!