It turns out I haven’t been so great at this blog thing, but you probably already noticed that.

I was more than a little embarrassed to realize I’d gone an entire year without an update, especially since I’d brazenly invited readers to “Ask Me Anything!” in my last post. Many of you DID ask questions, and I even began typing answers, but they never made it past draft form.

2025 took on a life of its own, and I found myself spending more time in houses than I did in the van. Thankfully, that wasn’t due to any negative implications. Instead, Paco and I got to spend time with friends, reconnecting with people we hadn’t seen in years.

Our year began in Scottsdale, Arizona, with friends, painting, and dog-sitting, then an unexpected two-week stint in Henderson, Nevada, to paint a colorful backyard mural. We scooted through Nevada, California, and Oregon to southern Washington to meet a friend, then stayed in the area to connect with more friends visiting from Austin, TX. After that, we headed to Whidbey Island, WA, and spent nearly six weeks helping friends with home renovations – well, I helped, Paco supervised. Next came a few weeks in Seattle with family and exploring the northern part of Washington state.

An exciting surprise was being chosen as the Artist in Residence at the LOGE Hotel in Leavenworth, WA, which was a fantastic three-week span of creating large paintings, selling ornaments in a local shop, and making new friends. After that, I bee-lined it to Breckenridge, CO, for our annual Thanksgiving dog-sitting job, then headed home to Oklahoma, where we stayed until early February.

Sure, there were times spent in the van in between all of those stays, but not much! I’m not complaining by any means. How lucky am I to have so many friends and family across the country with whom I can meet up and spend long periods of time? That’s just one of the many perks of being mobile and rarely having a set schedule to adhere to. We still got to camp in lush, moss-covered forests, hike to multiple waterfalls, and Paco got to swim in the salty ocean, as well as many lakes, rivers, and streams. We stayed among the red rocks of Moab, UT. We got to see the world’s oldest living tree at the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. How amazing is that? And I still had plenty of time to paint several new works of art and a whole slew of ornaments, too!

Besides, I’ve always said I wanted each year of van life to be different from the last – I just had no idea HOW different each would be!

So, here we are, rolling into our seventh year of living in the van. Even I can’t get my head around that. But, I have good news – I’ve written answers to nearly every question asked last year, as well as other blog posts on varying topics, so buckle up! You’re about to go on some adventures with us.

As always, thanks for following along, even if you thought I’d fallen off the face of the earth. xo