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Which Christmas postcard did you receive in the mail this year?? Check out all our designs, the stories behind them and let us know!

It has been a big year for us. We spent the first few months traveling in the Airstream through the south, into California for Disneyland, and up to San Francisco to hang out with Sam’s family for spring break. Sometime in early March we started wondering why we were paying a mortgage on a house we no longer wanted to go back to, and listed it for sale.

It wasn’t an easy decision, nor did we make it lightly. Would our kids be okay? Would we damage them by not having a “home” in a single location? Would they miss their friends? Would WE miss our friends? What about the house being our safety net? How would we work out church callings? Where would we send our mail?

With so many questions, few concrete answers, and loads of faith we set about selling almost everything we owned. We said goodbye to the neighborhood, packed up what little we had into the Airstream and set off (once again) for the adventure of a lifetime. Has it been easy? Not really. We joke that our life, despite appearances, is not “all rainbows and unicorns”  but the challenges are worth the blessings.

We chose this wandering lifestyle as means to foster family unity, educate our kids, grow spiritually, and see the wonderfully country we’ve been blessed to live in. And it is wonderful!

Sam works hard to provide for us. Sometimes I don’t know how he manages to string two thoughts together in a cohesive sentence while all three of our children are throwing tantrums about not wanting to do school that day. A great set of earphones and a love for his work definitely help. He has two clients that he consults for, and while his hours and days are flexible he tirelessly gets up early and works a few hours on Saturdays to get it done. In his spare time he also manages the maintenance, towing, dumping the tanks, and other logistical man stuff.

I (Jess) manage the kids’ school (all except math which thankfully Sam handles), the grocery shopping, the cooking (which Rachel is turning into a great kitchen helper!), and getting the kids out and exploring so occasionally dad can have some peace and quiet. I still love to exercise, and attempt to keep a regular schedule, but that gets thrown out when there are National Parks and Science Museums to explore with the kids. Along with the kids, I have too many books to read and too little time. Occasionally I’ll get caught up in a series and the family doesn’t see me for days.  Instead of taking photos for clients, I’m concentrating on blogging, takings photos of my own kids, and spending time with my family. It’s been a great switch, and one that I don’t regret at all.

Rachel (9) is a great help – both with her younger siblings and around the house. Sometimes I worry that she takes too much responsibility upon herself, but maybe that is just part of growing up. She loves art, and recently acquired a sketch pad to take with on adventures so she can take breaks and draw. I love watching her conquer her fears and realize just how strong she really is.

Andrew (7) is firmly the middle child. He loves to play with Rachel, but sometimes I can see him sidle more toward Cara just because he gets to act younger and be a little less serious. I think sometimes he envies her coloring school assignments. He is also a voracious reader and is pretty upset that we won’t let him read the entire Harry Potter series right now. He’ll talk to anyone and everyone and is the friendliest little kid you’ll ever meet.

Cara (4) is bright, stubborn, and finally potty trained! I’m pretty sure a choir of angels sang when we hit that milestone! Mostly I think we just had to back off and let her work things out on her own. She loves to play Duplos, “little Lego’s” with her siblings, play with her Leap Reader, and fights me with her reading lessons but is turning into quite the reader herself. We’ve had to warn her not to hug strangers as “I love you!” followed by a bear hug are her typically greetings for anyone we meet.

Our kids are great! We can’t say enough good things about them, and are proud of their accomplishments. At last count, they’ve earned 43 Jr. Ranger Badges at various National and State Parks, hiked 10 miles to see 10 waterfalls in Silver Falls State Park, OR, and hiked over 2000 vertical feet, and 10 miles up to Nevada Falls and back down in Yosemite National Park. We’ve gone crabbing along the Oregon Coast, crossed the border into Canada, and made many friends along the way.

Will we travel forever? Nope. We believe that there is a higher purpose and plan for our lives, and when traveling no longer fills our needs we’ll stop. Until then, however, we are going to enjoy the ride!

We hope that your Christmas & holiday season is filled with friends, family, and reflection on the love of our Heavenly Father, and our Savior Jesus Christ. May we always remember that He Is the Gift, the first gift, and the one that keeps on giving every day of our lives.

We love to meet old and new friends whether we adventure together or just chat over hot chocolate. Follow us on instagram for our current whereabouts (@telegramsam and @jesscurren) and please let us know if we’ll be near you!

Love,
The Currently Wandering Crew
Sam, Jess, Rachel, Andrew, Cara

P.S. We’ve included below a description of our 2014 travels for the curious!

So just where have we gone this year? Here is a rough map of our travels:

2014 started just south of Houston in a failed attempt to see Alligators, which were not very active in the polar vortex weather that chilled Texas during January. After visiting friends and family in the Houston Area, we headed up near Dallas and then towards New Mexico, with several friend visits along the way.

New Mexico delighted us with both Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands, both of which we loved exploring. Arizona give us a great opportunity to meet up with some other traveling families, and learn from those more experienced.

Early February found us in Los Angeles, spending a few days with friends at Disneyland. We then enjoyed some time in San Diego before heading up the coast, eventually landing us in the San Francisco Bay Area in early March, where we caught up with some family we hadn’t seen in quite awhile.

In April we stopped in Reno Nevada on our way back to Utah, and received word that an offer had been made on the house. Our week-long plans across Nevada turned into a day and a half as we headed back to the house to confirm our decision to sell.

Did we want to sell the house? As we pulled up to our old house, towing our new house, we experienced an odd set of emotions. It felt like running into an old girlfriend while on a date with my wife. Like that, but with houses. After an emotional day and a half, we decided that we did want to sell.

The process of selling the house and getting rid of our stuff took about 6 weeks, with a 2 week southern Utah trip for sanity retention in late May. I also renovated the bedroom in the Airstream, converting a single queen bed into two twin beds and a toddler bed.

When everything was said and done, we left the house for good in June heading back out to California via southern Utah. We enjoyed some star watching in Bryce and caves in Great Basin before heading out to Willits in Northern California in July. After a week volunteering at a Boy Scout camp, we spent two weeks along the Redwood Coast, before heading inland to Crater Lake in August.

We ate our way through Portland, visited more friends and family in Washington, and topped out our northern travels in North Vancouver with some poutine. Our trip back south included some lovely time on Whidbey Island, some wet time on the Olympic Peninsula, and lots of rain as we traveled south in September and October.

After spending Halloween with friends in Lincoln City, we headed through the dry side of Oregon for November, then down to the Bay Area for Thanksgiving with family. A few stops (including one beautiful day in Yosemite) led us Las Vegas in mid December where we parked the house for a few weeks and drove back up to Utah for the holidays with family.

After Christmas we’ll return to Vegas to pick up the house, and then enjoy the next several months exploring southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. We are still forming our plans for the summer time, but will likely have some exploration of the Great Lakes Region. We can’t wait to see where 2015 takes us!