As y’all may remember, my husband Dale and I have a habit of getting into misadventures, like the time we flipped over our new pontoon boat in the middle of game day traffic (whoops!).
We live in the present, which means sometimes hard-earned wisdom shows up a few seconds too late. As if we didn’t learn our lesson from last year, we recently invested in yet another tow-behind toy: a camper! 
Why now, just after I’ve officially become debt-free? For good reason, of course: The camper was a gift to ourselves to celebrate our wedding anniversary. On May 24th, Dale and I celebrated 24 years together and 22 years of marriage. We spent our Memorial Day weekend with our family in our new hotel-on-wheels, and we had a great time christening the camper. (More on that in a future JAMM!)
I always said I’d happily go camping, if I had a mattress to sleep on. After all, people in sleeping bags are the soft tacos of the bear world, and I’m not interested in becoming a National Geographic special.
Now, with a comfy mattress safe inside our camper, we can camp all year long! And this isn’t just any mattress: We’re talking a queen size bed with built-in shelving and side tables.
If I’m going to enjoy the awe-inspiring beauty of nature, I want to be able to come home to the best of what human civilization has to offer, too. Why not combine the great outdoors with total luxury? I guess you could call me a glamper.
Instead of a flimsy tent, we’ve got a living room with a comfy leather couch, a kitchen with an adorable eating nook, a built-in shower and toilet, and a mini master bedroom. While this is a stellar start, I’m excited to give our camper the Mary treatment. Think stylish home accents, soft pillows, bedding, and curtains, and lots of string lights, a.k.a. a big ol’ trip to Target!
In the wake of this new purchase and with more to come, I may not be debt-free for long…but at the very least, now we can visit Dave’s family in West Virginia and keep living in Alabama. There’s one thing we’ve both learned over the years: the key to a happy marriage is compromise!
Happy Monday,
~ Mary
