Sitting at the dock all day...

Travis and his trainer have been hopping all over the US!

The other day they were in Illinois and Travis had to call me because he was so excited about seeing a WWE truck at a truck stop! It was advertising next years Wrestlemania. He sent me some pictures of it. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty jealous about that one!

Travis got his first experience waiting for a load on Friday. They were supposed to pick up a new load in Arkansas at the same time they delivered another. It ended up not being ready. Luckily they didn't have to "sit at the dock all day." They decided to go to a truck stop to wait. Fate was on his side! The truck stop they went to was completely empty. So Travis got the majority of the afternoon to practice backing. I know he was very happy to get this opportunity. He said he feels really good about the experience he's gotten this week.


Sitting at the dock all day by Trevor Hoagland


They are still waiting on a load. They have been routed from Arkansas to Tennessee to pick one up. It will unfortunately not be ready until tomorrow morning. They are stopped at a nearby truck stop for the night playing video games! He and his trainer have really hit it off. I have to thank God for that one! I spent a lot of time praying he would get a good trainer that he enjoyed spending all of that time with. He has a PlayStation in the truck. Sometimes they play when they are stopped for the night. Travis described the truck stop they are at as the smallest and emptiest one he has ever seen.

I am still trying to adjust to life with a husband on the road!! I get so bored so easily!! Luckily my job has been keeping me busy. I've been spending a lot of time cleaning and decorating the house for Halloween! I have to find things to keep me occupied. Bed time is the hardest! It's so strange going to sleep alone! 

All in all the first week of him being on the road has gone very well. I want to thank everyone for their prayers and kind words!!! Thank you for following us on this journey!!

Two Years Later...

Hello all!

It's been two years and a few months since my last post. Soooooooooo much has happened in those two years.

Travis came home from his training and we were out of the trucking world for the past two years. Boy was it a crazy two years. We gained a sister in law when my brother got married. We celebrated our second and third wedding anniversaries. We finally got pregnant after trying for a long time. Then tragedy struck when we lost our beautiful son Logan when I was 27 weeks pregnant. 2015 has been a rough year so far for us.

Now things are starting to look up. I've got a new job at Taco Bell as one of the managers and Travis is on the road again! After coming off the road the first time he worked in construction for the past two years. He worked for a company that installed safety rails in new houses until the permanent stairs rails were installed. It was a great job until his company started doing corporate restructuring. He tried a few different jobs this past summer but after a lot of thinking and praying we decided that him going back on the road for a while to get some experience would be good for his career. After getting a few months of experience over the road he will be able to get a great local job and be home every night.

So here I am, back to the crazy life of a trucker's wife!! He left out with his trainer this past Saturday. For those of you reading the blog for advice on supporting your husband through this journey, when he starts with a new company after not having driven for a while, be prepared for the hiring process to take forever!!!!!! It was a week and a half after he finished orientation before he got in a truck!!! They had to wait for his drug test and background check to come back. That didn't take to long. The part where you have to be diligent is getting them in contact with previous employers to confirm past jobs. It took so long for them to reach someone at his old job!!!! In the end he had to call and get them in touch with the right person. So if you run into that problem that is what I suggest doing!

This time Travis has a better phone, (thanks to his brother and our sister in law and his parents for buying it for him as a going away present) so we get to Skype! That has been a blessing for sure. I highly recommend using it while your husband is gone. It makes it so much easier to be able to actually see his face. He has a lot in common with his trainer and I know that helps him. He seems to be really enjoying the road this time, and for that I am so thankful.

So far he has been to Alabama then up to Illinois and now he's on his way to Wisconsin!! All of that in only four days. The time zones got us on Sunday! He forgot he was in a different time zone and tried to call me before I went to work. I was already at work so I thought something was wrong when I saw he had called me! The worrier in me (thanks Mom) thought the worst!! It ended up giving us a good laugh though!!

I'll be posting some of his travel adventures and advice for other trucker's wives on here every so often!!! Stay tuned and thank you for reading!