a cinderella story

June 7, 2016 Jacqueline Cederberg

6|6|2016

bambi girl, {you're the best thing i never knew i needed}.

every single day, i'm a little more me because of you. you are my home & i just adore you. actually, you're adored by so many. can you believe 1,000 people are curious about you & your 17 pillows, 3,101 sequins & all your little airstream adventures?

i know! i can't believe it either!

...

i feel the sweetest warmest most wonderful feelings for you, because it feels so good to feel loved. while you shine in the sunshine, you continue to teach me how to love me & my authentic self.

i'm learning that each of us has the power to heal ourselves, but we must feel loved & accepted. we have an unmeasurable amount of power inside of us. before this full-time trailer life, i didn't know how to use my power. so, i used it against me. i wasn't the woman i knew i could be. so, i said mean things to me. then, i was mad & became sad.

on my way to adopt you, i nearly chickened out. ring ring, ring a-ling. uh oh {amanda}, there's a voice inside me that says don't adopt bambi. i panicked. still scared & so uncertain. her response was perfect.

do. not. listen. to. that. voice.

i met amanda, my bestest friend, while we were working at walt disney world. she knew there was nothing more me, than this airstream dream. how lucky am i, that she believed in me, when i didn't.

all the power that i had used against me, i'm now using to make me more me. i glamp like a girl. i take ballroom dance lessons. i floss my teeth. finally. i run around the lake. i'm learning to play the ukulele. i go to vinyasa yoga. i read books, like real ones with paper pages. i actually used my golf clubs on 9 holes. i take time to give thanks...a gratitude meditation brings happy tears to the corner of my eyes. & i write the words my soul needs to say.

this airstream adventure is my cinderella story. adopting my bambi...will always be my most magnificent & magical aha.

take what's inside you, and let it make you more you today, than yesterday. & tomorrow, repeat that. repeat it over & over until you believe in you. until you become you. until you know, that this world & the people in it, need more people like you.

yess.

wild heart • gypsy soul

xoxo, miss airstream

June 7, 2016 Jacqueline Cederberg

6|5|2016

my trailer mama is cute. but crazy. but cute. because she lives in a 19 foot trailer with 17 pillows & 3,101 sequins {that sparkle all day everyday}. i still love her...but mostly because she just cleaned out my grey & black tanks. ewww.

❤️, bambi the trailer

June 7, 2016 Jacqueline Cederberg

6|5|2016

oh em geee...thank you, airstream europe!
because of you, i get to live riveted & i'll forever be grateful.

wild heart • gypsy soul

...

xoxo, miss airstream

warrior princess

June 7, 2016 Jacqueline Cederberg

6|5|2016

{today i woke up with that whole purpose driven warrior princess save the world kinda vibe}. 💜

the next adventure...boon docking! for the last 3 months, i've had water-sewer-electric hookups. & i really needed them to get on my feet! but, i'm getting my sweet bubbly bambi girl ready to wander wherever we want to wander without those luxuries {when i'm not working}!

•fill water tank...
•fill both propane tanks
•call tom {my airstream mechanic who is also my airstream hero}

wild heart • gypsy soul

xoxo, miss airstream

June 7, 2016 Jacqueline Cederberg

6|2|2016

{actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventure...}

wild heart • gypsy soul

xoxo, miss airstream

June 7, 2016 Jacqueline Cederberg

5|30|2016

i'm sure if you pricked my finger, i'd bleed red, white & blue.

i heart this flag & the people who protect it so much, that i actually had it tattooed on my 19 year old self. i didn't fit the profile of a girl who'd pay for permanent ink on a secret spot just below the bikini line. low enough that it was hidden, but high enough that it was appropriate. it was a place that only i could see. my mama's mouth dropped. "you let a man tattoo {that} spot?" ohhhh mommmm. he didn't see my lady parts...nor had any other man at the time. i barely had my first kiss just months earlier, my freshman year in college. he was a hunky upperclassman on the college football team.

at 5am, before my math & chemistry classes...i'd stand next to our university's soldiers in the rotc physical training class. i'd drive by the dorms where i'd pick up my little brother, 15 minutes prior. {nic} is a real soldier. so was everyone else. i wasn't though. i just needed a good butt-kickin' in the morning. &...i must have secretly needed some time with nic, who was my little buddy & would later be deployed to iraq. if that meant i had to do push-ups & sit ups until i threw up, fine. as the sun rose, they made me lead real soldiers on a run into the country. i remember hearing the fast soldiers say that it actually hurt them to run as slow as me. i'm just slow. my little legs don't go fast. another morning, i packed a heavy backpack while we marched a march way too long for me. i did my best to pretend i was just like them...because i admired who they were. so much.

as nic's deployment got closer, it was heartbreaking to know that the truth was that he might not come home. you won't be shocked that i decided i'd sign up & go with him. to iraq. but as a nurse.

oh good lord. here we go again. did i realize that there was no chance that the army would let me be anywhere near him. or heal him if he was hurt...then bring him home alive, so that i could make him top ramen. he always liked my top ramen the most.

i called the recruiter & started the lengthy paperwork process. then, i drove to washington state where i arrived at the military base. as i waited in the waiting room for my physical, i wondered if i'd even make it thru boot camp or just cry. are they sure they want to teach me how to shoot a gun? can i put sparkles on my uniform? are they gonna yell at me?

you bet someone yelled. & i don't like loud scary yelling voices. not at all. he yelled my last name so loud, i nearly peed my pants sitting on that stiff chair at the base hospital. it startled me right into shock & months later when the recruiter called...i declined the invitation to be commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the united states army nurse corps. because of loud scary yelling voices yelling my last name.

i am not a soldier. but, i am a soldier's biggest cheerleader.

the men & women who have protected & continue to protect everything that is red, white & blue...are extraordinary. they are my heroes. they always will be. nic made it home. but many haven't. i walked thru arlington national cemetery with an american flag in one hand and the other over my heart. there will never be anything that i am more thankful for...than for each & every one of those soldiers.

on this Memorial Day, thank you.

wild heart • gypsy soul

xoxo, miss airstream

leap day love

June 7, 2016 Jacqueline Cederberg

5|29|2016

i'm 5'6" & can't stand under my airstream's shower head.

which is more like a hand held wand hooked to the shower wall. i can sit on bambi's shower bench though. but there, the water only hits my left shoulder. so, with one hand i detach the wand from the bracket...& with the other, i scrub a dub dub. the little wand has an on & off switch. which i hadn't planned on using until i start boon docking {which is glamping without water or sewer or electric hookups. that means you... have to be careful about how much water you use or you won't have any at all}.

as i was singing & scrubbing, i didn't notice the bubbles at the shower floor hid 2 inches of standing water. while i was thinking heavenly thoughts about smelling like coconut body wash, i had missed the memo that my grey tank was full. again. so full, that the already used icky water backed up the drain & into the shower, then covered my clean little feet. ewwww. stop. ewww. that tank just fills soooo fast.

i tapped on the drain with my better tapping foot {the right one}, attempting to plunge that water into the tank. but, that wasn't going to happen because it is impossible. so, mid scrub, i turned that switch off & i did the unthinkable. you know, scrub...then rinse & scrub...then rinse. i know. it wasn't actually horrible at all. it's just a different version of my dream shower & that dream feels like a waterfall is falling on me.

as each day passes & i live this life...it washes away all the years i told myself that i wasn't brave enough or smart enough or handy enough. i feel sad that i ever said such mean things to me. but, if learning self-love is the secret to life...i can tell you that learning self-forgiveness is too. i wonder why i didn't listen to my inner tinkerbell. why didn't i do this sooner. why did i try for years, to be like everyone else. why didn't i let myself be me. be different. be crazy. be wild & free.

when i took a leap on leap day, & moved into a 19' airstream, exactly 3 months ago...i finally allowed me to be wild & free. you have to know what your sleepy tired soul feels like...to know when you've found something special & rare. when you find something, anything, that makes that sparkly soul of yours shine...follow it.

follow everything that is special & rare. chase everything that awakens your soul. be nice to you, be okay with being you, say you're sorry to you, forgive you, believe in you, then go find you. trust me, you'll love her.

yes, yes, yes.

wild heart • gypsy soul

xoxo, miss airstream