Lots of Hope in a Little Home

"Surely things haven't been easy right?" I get this question a lot and I haven't delayed this blog post intentionally but were officially almost two months into this adventure so it seems time to address how we are truly adjusting. I can recall like it was yesterday when we pulled How-E onto the land at eleven o'clock p.m. exhausted, relieved and yet still excited. 

It's incredibly challenging identifying how we are doing as a whole with life outside of the city, off-grid on ten acres, combined with a living space just shy of three hundred square feet.

Has the excitement from Thanksgiving night continued?

In many ways it has; we are working diligently towards Plan C which is our future home. We had originally purchased building/floor plans  for a barn house with exposed rafters, a lofted second story and rough timber throughout but recently due to budget and really assessing the fact that Casey and I...well mainly Casey would be building this home alone that we needed to either down size or look into some other alternatives. 

Awhile back we had tossed around the idea of using shipping containers and we are back on that route. We have decided on a plan using two forty foot containers and a living space in between which will be used for our dining room, living room and fireplace (which will be our heat source).

Example 

Example

Example

The first of the two containers will be used as the kitchen 8ftx30ft-/+ and the bathroom 8ftx10ft-/+. We plan to have a large cut out in the shipping container for the kitchen to create an open concept. 

Example of open concept kitchen and love the barn style door to the left

The second of the two containers will be split in half for the bedrooms both being 8ftx20ft-/+. We are of course still planning things in more details but have acquired some quotes and advice in the past weeks. We need to consider where to spend money and what things we can do ourselves. For example, septic/plumbing, electric to hook to the solar panel system, and concrete work.
Ideas that we have considered and liked as well regarding this type of house is insulting and siding the outside so we don't lose square footage inside, keeping the containers "raw" looking on the inside for an industrial feel, having a lot of windows to take in our amazing views and also the warm sun from the South. As for the time line we are still up in the air but definitely by August we will have both containers purchased. Depending on budget and our schedules we may or may not still be in the bus this coming winter; although the bus is treating us well it will be nice to have a bit more space. If we are in the bus next winter we will need to address our heating source and probably switch to a mini wood stove. In addition, we were needing to add more usable daily storage space for clothing and toys! So a recent trip to Phoenix had me roaming Ikea for ideas and solutions; sure enough I came home with enough stuff to make the bus feel more functional. Also if we plan to stay in the bus for the whole year we would like to get a covered porch and the shower house finished.

Other exciting news on the homestead...
NO WE ARE NOT PREGNANT LOL
This would of course include the addition of goats and chickens! We just need to get the fencing and shelters up and going and our neighbor is going to help us out animal wise which I explained a bit at the end of the pig blog post. Gardening is just around the corner here and I'm excited to experiment and see what is successful in our area; and you can sure bet that I want berries GALORE! There will be a post further in-depth regarding this in the upcoming week.

But back to how were "really" adjusting...

and this isn't a post to air our dirty laundry but to help all the people who think is really cool, must be an awesome experience (WHICH IT IS), and the dreamers who wish they could understand how OUR experience truly has unfolded over these last two months and I'm sure things will continue to change and even improve over time. I would say the adjustment to no power and no water is probably the easier part of this experience. The living in less than 300 sq ft with a family of three and two dogs proves to be the most challenging. In addition, leaving full-time careers for full-time schooling has multiple adjustments in itself; for one Casey and I are not used to being together 24 hours a day seven days a week which takes careful navigation at times to say the least. We also have to budget and need to decide what can wait...when of course we have so many things we want to achieve on the homestead especially with Spring approaching. The dogs and Jack are adjusting to the ten acres extremely well which we could have never had in San Diego; we haven't even worried about fencing yet and we've only had two little incidents where Ender thought it would be a fine idea to chase a truck down our deserted dirt road. Thankfully his truck chasing days have ceased. 

As for myself, I love this lifestyle and certainly can't wait for there to be more additions and chores to do around the homestead. I don't mind not having phone service or Wifi Ive actually been able to read books. Real books. Like the hold in your two hands kind. Multiple books. Going on five and six as I type. I have yet to make any "friends" but I'm social with our immediate neighbors and met a girl at the mall that is interesting in hiking together sometime (she has two boys older than Jack). I feel I can live with the lack of people contact haha it makes me closer with my handful of friends that live from California to Texas and even Wisconsin! I do miss working to an extent; I want to find something based on the homestead that I enjoy and can have a sense of accomplishment over and hopefully earn a small income to continue the growth here. Adding to that I am beyond ready to finish my Bachelors degree and I should be done in three quarters hopefully that means by this coming Fall. 

I can definitely say I've been in a "rut" the last few weeks it is a huge adjustment having so much down time and having to occupy Jack at home most of the day. I do miss having a regular oven to bake in and I need to get going on fixing my 1937 Round Oak so we can get back to our homemade pizzas and yummy baked goods! 

Casey is adjusting well to school at NAU for his doctorate program. He is currently taking some chemistry and other exercise physiology classes. I go to town much less than him since not only does he have school but has continued on with his gym schedule/lifestyle. I'm slowly getting back to that point since they provide daycare for little Jack which he seems to enjoy most days!

As far as Casey and I go marriage wise...were a young couple who has encountered so much change over the last three years and with much of that change came an enormous amount of stress. Living in such a small space forces us to deal with the issues that lie under the surfaces which isn't always fun but it is needed and it's good. It is a daily challenge but it's making us stronger. "Tiny house" living isn't easy for most people but try two extremely stubborn and strong willed people theres bound to be some disagreements and much much needed compromise. 

Were striving daily to be better partners to each other and parents to Jack which may not have happened if were didn't choose this lifestyle; the road often feels long but there is light at the end of the tunnel and the chapters that unfold before us are beautiful and bountiful! 

One last thing before I close this blog post (for now) I plan to update this in a few months and see if time has done us good. 

We were gifted the book His Needs. Her Needs. Building an affair proof marriage.

It been an extremely eye opening read I'd recommend it!! Both of us read it and took different points away from it but all in all I hope we can apply some of the knowledge to the "weaker" areas of our marriage. We both realize what needs we aren't getting and want and what needs were aren't giving and need to. 

Heres to the Future. We have lots of hope in a little home and were excited about our family and future on the homestead. Im glad to be documenting the journey and having such great followers and supporters!

The Thompsons-