Mentality

February 17, 2016 / erin / 3 Comments

There are a lot of pros and cons to living small… and that probably goes without saying.

I’m finding that when some people hear about tiny living, or that I am living tiny currently, they oftentimes laugh, scoffs and give me all of the reasons why I will hate it. Some will just let me know how they could never do it themselves but have the “more power to you” attitude, some are SO excited and want to hear everything (I love them) and some go as far to let me know that it will most likely ruin my relationship within a year. *I know*

The bottom line is, if you don’t have the mentality set for it, it won’t work for you. If you live tiny and expect to have space to move around, or space from others who share it with you, your expectations may be let down. If you like space to yourself to be able to have time alone, then it might not be the best for you.

But it perplexes me how some think because they cannot do it, you couldn’t either.

Some people prefer peanut butter, some people do not.

Just got to keep smiling and let the negative Nellie’s have their say. 🙂

If you want to go tiny, expect to minimize. But it’s not just minimization, it’s letting go of the emotional attachments we oftentimes put on material things. It is all mentality. So much in life and society these days revolves around consummation of goods; more, newer, shiny, latest model… It’s a game we get caught up in and don’t even realize that we are a part of it. Sometimes we do realize and slow down if we want to, sometimes it’s nice and more power to ya! There is also the sentimental attachments to material things, hand me downs, family heirlooms etc. That is harder to let go of, but usually its the people we attach to the items and the memories they may have then the item itself… and those attachments never leave because they always stay with us. Once you can accept that (if you want to) its easier to let go and downsize.

Humans are pretty basic with pretty basic needs, but we make it so complicated by letting so many other factors dictate and run our lives. We mistake wants for needs, and sometimes needs for wants. The mentality of living small (for me so far) is about letting all of that go, and realize what my priorities actually are. Remember being young and playing outside without all of the latest technology at your fingertips? It was so fun, so many dreams and inventions came up while playing out whatever the imagination had come up with.

I’m finding that again. It almost feels like being a kid and starting over from fresh. As I am living small, without all of my material goods at my fingertips, it’s left me to really think about my dreams, ideas, and inventions my imagination always comes up with, but are ignored or pushed aside by the pressures of keeping up with the game.

I am also finding that I really DO like living tiny. Not 64 square feet tiny forever, but for now it works for us. Down the road, I have a better idea of where I would like to be, and 64 square feet gives me the ability to work towards making that happen and making my dreams come true! 🙂

Also, I made some spinach and artichoke dip from scratch for Super Bowl Sunday and it was AMAZING. Recipe here 🙂

Story Time

January 23, 2016 / erin / Leave a comment

I did end up catching the bug, so I’m keeping it low key this weekend while Ben is working. I have my cup of tea, my music playing on my phone, and it is a beautiful day out today!

I was recalling a story the other day and thought that I would share 🙂

Last spring, a Saturday night, no plans, nestled in our tiny apartment in Eastern Washington.

I had fallen asleep early that night for whatever the reason, and Ben may have been gaming on the computer. It was around 11 PM that I woke up, fully rested and not ready to go back to sleep… but what to do at that hour? Ben was still up and wasn’t ready to go to sleep yet either.

He mentioned it would’ve been cool if we thought to head up the the Meadows to camp for the night. – – The Meadows (not sure if that’s just what everyone calls it or its actual name) is this place in Washington, about an hour drive north of us, that is up in the mountains a bit and is a place for open camping, horseback riding, off road vehicles etc. It is beyond beautiful. Just set off a dirt road high up there, and people mostly just seem to know about it by word of mouth. VERY popular place none the less, especially during Labor day and Memorial day for those campers!

I really just fell in love with the Northwest and the mountains in Washington and northern Idaho the moment I landed there. Something about those evergreens that feels like home to me — The smells of the trees and the woods always reminds me of time spent in the U.P. in my youth 🙂

So ANYWAYS – It is 11 at night, and we decided it wasn’t to late to go for a night of camping, and headed off to the Meadows for a night!

Ben had an 1980 something Volkswagen Rabbit pickup truck at the time (funnest little truck) so we loaded it up with an air mattress, cooler full of whatever we had in the fridge, all of our blankets and headed off.

It took us about an hour to get up to the dirt road that led into the meadows.. if you do a google search of that specific vehicle, you can see the headlights aren’t much to talk about, and I had to just trust that Ben knew where he was headed. We could faintly make out other campers set up on our way up the road, but they were few and far between. . . probably because it was about 50 degrees outside!

Eventually we made it up and found an open clearing we could drive into and set up shop. All that I could make out was that we were next to a really big tree a few feet away. So anyways, we pumped up the air mattress and loaded it all into the bed of the truck and had our bed!

JUST gonna throw this out there.. it was NOT comfortable… best get some foam pads instead for you star gazing lovers out there! The bed of the truck was skinny so of course a queen size air bed isn’t going to fit all the way. I figure the thick foam bed pads will shape better and a couple stacked could be quite comfy!

We ate our snacks and had a little campfire (about 2 AM at this point) and fell asleep under the stars… besides my nose running and being a bit red, it was perfect. Almost.

So I always knew those bar gate things in the ground you drive over in farming areas were to keep the cattle from being able to walk across.. but I never saw the cattle. Just figured it was a precaution. But then I learned around 5 AM what open range really was.

It started off with some quiet mooing in the distance, that would intermittently pick up and get louder and quieter. Having only a few hours of shut eye, I tried to roll over grunting and groaning over the disturbance, putting one of the pillows over my head.

This continued for a few short minutes until I was jolted upright out of bed from the sound of a cow bellowing a few feet from the end of the bed of the truck… I was in shock looking at her, until I saw the bull who was staring at me a foot from my left side. Then silent panic set in.

I was frantically nudging Ben trying to wake him up, all the while I’m starting to take in actually how many were surrounding us. There was the full herd. All of them… just trying to figure out who the intruders were. It was so comical.. but frightening because the rabbit is not a tall truck… so the cows were looking over us. Kind of jarring! Of course they didn’t charge us or anything — even tho that’s all I could picture happening!

They continued on and we decided to pack it up and head home. Probably the shortest camping outing I’ve had but the most exciting!

Material things.

January 19, 2016 / erin / 2 Comments

We’ve been plugging along these winter days 🙂 Some of us have gotten sick, and SOME of us (me) are hoping that we don’t catch the bug. Here’s hoping! And hoping you and yours don’t get sick either!

Recently, we attended a Tiny Home meet up here locally and had the opportunity to listen to the President of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company talk all about the tininess. 🙂 They also brought along a house on wheels that showed the different stages of building one. It was really cool to get together with a bunch of like minded enthusiasts and see how else others are doing it.

Overall, the meeting really just gave me some more inspiration and energy to keep this momentum going, and let it evolve into whatever it may. Once this “micro home” is done, it’ll be the perfect getaway trailer for camping or guests even, and hopefully we will be able to move one to something just a bit bigger. All the same, I’m fired up to finish this one!

I went to Ikea the other day (for the very first time) with my cousin to just look at different set up options for cabinetry, storage, and shelving to get a better idea how I would like the inside designed for our micro kitchen! Way to many cool ideas — and I had taken pictures of what I liked …. then my phone was ran over by a car… soooo… not anymore 😉 That’s just an excuse to go back and get more Swedish meatballs!

— oh, and the phone I’m using as a back up doesn’t have a fully working camera (only front facing) so we may lack pictures until that gets fixed. And geeze I didn’t realize how much I took pictures until I can’t.

Something I am learning….

To let go of the material things.

I have downsized what I own enormously… but I still have some sentimental items I like to keep. Not too long ago we were moving the trailer over a few feet from where it was located at… We have our things on shelves / cabinets that aren’t nailed down. — I underestimated the amount the trailer would shift during movement and I didn’t brace the shelves .. and everything crashed down. If it was breakable.. it broke. Everything.

I didn’t care about most of it breaking.. its just things. But I did have a few pieces I really wished didn’t. But that’ll just remind you that nothing is permanent.

Nothing lasts. BUT while it did… they were beautiful pieces to have!

shout out!

January 5, 2016 / erin / 3 Comments

EVERY time I go to the grocery store as of late, I am complimented on my basket that I tote around with me.

It was a gift for our wedding from Ben’s sister and I am in LOVE with it 🙂

You can reshape the basket by soaking it in warm water, then you are set to mold it whichever way you want! It was handmade, and I know I have the tag around somewhere that says where it is from… and I can let you know!

In other news, we installed a handle and deadbolt to our door so we are now able to lock it up tight from the inside. We are in a secure location so our bungee chord method was doing okay… but with the cold weather, it was nice to be able to get it to close tight and keep the chilly air out!

I will have a better picture of it, it’s still pretty ugly to look at currently because we will need to put a fresh “face” on the inside of the door.

Fresh Beginnings :)

December 31, 2015December 31, 2015 / erin / Leave a comment

COLD cold COLD here in Colorado! It doesn’t seem to get warm, and everyone is saying that this weather is unusual for this time of year here.

I really don’t mind at all. I Bitch and complain enough about it probably, but I still don’t mind that much. So many memories of cold winters in Illinois come to the forefront on my mind and attached is just fun in the cold with friends and family. Can’t beat that! 🙂

The Midwest didn’t have a whole lot where winter sports were concerned due to all of the flatness, but there was a little hill in town we would always go sledding at. If you didn’t get there right with the fresh snow, you would be dealing with mud/ice because the ENTIRE town would come out to enjoy the same small man made hill. But it was still just as fun!

I’ve never tried downhill skiing before, and I’ve only dabbed with a snowboard in the flat lands once, so …. doesn’t count for much. Probably would try it one day, but, then again…

I’d rather go camping.

So WEIRD to think it’s New Years eve, but it is. 2016 comes in and its a fresh start, fresh page, whatever corny metaphor you would like to slip in here 😉 This year was a up and down one for me.. I lost 2 of my grandparents, turned 25, had my wedding ceremony, moved twice, and so much in between.

I wouldn’t change a thing!

For myself, I just wish for more/continued peace, love, joy, and happiness in my life in the new year, and for you and yours, too.

OH! and patience. 🙂 Always could use more of that.

Snow Days *

December 23, 2015 / erin / 1 Comment

We’ve had a very nice string of snow days and cold weather here, which has been the perfect excuse to work away on the trailer! FINALLY! I am so excited to show the progress we have made, and it totaled 4 days of work! (More like 3 1/2)

First thing we had to do was finish up the drywall and muding process. If I never see drywall again I will be a happy camper!

While we waited for the mud to dry and Ben ran off on errands, I got to work with sanding the floors down once and for all.

There was this patch in the floor that was coming up and could cause some major splinters, so we tore it up and patched it with the original trim we ripped out of the trailer.

Seemed to do the job just fine, and it was seriously the perfect fit! So far, we’ve gotten away with working with a lot of recycled materials and its been able to keep the costs low.

One thing we may have an issue with, and this has just come to mind recently, is that the drywall may have a hard time staying put if the trailer is going to be mobile often. Once we have more structures built into it, such as the kitchen etc, it may not be an issue. I guess time will tell and much like most I do in life, this too is just going to be trial and error . 🙂

Okay, so drywall and floors completed! Next thing I went to work on was priming and painting! Even tho my arms usually want to fall off by the time I am through, I kind of enjoy painting. Its relaxing. And no, this does NOT mean I will help paint your house for you 😉 okay I might.

All of these small details started to come into play, and they needed to be dealt with. SO. If you look back up to the first picture, you can see in the corner is a big silver piece of foam board. — We cut it to sizes, skinny long strips, and used it to insulate the gap where the wall and ceiling meet. That area will be covered by some ceiling trim and may also put up LED lighting there too… Time will tell.

I then went thru and spray painted the area black… The small spot at the top where the yellow foam is showing is kind of an eye sore, so I made it match the black metal for now, until we decide how that will be covered.

Next order of business was staining the floors! YAY! And cleaning up some more areas. Behind the pulley bar for the back door, is a lot of messy over spray, and it’ll be built in (one day) but we took the time to clean it up, and I also spray painted it black to make a cleaner look for now.

All of that took 3 days.

All was fine and dandy, until about 2 days ago I mentioned to Ben while trying to get to world 7 on Super Mario, that it would be nice if this bed had a frame, even if temporarily built on some 2×2’s, but it would be better than mattress on the ground.

Being the doer he is, he ran off to get the lumber needed and we spent the afternoon making the bed frame, sizing the storage that will go underneath, and even made cubby holes to access by lifting the mattress.

Oh, another cool feature is he made it to fit a queen bed, but also made it easily adjustable to fit a double, in case we decided to downsize on mattress size. (Its a tight squeeze with a queen)

Finished (?) product 🙂

I lifted the lace I have to show you how its lifted, it raised the mattress 14 inches off the ground and it makes a WORLD of a difference. The other half is still a cluster of stuff, but its looking better now that I can store under the bed! And it is all VERY organized and neat! 🙂

It is difficult to get used to the new temperatures at our new elevation 😉 but in all seriousness, it makes a world of a difference and we are struggling to find a new happy medium on the radiator!

Our little holiday shrine 🙂

Happy Holidays everyone! Seasons Greetings and a Happy New Year!

Peace and Love ❤

Homemade Toothpaste

December 8, 2015 / erin / 1 Comment

I’ve been trying to be less wasteful, more natural, and be more open minded to trying new things, and making my own products at home rather than buying them.

Our friends we stayed with in Iowa for Thanksgiving make a lot of their own products as well, and they have gifted us their homemade soap and I am in LOVE with it. While we were staying with them, I had the opportunity to try out their homemade toothpaste, and I decided I would have a go at making my own.

Now I pulled THIS RECIPE from google and tried it, and I also added Dr. Bronner’s peppermint Magic Soap to the mix. JUST A TINY BIT, like… 1/2 of a teaspoon. The oils I used were peppermint and eucalyptus.

Here is where I went wrong.

And I ALWAYS go wrong.

When I started making it I decided to half the recipe to start, to have a tester bottle. When I half a recipe I forget I am doing so at SOME point in the process of adding ingredients, and I did that this time too.

I halved the portions and then decided to use the same amount of drops of oil as if I didn’t half it. *facepalm*

I noticed when I brushed my teeth to see how it tasted.

SO. I went BACK to the drawing board to finish the full recipe to make up for the STRONG taste.

Its been about 3 days now. I don’t mind it at all. Ben on the other hand….

Well it just doesn’t seem to agree with him, and it just sets his gag reflexes going. He thinks it may be the coconut oil (I used unrefined) but I think it may be the baking soda? It tends to have such a salty strong presence that it can easily overpower the senses.

I may try looking up some other recipes and try them out, and pay attention when I make a small portion this time! 🙂 But it doesn’t seem all that bad to me.

If you have any suggestions or make your own and you like it, let me know your secrets! 🙂

excuses and delays.

December 7, 2015 / erin / Leave a comment

Entirely too long of a break — BUT it’s the hoooolidays!

Is this an excuse?!

Seriously tho, celebrate them or don’t, but this time of year always seems to pick up and get really busy for some reason.

Of course the energy in the air is picked up because of the major few.. The kick off starts with Halloween, then followed by Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years… it doesn’t seem to end for a few months. Everyone who partakes in the festivities naturally gives off a buzz and whether I like it or not it seems to affect me.

I just seem to get busy.

Here’s what I’ve been doing! Backing up a bit if I may, jumping around, and coming back to the present.

I mentioned a few posts back that I went to work with Ben! Well, here is that proof. At the end of the day, I stripped off the paper and tape that covered my feet to my knees and I posed for a picture or two!

(Seriously I think I know entirely too much about spray foam.. and I don’t know when why or how!)

Scooting forward a bit closer to present day, Thanksgiving we took a road trip to Council Bluffs Iowa to stay with some friends of ours! It was bad weather in Colorado and a short enough drive to make it happen! The last time I was in Omaha (butts right up with Council Bluffs) was for a volleyball tournament when I was in high school, so it was fun to explore the area some! It was a nice time of R&R and a lot of Super Mario Bros on the old Nintendo game counsel!

Lost time was made up, and I’ve improved my skill!

I don’t want to overload in one post so I am going to break this down into a couple I think.

The trailer is still amazing. More on that in the next post.

And I will leave you with this.

I think I am going to turn into pizza.

Honestly I could eat it daily and not get tired. All kinds of pizza… vegan, supreme, cauliflower crust, just cheese… it doesn’t matter. I am not biased.

I bring this up because Ben and I have been trying out different Pizzerias in the area — because well.. pizza. Every place we have has been really good… so we keep trying more! #foodies

Ben’s tastes in pizza are pretty straightforward … meat, everything, more. I like to switch it up however and try specialty pizzas — I love a good Margherita pizza, and I did a sort of “make your own” at the last joint we went to, and it basically turned into the Margherita pizza :p

The two we have recently tried, Serafini’s Pizzeria and Fuhgidabowdit Pizzeria have been unique in their own way and I would for SURE go back to them. Again… pizza. It’s hard to go wrong.

Cheers!

Okay in my next post I will be letting you know how my homemade toothpaste turned out! We are still in the “testing” phase so I want to gather more data before presenting!

a little DIY

November 22, 2015November 22, 2015 / erin / 1 Comment

Okay, it’s cold, and the trailer work is a little slow as of late due to work and weather.

I am going to share some of my DIY projects, past and present.

Probably the one that I am most proud of, and I hope to do more like it, is an old rocking chair that I was given by my father in law. Rustic old thing that more than likely would be passed over by people time and again.

I also have had in my possession, some light brown hide that’s ready for use. One day I may want to try and make a purse out of it (there is a LOT of it) but I KNEW as soon as I saw the rocking chair that the leather would be PERFECT for it. I’ve been in possession of the leather for awhile just waiting to put it to crafty use 🙂

Here is how I started… I cleaned and stripped the chair completely so it was just the frame remaining.

I chose the spray paint color I wanted to use and had at it — The reason I choose spray paint is simply because it’s cheap, and if I wanted to re-do it one day it would be fairly easy.

I then just traced the seat bottom size on some brown paper, so I could cut the leather to fit properly. That leather was NOT easy to cut, a good pair of scissors would be advised. . .

I purchased some decorative nails from Walmart as well as upholstery nails. The tiny upholstery nails were sturdier and I liked the look it gave too, almost simple, so I placed those in between the decor nails.

Here is the final product. I LOVED how it turned out and it was so easy. I ended up gifting it to a friend to was recently married and I knew it would fit her new home and her style.

I hope its enjoyed and loved! 🙂 The best part being if she doesn’t like it, it would still be very easy to re-do again!

Cold. ish.

November 20, 2015November 20, 2015 / erin / Leave a comment

The weather in Colorado fluctuates on a DAILY basis. I’ve never lived somewhere where the weather is so dramatic. I like it.

So we are so very lucky to be staying on the property of someone we know, and oftentimes in the morning we will go into the house and share breakfast and coffee. One of the homeowners is a dog named Katie. I love her.

Anywho, in the mornings she likes to stand on the table, and wait for us (me) to come out of the trailer and come inside. The other morning Ben sent me this picture of her waiting for me when I was just a little behind him.

Katie is a hairless terrier (I think) and she has SO much personality AND she adores me. Us girls have to stick together 😉 She REALLY makes me want to go rescue a dog, but that will all come in due time. There is an order to the plans for the trailer and a reason for it. BUT I DON’T LIKE WAITING.

That’s what’s wrong with everything. The need for instant gratification. Okay at least I struggle with that if no one else.

— In other news, I was actually able to go to work with Ben the other day. This time not on the trailer but rather thru his actual employer. They needed extra hands and mine were free 🙂 It was a lot of fun, VERY tiring, and very educating.

I’ve worked with Ben a lot, have learned a lot about foam, even worked for a company that also uses spray polyurethane foam, but actually working hands on gave me a much better understanding for it.

I have a picture but not handy SO I will post a picture of my new meditation stool I found at the thrift store the other day! I included a grande coffee from Starbucks for size. Pretty excited about this find!

Sorry I have been MIA as of late, just a lot going on and looking for a minute to grab!

dynomadic life

Dynamic Design. Nomadic Nature.