Colorado the Beautiful *

October 25, 2015October 25, 2015 / erin / Leave a comment

I crave fall like some people crave chocolate. Cold crispy days that leave the tip of your nose red, running and just a little numb; when your cheeks are rosy and pink, a winter jacket is just too much but one layer isn’t quite enough.

I crave these days. The past few days here in CO has been what I’ve been dreaming of since last fall closed down for the winter to move in. I don’t even mind the rain… I am half convinced I could live in a place like Seattle with constant rain and I wouldn’t get depressed, but I don’t have any plans to move there anytime soon so we can’t know for sure yet. But anyways, the last two days have been steady with a light fall of rain, not to windy, not to heavy, fading in and out just enough so Ben couldn’t work and we could get out and explore CO some!

Our mission Tuesday was to head blindly into the Rockies for the day and just figure it out, as we often do when we do some “Sunday driving”. We spent a few hours on back roads winding and twisting and since it was bad weather we couldn’t see beyond the base of the hills and mountains to about half way up… still didn’t take away any of the magic. We came across some signs for a trail head about an hour and a half into the drive so we pulled off and went for a 3.4 mile hike. It was gorgeous and I was BEYOND ecstatic to be back in the mountains again. I promise my soul belongs in the mountains, it just does. So anywho, it was an awesome chilly day with a great hike, the rain didn’t bother us at all and the hike followed a river the whole time so that was pretty cool.

This was a pretty cool church we came across in the mountains not much else around but it…

On Wednesday we decided to head down to explore other parts of CO, so we headed southwest to the Red Rocks Amphitheater. That hike ended up being about 2 miles and was very cool! I didn’t realize (I don’t know where I’ve been) that CO has cacti and had some desert to it, the Red Rocks Amphitheater was full of red rocks obviously :p but it was really big smooth rock formations, and the amphitheater is almost built into the rocks. As you’re hiking along the trails you wouldn’t necessarily notice that there is an amphitheater there if it wasn’t for the signs, random parking lots and enormously big ramp to walk to get to the top.

From the top of the amphitheater, awesome views!

We could’ve used those two days “off” to work some more on the trailer, but we’ve been here for a couple weeks now and I’ve been just itching to get out and go! BUT, I have made some improvements on the trailer since then! I was able to find some individual stack-able drawers for our clothes! YAY! When I went to buy them, I went right back to the clearance spot where they were, and there was only 1 left! I was so sad, buuuut then I turned around and they just re-arranged the place J SO I got all 5 and an extra collapsible box so we have some more organization in our lives!

The white stack-able drawers are what I found to be useful to hold our clothes 🙂

My summer wardrobe (the little of it that exists) is slowly being cycled out and my fall and winter clothes are being brought into the trailer. Like I said… I crave this season so I am STOKED! We’ve had some cold nights so we’ve moved the electrical heater into the trailer. It looks like fan and it adjusts on and off with the temperature in the trailer which is very nice for those times we leave it on all night. As you can imagine it doesn’t take much to heat a small space like that, so that is an excellent feature… it does heat up like a sauna rather quickly. Of course that’s wouldn’t always be a bad thing as saunas are basically amazing, but not for sleeping. But EVEN BETTER the heater fan we use is a Vornado VH2 and we got it at a garage sale for $5. Ben insisted that it would be useful, and it has proved to be so far! WIN!

I feel like we are gaining some more order and footing in our lives. It’s a hard thing, change. I’ve said it once and I will say it a thousand times! BUT, it feels oH! So good when things start to chill out and the new routines start to feel “normal” again. (I hate that word, normal. It’s not a real thing.) But for lack of a better… “normal” is nice sometimes.

I picked the right Starbucks to sit at this beautiful afternoon. I’ve been writing this post for a few days, but the weather has been too awesome to stop and finish it. Now that I do, the sky is very clear, and I have a nice widow seat facing the snow peaked mountains in all of their glory, and my mint tea which is bomb.

The mountains are beautiful today, I may have to go explore some more 🙂

**fyi. I started this post on a Thursday and finished it on a Sunday. So if it was confusing that is why 😉

Tid bits —

September 28, 2015September 28, 2015 / erin / Leave a comment

SO: Here are some tid bits of how we are operating. EVERYTHING you see is open for interpretation and can be subject to change 🙂 it already has changed a few times… I’m thinking we are very quickly going to realize what we like above the rest, and what we deem a priority, and what we just plain can’t live without.

We purchased our first stove! #yay! LOL I’ve only used it once and that was to boil some water to make coffee in our french press we got from our wedding! BUT it worked like a charm AND it heated the water up faster than any conventional stove I’ve used. I found it at Target on clearance (another win)! The nice thing is, it is small and flat, compact enough to not be in the way.

For an oven we have a convection toaster oven / broiler, and it’s the kind that has the vent on the side. I found that beauty at a Goodwill a few years ago and those things are hard to find at a good deal, (the specific kind that we wanted). Okay the “we” on that one really means Ben — he was the one who had very very specific wants for a convection oven. BUT I found one hardly used at Goodwill for $14.00 and we’ve been winning ever since. That one is too valuable to let go and we now know why 🙂 And really it’s not all that big.

We also have a Black and Decker griddle that is used and abused, also slim enough to store away without being an issue. Once the kitchen is in design and production I’m imagining their own permanent homes, but for now they fit where they must!

My first time with the french press. I did have to YouTube how to make it, and I will get better with time (I hope!)

This shot was taken before we foamed the interior but look how cozy it is! That particular night it was rather windy but the sun was really hot, so we opened the ramp (my future patio deck) and clamped the bed sheet to the wires. I have OH so many ideas for the deck. But it all kind of depends on how we set up the sleeping area to know which direction we will take for the patio.

The bed is a queen and fits in there with about 4 inches on each side. We definitely will be needing to get a better sized bed as ours is not good with conserving space. But that is something we will have to work towards, eventually the bed will most likely be put up on a platform or an adjustable cable system (gotta love them DIYers and their ideas), or we could go with a more modern futon/fold out couch style set up. Multi-purpose… but for now our set up works just fine!

I mean honestly… This is like full time camping with some more style / conveniences … but just not all of the conveniences.

For now. 🙂

Working day – 2 & 3

September 21, 2015September 21, 2015 / erin / Leave a comment

We’ve started on the drywall and the floors now. I would love to say the drywall was a beautiful experience but holy crap was I ever frustrated with that drill. No issues now, I’ve moved on, and I don’t expect this is the last project that I will be working on so we will meet again.

Each time we do work on the interior we have to unload the trailer, do the work, then load everything back in… needless to say each time it gets more organized, practical, and it honestly starts to feel bigger. It might be without trim for a while on the inside but painting and staining day is coming! This is the first time either of us have ventured into something like this, so the work is definitely what I would call “homemade”, but I promise my vision is coming to a reality and it’s looking good!

I was trying to decide what to do for the floor. As construction continued I decided that I (which ended up being Ben) was going to just sand off the ick on the floor and ramp door and I will work on staining them so I have a “hard wood floor” look. I saw a fellow “micro-liver” do this on a YouTube video and thought it may work, look good, and save money in the long run. Fingers crossed!

On another note, here is another stunning Colorado sunset…

What I am also in the middle of trying to figure out is how we are going to have the bed set up in trailer. The mattress we have in there currently is your standard queen size, and it takes up way. to. much. space. SO. I’ve been looking into some space saver beds/couches and I’ve had luck, but haven’t quite found the “one” that clicks. I’m mostly doing online searches, and planning on having to possibly save up for a better quality one, but I want to make sure that we like it and its going to work for us! Since both of us are rather tall, the length matters a lot… I think we can get away with the width only being about the size of a double, but we cannot really skimp on the length.

I’ve ALSO been pouring over Pinterest looking for shower/bath/sink/kitchen combos and seeing how others have done it, or even if they have done it. Some trailers just skip the shower/bathroom idea because of the lack of space, however, with enough time to think and plan, I believe we can come up with some clever options. It’s really nice that in the mean time we are parked in an area that gives us a place to take care of all of that, and also work on the construction without worry of any issues arising.

I want everything to look good, put together, and still be homey and stylish, so I am okay with taking as much time as I need to perfect it all. We have the time, so we may as well use it.

Happy Monday! 🙂

Micro

September 14, 2015September 14, 2015 / erin / 1 Comment

Live the life you imagine.

Right?

So often we are paralyzed in life and stay confined to all of our comforts because anything else is terrifying. And it is, with good reason too… the world can be a bitch. BUT imagine finally letting yourself rise above the fear and do what you always dreamed of. The fear is there, it always is, and will be… but you do have a say in how much of a voice your fear will have.

My dreams? To live small.

I’ve always had this longing in my soul to travel. Travel the world, travel North America, get in a van and go. Stay in one place and work, and travel in my down time, or take my belongings and go. In whatever way I could make it work, I’ve wanted to. Several things have deterred me from making the leap over the years… Lack of knowledge of how to make it work, fear (yet again), debt < the BIG one, and that inner voice that keeps telling me that I’m crazy.

Thankfully I have found an amazing partner who happens to share my crazy dreams.

After having all our friends and family over to celebrate our marriage up in Washington, we found ourselves at the end of the chapter we were currently in. Not knowing what is (and still don’t know) in the next chapter, we found ourselves leaving one job and home in Washington to move to Colorado to start the next. This is where it gets interesting and the magic starts to happen….

While driving back home from visiting the family one weekend a month or so ago, my husband Ben and I got to talking about what we would do if something happened to the other. (Disclosure: We don’t have any kids, and we have no pets – YET ) It came up that if something did happen, we both planned to sell everything and travel the world like we always wanted to. While that is all fine and dandy, it upset me to my core. Why does the WORST have to happen to motivate us to live the life we always wanted? So for the rest of that 3 hour car trip (and the next 3 weeks) we talked scenario after scenario, possibility over possibility and what if’ed every thought that came to mind.

Could we make this work? Is this doable? Are we NUTS?! Yes we are.

The chain of events that happened after that led us to where we are now… Or rather where I am currently. In a Starbucks in a town north of Denver typing away at my keyboard looking for land to rent to put our 16×6 foot enclosed trailer that we are living in – and will be fixing up to make it permanently livable. Not so much a tiny home rather micro living, going from about 1700 square feet to 94 square feet.

We sold what we could, donated the rest and downsized like you wouldn’t believe. We kept our queen size mattress that fits perfectly in the trailer, one tall shelving unit and a hutch that was made by my dad. We also kept a small bedside table that has a nice storage area under the lid, and an area rug. What we couldn’t fit is going in storage for now until I can either find a place for it in the trailer or I can let go of the emotional ties. My clothing is going to be a big one, but I’ve heard of Project 333 (http://theproject333.com/getting-started/ ) and I am ready to give it a try!
The thought of big spacious rooms and areas never appealed to me much. I always saw tree houses or tiny rooms and imagined a little space that could be just mine. Cozy. Now with the tiny house movement in full swing I have resources and ideas from other crazy DIYers that can help make and shape my dreams into a reality… Now I just need to figure out how to use power tools.

This is just a blog of my life, and how we are going to give tiny living a try, and how it works for us!

Who knows, maybe we will be back in a one bedroom apartment in a month.. but I hope not, I just found a possible plot of land to rent! 🙂

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The before

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The after

dynomadic life

Dynamic Design. Nomadic Nature.

tinyhome

Colorado the Beautiful *

Tid bits —

Working day – 2 & 3

Micro