I'm doomed.

I just packed up my van to move out of my sister's house.  I'm doomed.  This is the second full van load I've packed up.  I know I have not downsized enough for a tiny house.  I have this image in my mind of a tiny house filled with stuff with barely any room to move around.  I'll look like a hoarder!

Sigh, then my husband calls on his break from work: "I'm just excited about the tiny house and wanted to talk to you!  Are you excited?!"  Well...that emotion isn't exactly the one I am feeling right now.

Unsure?  Yep!  Trepidation?  Yep!  Hope?  YES!

I hope when we get into the space I will have a better idea of what I need and what I don't.  I hope I will know where everything will fit.  I hope all my tubs of things will dissipate in the houses nooks and crannies and I won't have to decide what else to get rid of!  

It's so BIG!

Rob at Tiny Heights tells me: "Its so Big!" and I laugh because the only person around here besides me who thinks THIS is big is my husband!  BUT we crazy tiny houser's think it's big and we'll be the ones living in it :)

I know I'm crazy but I really am SO excited!  Lots of windows!  Windows in the lofts, windows in the living area, windows on both sides of my kitchen just like I wanted!  I'm pretty sure that part of my excitement comes from the fact that I know the house isn't going to stay like this for long.  Tiny Heights is fast and I know that it will have siding and plumbing soon!

The Imaginary House

C. started calling our house "the imaginary house" back when he was building it.  I think the term fits nicely, especially for someone like me who can only imagine what the house might look like.  I am having a hard time right now trying to plan but realizing I really shouldn't plan because we don't really know what to plan for.  I am tired of the hike and ready for it to be over.  The adventurer in me is ready to be done adventuring.  I guess this is not unlike our walk with Christ: we're all excited until we get tired and then we want it over with.  We cry to God for strength and deliverance but the hike isn't over yet.  The best is yet to come.  "Do not lose heart in doing good, for in due time you will reap a harvest if you do not grow weary" (Gal. 6:9). The hike isn't over yet.

Switchbacks in our lives: #1, 2 and 3

We were headed forward on a path that seemed clear. Well, it was about as clear as a paved hiking trail around a lake: we could usually see when a turn was coming up and when it came we weren't real surprised about what was around it.  C. was working full time at job in Seattle and working on the weekends at a job in Tacoma.  He was using the skills he went to school for and ministering as much as possible in the positions.  I was working part-time at my job outside the home and full-time at my job at home.  We were all busy with sports, school (homeschool and public school), bible studies, church and ministering in our communities.

Suddenly our path turned into a hiking trail on a steep mountain.

Switchback #1:  OK.
My sister sent me a link to a home for sale not far from my parents.  I like the house and location and thinking "someday......" I showed it to C..  He said, "Ok.  We could sell this place and buy that one or...or...or...(and) I could apply for jobs down there and see what happens."  Suddenly I'm calling mortgage brokers and real estate agents and trying to figure out how to buy a different house.  Upon advice given, we started to plan to rent out our house and purchase the new house.  I also started looking for jobs for C. in the city my parents (and my plotting sister ;) ) live in.

Something came abundantly clear to C. and I during this first stretch of trail: our lives needed a change.  We hardly had any family time together.  C. was working two jobs in two different cities, one with a 2 hour a day commute and both in a different city than we lived in.  We were ministering in 5 different cities (that means A LOT of driving).  I worked 20 minutes away from home but with dropping and picking kids up for childcare it was often a 1 hour commute.  With C. gone most of the time sometimes half my paycheck went to pay for childcare.  We had a large house that we could barely afford to live in and certainly couldn't afford to fix up the way it needed.  C. looked at me on this first switchback and said, "Even if this (move and house) doesn't work out, I think something needs to change."  I burst into tears.  Yeah, I guess something needed to change and thankfully my perceptive husband recognized it!

Switchback #2: Jobs.
This was a gradual switchback compared to some of the others!  I started looking applying for jobs in the new city and there were actually some openings in C.'s field.  C. applied for them.  C. got called in for interviews.  THIS HAD NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE WHEN WE APPLIED IN THIS CITY.  C. didn't just get called in for A interview.  He got 3 job interviews within a month. At this time he was also being looked at for a possible full time position at his Tacoma job.  He was offered a job in the new city and he was also offered the full time job in Tacoma.  The job in Tacoma would not pay as much or have a good of benefits. He accepted a job the in the new city that could use his skills from his Bachelors and Masters degrees.  He started almost right away and began living in the new city during the week. This started our move in motion for sure!

Switchback #3: House?
The house and property that started us on this mountain hike ended up not being available after all (the original owner has since moved back into it).  I wanted to rent our house out to single moms with low incomes.  I started looking into how to make this possible.  I was also looking at houses we could rent while we rented out our house.  We were thinking we could buy once we got settled.

Most nerve wracking, emotionally challenging and shocking,
Switchback #4: coming soon...

Very tricky, very slow, very dangerous river...I'm alive and I'll wear a life jacket if I ever go on that river again!

My FAVORITE of the trailer ordeal:  We got to rent a truck and I got to drive it!

 Not to mention the fact that it had AIR CONDITIONING and the temperature was, oh, about 100 degrees!  We had such a nice drive...until we had to give the truck back, climb into our small, VERY HOT station wagon and take a 4 1/2 drive to our vacation destination.  But hey, a WONDERFUL week long vacation was at the end of that drive so it's all good now!


Agalia had lots of good times in the river, coloring with Grandma, and playing with cousins:

James caught his first (2!) fish actually fishing 

(like on a lake, in a boat, waiting, and waiting and waiting...). 

Me and this river did not get along very well...

but me and the little ones got along great...especially after I gave them little stuffies...it's an auntie's prerogative after all :)

We topped off our amazing week with a trip to the Aplets and Cotlets factory.  The kids loved watching the candy be made...although, they just might have liked sampling it more!

 

Meanwhile Tiny Heights Homes was storming the doors of the trailer company so they could get an actual tiny house trailer to work with: our trailer just wasn't going to cut it.  Hopefully sometime this week the trailer will come in and the framing will begin on our tiny house.  We are all very thankful for a wonderful, much needed, vacation and also for family we can spend a whole week with and still want to do it again next year!