An invitation to share our story at the 2013 TEDxSFA event.
Many thanks to the WPSD Local 6 news team for their interest in our home.
Its always good to reflect…
A Tiny Garden
Saturday, March 24th, 2012:
We have been settling in to our new home and location quite nicely. It really is quite amazing how well the house traveled. Nothing rattled loose, no pipes broken, the front door still closes snugly. All of the things that run through your mind over 600 miles of bumps, pot holes, and rough patches of road can drive you mad.
We have opted to rent a spot in an RV park for the time being. It is quiet, has water and electricity readily available, and comes complete with friendly RVer’s for neighbors and kind landlords. Getting to know more about the RV crowd and sub-culture is going to be an unexpected treat. There are more than a few folks whom we’ve met already who have deliberately chosen a more simple and paired down life in the form of RV living.
The next major phase of our tiny house experience will be finding a small patch of land to purchase that not only has water and electricity available, but also isn’t laden with restrictions that will bar a couple living in a house under 200 square feet / Hand-built RV.
In the mean time, we’ve taken advantage of the great spring weather to plant a small ‘square foot’ garden on our rented lot. Put in some summer crops -Tomatoes and squash- as well as several herbs.
NOW it feels like a home!
The Move.
Wednesday, March 7th, 2012:
One of the many things that attracted us as we considered building a Tiny House was the concept that we’d always have our home, no matter where our lives may take us. We said goodbyes to our Southern Illinois community and the many dear friends who helped make our dream possible and hitched our tiny house up to a 14′ one-ton U-Haul to pursue a Ph.D. and a new job coordinating a university outdoor program.
At 7,800 pounds, the tiny house was quite a load, but hauled smooth and steady. Aside from keeping the speed between 55 and 60mph, after a while it was hard to tell it was even there.
Our first experience of having a house that goes where we go came as we pulled into a rest stop for the night, about half way to our goal. We parked the U-Haul and crawled straight into the loft. While others slept in their vehicles, we were right at home.
This entire experience has been incredibly educational and paradigm changing. An example of the drastic adjustment in our lives became clear as we realized how empty the U-Haul box still looked once we’d finished loading all of our things. We had filled only a small portion of the front of the 14′ box, only 1 layer of packing boxes deep.
To put this in perspective, I had moved to Southern Illinois exactly 10 years prior and had completely filled a 24′ U-Haul with just one person’s stuff.
A satisfying moment of clarity, to say the least.
Monday, March 5th, 2012:
One of the last projects on the ‘to-do’ list can be checked off… We have finally gotten around to putting up the vented cedar soffeting under the edges of the roof. We made these by cutting long oval holes every few feet into cedar 1X4’s and protected the openings with small-gage chicken wire. Attached them to the fascia with 2 1/2″ coated deck screws.
Beginning a Journey to Live More Simply.
Saturday, January 14th, 2012:
The first few weeks have been a BLAST!
Friday, December 30th, 2011:
Time to give this thing a try…
A year and a half of learning, community, and dreaming. An investment in sweat, splinters and smashed fingers. A life time of possessions down-sized. A life-time partnership strengthened. An education. A HOME.
Thursday, December 29th, 2011:
We opted to utilize a bench seat at the desk/table that would both serve as a place to sit as well as a storage bin.
How many times do we have ‘things’ in our hands when we walk into our homes? And how many times do these things just get dumped on the nearest flat surface until we know what to do with them?
That’s how clutter happens, and when space is so limited clutter must be minimized at all costs. The storage bin will serve as our staging area for the random things coming into our lives as we determine what to keep and what to send along its way…
We are grateful to have such skilled and talented friends! Many thanks to Bugs Reaka for building our hand-made bench!
Built By Friends: Evan & Gabby's Tiny House 