Timing is everything.

So, remember back to the beginning of our move? Remember the reasons we bought the Airstream? All of our grand plans to build a house and buy 11 acres and live in the 'Stream while we built? Well... funny thing about plans: They Change!

They change and shift and you have to change right along with them or you get all bent out of shape! Roll with the punches, as they say. Well, after trying to buy the land and having it fall through and not really knowing where to go from there, we just sorta figured we'd just live in the Airstream where it is through the winter and then maybe move it up to my parents' property for the spring and summer and save money like crazy. We would, of course, keep our eyes open for property in the meantime but, we figured it would be spring before we really started looking again. Then, BAM! We see this house come on the market. We seriously could not believe it.

Our story with this homestead began back in 2007. We had owned our Main St. house for about a year and we were getting more into real food and fermented foods, etc... I wanted to start making kefir and so I started looking around. I found this wacky blog somehow and they were selling kefir grains. They were also selling their mini-homestead. We drove out, got the tour from the homeowners and commented on how much we would love to be able to buy their house but we just weren't in the market right then. We eventually bought the kefir grains and went on our way. Ever since then, this place has been somewhere in the back of our minds as the perfect little starter-homestead. Big enough to provide for all of our food needs and small enough to manage as newbies. It came on the market again in 2011 but, we weren't looking to move then. We had a baby and a dog and we were happy living in town.

Now, here we are, two years later and I find this house on the market again. Apparently, each time the owners went to sell (yes, the same owners we met 5 years ago) they had plans fall through. Family illness, bad financing, change-of-mind... so they just kept on living there, assuming it wasn't time to leave yet. I guess the house was being saved for us. (As long as everything continues to go smoothly.)

So, here we are. Buying a house.

It has just under 4 acres, an old barn, a milking shed, a chicken house, rabbit hutches, trees, gardens, herbs, fencing, views, privacy... it's got it all. Sure, 4 acres isn't a huge amount of land and we won't be running a large-scale farm but, I think it fits us just right.

The house is 1600+/- sqft which is almost double the size of our last house. HUGE change! It has 4 bedrooms, 1 bath and a full, dry (dry, guys, dry!) basement. It is the original farmhouse on the road and was built by the Hale family (hence, Hale Rd) in the early 40's. The house is totally outdated and will eventually need a makeover, including a new kitchen and bathroom, but for now we just plan on painting pretty much everything to freshen it all up and then live with the old stuff until we can save up some money to renovate. Lots of potential here!

There's an old, tiny cabin in the back called the "summer kitchen" where the original family lived while they built and then I guess they cooked out there in the summer sometimes after they moved into the main house. Pretty cute little place. Perfect workshop.

I could go on about all of the little gardens and everything but, I'll let you take a look at these photos instead.

Side of the house. The door goes into the "breezeway" (which is my favorite part!)
 and then into the kitchen.

Front. Will need some love but, we'll be glad to give it.

The "breezeway". Best thing ever.  

Here's the way old and outdated kitchen. One row of cabinets.
I love the bay window over the sink though!! 

Oh, hello refrigerator! Why are you all the way on the other side of the room?
No one knows. We will have to figure out how to fix this.
Wood stove = awesome.

Dining area (Dining area, people! A real one!), stairs to upper bedrooms,
doorway to family room. There's that fridge again...

Bathroom, obviously. It's not horrible... but will get an update eventually.

Upper bedroom #1.
That brick chimney will give off some nice warmth in the winter.
Huge closets.

Upper bedroom #2.
Lovely views of the pasture.

The pasture!

And if you REALLY want to see more, the homeowners have a bazillion videos on YouTube. Here's one of them. Beware, this guy just talks and talks.

We appreciate your prayers for everything to go smoothly as we still have to get through inspections and the appraisal before we can close. Closing is set for December 10th, as of right now. Just in time for Christmas! :-)

"Now, what in the world are you guys going to do with the Airstream??" you might ask. Well, I'll tell ya. As it stands right now, we plan to keep it. I just love it so much and I don't want to part with it. It's the perfect guest house and although the house will have a guest bedroom, they'll also have the option of a whole Airstream to themselves. We are also considering renting it out eventually for weekends and Tech games, etc... If we do that, we'll set it up somewhere more private on the property for a nice little getaway. Check out these! Rob and I have always wanted to run a bed and breakfast so, maybe this is the twist on the traditional recipe. ;-)

Anyway, I'm sure there's lots more I could say and will say in the coming months but, for now, we're excited and ready for our next adventure! Cheers!

Things rarely go according to plan.

The mind of man plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.
~ Proverbs 16:9 (NASB)

First off, I can't believe it's been so long since I last wrote on here. A lot has happened since we moved in nearly two months ago. I can't believe it's been two months! In some ways, it feels like forever ago... like we've been living in the Airstream for much longer. We're pretty comfortable in here and it feels natural, for the most part. When I think about moving out of here someday I actually get a little sad. There's something just so nice about being so simple. I don't have a big house to clean. I don't have a ton of stuff laying around that I don't use or really even want. When I think about my 300 sqft storage unit that's packed to the hilt with my things, I just want to burn it all (or at least most of it) and start over. Being a pack rat who is terrible at throwing/giving things away, that's a big deal! I think living in here has given Rob and I a new perspective on what we really need and, surprise surprise!, it's not much. I've even been tempted to get rid of more stuff out of the camper because, in the past 2 months, I haven't even touched it. If I'm not using it, why do I have it? 

When we finally do have a house again and all of our stuff is back out of storage, I'm going to be very selective about what comes out of a box and into my house and what just goes to a yard sale/Goodwill. I don't want to have things in my house that don't have a purpose or a meaning. And don't even get me started on Will's toys. He currently has about 1/5 of his books and toys here in the camper and we haven't even missed the rest. I'm so grateful for the people who have gifted him the things he has so, don't get me wrong but, I think I'm going to have to limit the toys in the future. Besides, since our plan is to have land and animals, etc... he'll have plenty to do outside! (And so will we!)

Ok. I'll be done with my "stuff" rant now. ;-)

Back to the Airstream... 

We finally have hot water! It took 6 weeks but, we've got it now! Very exciting. It's a propane, on-demand water heater and it's working really well so far. Doing dishes in the Airstream is challenging enough as it is and it's nice not to have to boil water in the kettle first. I swear, I will never complain about doing dishes in a "real" kitchen again. (Never say never! ;-) ) Even without a dishwasher, a full-sized kitchen with actual counter-space makes doing the washing so. much. easier. However, we've got a pretty good system down in here and it works fine. I just have to stay on top of it all or it gets out of hand VERY easily. Right now I'm lookin' at 2 bowls, 3 plates and a pan that are dirty and I better wash them soon or I'll have no room on the counter. Discipline, discipline, discipline. I guess that's good for me. 

Rob is also working on installing the bathroom sink & faucet and building the vanity. We've had to custom build it because it's such a weird, small space and the countertop has to go around the water heater, which is hung on the wall. I think it's turning out really well and I can't wait for it to be functional! After that, we still have to install the composting toilet (Yes, I said composting toilet!) and get the shower working. I'll write more about those as they happen. 

Here are some photos of the progress. 

The water heater and custom vanity in process.

The vanity will be fitted with beadboard when it's done.

This is the vent for the water heater. 

Ok. Not a project picture but, that little bar with hooks from Ikea has saved my kitchen. Love it!

The custom wooden countertop. "Looks like Utah!" ... almost.

The 'Stream chillin' in its spot next to the house.

Lots of sanding and then several coats of poly.

A dry fit test. Looks pretty good!

I love this bowl. You can't beat $30 and a great story!

I'd also like to say that living in a very small space with a puppy hasn't been too bad. I actually am convinced that it has made potty training easier, has prevented him from chewing on things he shouldn't (at least, not for more than a few seconds) and has helped us to be more in tune with him in general. He is now nearly 15 weeks old which means we've had him for 7 weeks already! For those of you who aren't also FB friends with me, his name was finally chosen after having him home for 10 days and the vote was: Benson. He's still very nippy and he barks too much for my liking, even at 15wks. We're working on those things though. He's also in a really great obedience class. He's so smart and I'm hoping to get him involved in agility classes, even if only for fun!

This was Benson at 8 weeks, the day we brought him home.

And here's my ragamuffin now. 15 weeks old. 

He's so scruffy! Chewin' an antler out in the yard. :-)

Oh yeah, and now for some pretty big news. News we weren't anticipating happening but, things don't always go according to plan. We placed an offer on a house and it has been accepted. WHAT?! That's right. It looks like we are buying a house! I have to admit, my head is spinning a little bit. I'm going to devote my next post to this news and the interesting and fun facts surrounding it, as well as let you know what's in the future for the Airstream. Look for that post in the next day or two!