Our Home.

This is how I blog. I don't, and then I do. I've always tried to be better. Yet, I have kept a blog since I was 12 years old and still have not overcome this cycle. I don't know how interested anyone is, but this is what I do. Thank you for reading.

Right now, Ben and I are working full time and constructing our tiny home in the little bit of off time that we have. Ben works as a Service Coordinator at a car dealership. His daily commute is about 45 minutes each way, but he doesn't seem to mind. I am the office administrator at Buffalo River Outfitters, a company on the Buffalo National River that outfits canoe/kayak excursions and maintains some nearby cabins. I am able to take James to work, which is such a blessing and makes my working outside the home possible. Buffalo River Outfitters is only 15 minutes from my house as well, making it a great situation for me.

We work on our cottage on the weekends and when we can. The progress is very slow. I have had to overcome my impatience and learn that it's truly about the process. We have a lot of plans, but in the end we are also young and can be lazy, so it's an exercise in perseverance and dedication to our vision.

Currently, our short-term goals for 2019 include:

1. Finishing the base interior of our home, which means the last of the Sheetrock (painting, trim, etc), the ceiling, and the flooring.

2. Making and using more garden beds.

3. Installing our solar system on our home.

Our long-term goals:

1. Saving for property of our own.

2. Reducing our dependence on our jobs so that we have more time together and with James.

All Lord Willing of course.

Amenities: Right now in the cottage we have no electricity and no piped-in water. We use lanterns and battery-powered lights, and we haul water from a well downhill from our home. We have water dispensing containers that we fill and bring up, and we heat water on the stove for dishes, etc. Our toilet is a compost toilet, of the basest kind. We don't have a shower built yet, but use the shower in the house owned by my husband's gracious parents, just down the hill from us.

Comfort: We heat our home with our wood stove. In the summer, our home actually stays rather cool for a long portion of the day because we built in a breezeway located under three large trees. (This also means walnuts hit our roof with gunshot-like sounds for a small window of time every year. It's fun.) When the heat gets unbearable, we do have a window unit air conditioner that we ran with a generator a few times this past season. Mostly for James' sake - he was so little I got worried about him easily.

The outside of our home. The siding only has primer on it, and still obviously needs paint and trim. The plan is to put rock around the base, making storage and a place for the dogs to get out of the elements.

Our living space. I have a lot of ideas for this area, to add more seating and make it a bit more clean-looking. I would also like to add more storage to this space, but for now am trying to keep everything easy amidst the ongoing construction. (Note the Sheetrock and ladder in the background.)

Another shot of the kitchen.

And another.

Our bathroom. Simple, a container and a space for sawdust storage. Pretty self-explanatory.

Our little closet. This is actually all of our clothes, so I am pretty proud of our minimalism in this department. Obviously James' clothes aren't here, but still.

Our little upstairs bedroom. James' bassinet is at the end of the bed, but it was a dream to think that he was ever going to use it. I see that now.

That's all the tour I have today. May the Lord be with you all during the holiday season. Stay warm and safe.

I will be writing more soon, Lord willing.

Thank you for reading.

In Him,
Tracy