Well goodbye summer!

If you are joining me here after I shut down my facebook, I welcome you! It has been 2 weeks officially since I deactivated it, and I can honestly say I dont miss it, AND I feel lighter and more free of brain space. Its mighty refreshing.

This summer has literally BLASTED past us. We as a family, (as you may know) started our summer adventure moving into our camping trailer over 2 months ago. This was to give us a good chance to prep our house to be listed for sale. We spent hours on cleaning, repairs, and updates/remodels, worked in 100 degree weather, learned how to (or not to) tile a backsplash and a brick fireplace, and overall just poured out our all on this place. We listed it for sale about 10 days ago and received our first offer yesterday. We were THRILLED to say the least. We accepted the terms and are now awaiting the inspections, and appraisal. Did you know that its now standard for most home buyers to request a radon test, along with a sewer scope? Fascinating. We are praying for smooth inspections and a quick transition.

Lets be real here (am I ever not?) I love trailer living. SO MANY have asked us how we are, while rubbing our arm with a sympathetic look... We are great! Trailer life is actually quite awesome. We have had bumps in the road (literally and metaphorically speaking) we have battled over the tiny storage space, I have organized, and reorganized several times over to find what we need and dont actually need, we have felt the walls closing in, and also experienced the joy of a more simplistic living style. I came up with this "you know you live in a trailer when: " segment for your enjoyment. I have had so many friends say "I WOULD LOVE to do what you are doing," or "I AM going to talk my hubby into selling everything and buying a tiny house."  This is for you, for those of you who need a little insight onto the day to day living in a tiny house.

You know you live in a trailer when:

1. You realize what a light sleeper you are, when your son rocks the whole house using the potty.

2. You become expert status in meal planning, because the real estate in your fridge is minimal. You may even find yourself foraging in your moms garden for dinner.

3. You learn very quickly that if you forget to turn on the water heater 30 minutes in advance, you can either forgo your shower that day (again) or wait ever so patiently for the water to heat.

4. You discover how amazing and quick propane heats on the stove.

5. You fold laundry the second it comes out of the dryer (score) because otherwise its blocking either the whole walkway, or the whole couch.

6. Your kids become rock-hard sleepers because they go to bed and if you still want to watch a movie, you are in the same room. Sleep my children. Sleep.

7. You text private conversations to your spouse because lets face it, there is no privacy in a tiny house.

8. You become a stock holder in command-brand hooks and hang nearly everything you own from a hook or a hanger.

9. You dont keep a single spare thread or piece of scrap paper. There is simply not enough room. That receipt you want to keep? Go put it in your car.

10. If it seems like you are wearing the same clothes every 2-4 days.... Its because you are.


Seriously though. Its not bad at all. We were able to hitch up and leave for the weekend a few weeks ago, spent some time with Hubby's sweet Auntie and Uncle, hit the beach for the afternoon, and I didnt have to pack a single thing. Talk about being prepared!

Summer is quickly winding down, and we are looking forward to where God will take us next. Ethan is starting 1st grade in just a few short weeks and Luke and I will be starting preschool together. Seth and I will begin shopping for what I am calling our "forever" home. One can hope right? ;)

Thanks for checking in. Our family is so blessed with such amazing family and friends, Feel free to leave a comment! We would love to hear from you! :D

Fun at Peter Iredale

 The kids and I built an air tram for their legos. lots of fun!

 The view from the master bed. My jewelry, spare change, socks, earplugs, hat, and everything else misc. storage.

Just a normal morning in the trailer.

Take a Trailer tour: Part 3

Well you might be wondering how I managed to fit 14 cupboards, 9 drawers, and a pantry's worth of kitchen into a trailer kitchen comprised of 2 tiny drawers (not wide enough for a silverware tray) and 4 small cupoards, and 2 medium drawers in the entryway.

Here's how...

I have 3 rubbermaid storage totes in my moms garage.1 for baking supplies, 1 for misc. such as snacks, cereals, rice, pasta, ect. And a 3rd for my canned and bottled items, sauces, tea and spices. We also have a large chest freezer in the garage full of meat and our early summer bounty of berries.

We utilized entry way space for our tupperware (side note: I invested in the square pyrex "tupperware" from costco. All glass and all straight edges so they fit more efficiently), water bottles, and Seth installed a sliding drawer inside our lowest cupboard so we could pull it out to display everything. There I keep a weeks worth of food staples such as chicken broth, spaghetti sauce, olives, beans, chips, ect. The plan is to eventually be rid of the rubbermaid totes and only plan my meals about 1-2 weeks at a time to minimize waste.

I had a tiny double shelf under the sink and decided to make that my towel/kleenex/wet wipe station. (See my assistant rolling washcloths for me?)

I also have a great fruit basket that sits on top of the counter. Fruit, avocados, tomatoes, napkins,  and of course my tea :D

The fridge and freezer in the trailer are fairly small but I find that to be a blessing. Things don't get "lost". We end up with less waste and leftovers since it's all very clear what I have available.

We have learned that clothespins are super handy for many needs. Hanging my kitchen gloves to dry, holding up my tea selection for easy access (attached to my fruit basket.) Utilizing space has become a game for me. We have magnets on the fan/light panel about the stove for which to store all of the knives.  Silverware, measuring spoons, small utensils are kept in little buckets on the counter. We have Command hooks hanging inside the cupboard foods for large utensils, such as spatulas and whisks.

Out of all of my treasured kitchen appliances you'll notice which one made the cut. My Vitamix blender. It's multi-purpose. I can cook soup in it (yeah it cools!)- make smoothies and shakes,  blend berries for jam, nuts into almond butter, oats into oat flour, ect. It's a little bit magical really. We decided to make the left sink our "drying rack" and the small right sink the dirty dishes. This helps keep me from piling up tons of dirty dishes. I hate dirty dishes. If there were such thin as disposable pots and pans I would use them. This way, my dishes take me 5 minutes to do.

I've yet to use the oven, it's easy to just run to my moms house next door. The stove top is gas and works well. We have a small microwave which takes 284 minutes to make popcorn, which discourages us from even buying that garbage.

A little side feature of our kitchen tour is this little round ottoman. Talk about maximizing space. Seth picked it up at Fred Meyer and it was a good fit. Storage compartment for my current book, journal, Bible, planner, pens, papers, ect. Footrest. Stool for chef Luke to assist in the kitchen, and secret hiding spot. Where did luke go?

Take a Trailer tour: Part 1

We've made it 1 whole week here in Holmes Manor. We are adjusting to the small space in most ways, and other areas are taking extra grace.

I wanted to give a mini (haha) tour of our digs and storage solutions. I've had several ask "how do you do it?" And some interested in perusing a similar "Tiny House" adventure. So follow along and hopefully I can provide a few tips along the way.

I'm going to highlight the "kids rooms" today.

They have 1 cabinet that they share for toys, hoodies, hats, games, and books. We've equipped it with hanging shelves, tubs, storage bins, command hooks, and several hangers. The key is obviously to utilize every inch of space possible. They each have one drawer for ALL of their clothes except shoes go in bins outside our front door. The toys we selected were minimal, and thought out. Lego bin. Magnatiles. Coloring books and crayons. Tinker toys. 1 bin of planes/cars/superheros, a bin of games that have minimal pieces (except battleship for Ethan ) and books. I have large rubbermaid totes of games, books, and toys in my moms garage that we can rotate if needed.

They each have their own "room." It's personalized for their needs. Ethan got the top because of his ladder mastery. He also has his radio and a few books and his lovies and blankies. We love having the curtains on each room for privacy and light during quiet/bed times. It's not as good as a door, but it's the next best thing. Ethan still continues to do quiet time every day and loves his daily bowl of carrots (EVERY DAY) And recently is very into Lego building and creating. There are so many perks to Asbergers. Consistency, enjoying quiet solitude, and contentment with routine just to name a few..

Luke's room as you can see has some extra storage tubs we have to store extra linens, towels, toiletries, hoodies, coats, and backpacks. He doesn't seem to mind the invasion of his space.  (Both kids are happily playing tinker toys in the picture below). We don't have space for a fan so he has a small noise machine.

We've also hung 2 big canvas pocket storage units on the back of the bathroom door. These are for school work, moms paperwork and mail, art supplies, more books,  ect. They are sturdy and are super easy to hang with command hooks. 90% of our storage solutions we got from amazon.com.

Stay tuned for more of our trailer-tour ! :D