I've been putting off writing this post...avoiding it really. I haven't wanted to write it and put it out there because it would make it real.
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We have had some amazing thunderstorms this week in Iowa. It has been beautiful! Last summer, as we were just getting settled into Lil Blue, we seemed to have much more extreme weather. We had severe thunderstorms, tornado watches and warnings, rain and high winds all the time. That, as well as high heat and humidity---and no air conditioner! It was not fun. This year, the storms seem much more mellow, which is nice because then we aren't worried about blowing away! And we still get to enjoy the beauty of them. For this week's Friday Inspiration, I just want to show you some pictures of the beauty we've seen on the farm in these storms. We even had the most remarkable double rainbow!
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I think every Friday should have an inspiration post. Whether it's funny or beautiful, it's always nice to start the weekend off with something inspirational.
Today I had a friend visit me at Lil Blue. The past three days we've been under a heat advisory. Yesterday, with the heat index, it got up to 115 degrees! Today, my friend and I sat in the coolness of my home (thanks to our small AC window unit!) and chatted together while being entertained by Foxy Brown. Then we headed out into the scorching Iowa heat and humidity so she could see and pet the farm animals.
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I have posted quite a few pictures on this blog of the exterior of our tiny house but have posted hardly any of the inside (other than my messy house post). I've had a lot of people ask to see the interior and are really curious about it. I've put it off for a year because I kept telling myself I was going to take better pictures. I figure I may as well stop procrastinating. Some things have changed since these photos were taken but it's better to give you all an idea of what it looks like in general and then give updates as we change things.
So here it is, finally, a tiny house tour of Lil Blue...
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It's official. We have been living tiny for over ONE YEAR!!!!!! I can't believe we are already at that mark. In some ways it seems like our journey from how it all began til now started forever ago. And in other ways it feels like it JUST happened. We have now experienced every season in this house and on the farm, making us officially out of the transition period now that we have a better idea of what to expect throughout the year.
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Well, I have really dropped-the-ball lately on blogging. Not that I was that consistent before but now I haven't written anything in six weeks. We've had a crazy couple of months and my mind just hasn't been on writing.
April kept us busy with our awesome vacation to New York and Washington DC. Things with work amped-up for both of us and the rest of the month flew by! I was especially preoccupied with recreating the look of the farm's booth for the farmers' market.
Read MoreJordan and I recently went on a ten day vacation to New York City and to Washington DC. We had the best time and experienced so much! It was wonderful to have some time away together and even better, we rented a huge house with a group of my friends from college, and all had a long weekend together. It was just what we needed! It was restoring to be with people we care for so much and who know me so deeply. It was wonderful to get away, see and do and eat new things, and take a break from our everyday lives. We weren't ready to return when we did, and the day we came back, we realized we had made one very stupid mistake.
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Jordan and I recently went on a ten day vacation to New York City and to Washington DC. We had the best time and experienced so much! It was wonderful to have some time away together and even better, we rented a huge house with a group of my friends from college, and all had a long weekend together. It was just what we needed! It was restoring to be with people we care for so much and who know me so deeply. It was wonderful to get away, see and do and eat new things, and take a break from our everyday lives. We weren't ready to return when we did, and the day we came back, we realized we had made one very stupid mistake.
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Though winter was kind of rough for us in the tiny house, spring came early! We have enjoyed a major thaw the past month or so with warmer temperatures and happier living. We no longer are in fear of our water freezing or quite as concerned with our heat sources. We've already packed away our winter coats (though it may still be a bit premature for that) and are looking forward to a season of enjoying tiny living without constantly being in survival mode.
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The biggest difficulty and the hardest transition for us living tiny has been our constant challenge of getting water. Our house is hook-up ready which means we have a spigot on the outside of the house that we can connect a hose to in order to have instantly running water. However, where we are parked, there is no water source to connect to in that way. We knew this when we decided to park here and realized that that would be a big learning curve to work through.
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We have had such a warm start to winter here in Iowa, it's basically been a long long fall. Which has been nice and kind of a relief as we are nervous for tiny house living and what that entails during a rough and cold winter. Even though we have enjoyed the warmth and greenery, I was longing for a white Christmas and was certain it was not going to happen. Then we woke up on Christmas Eve day to the perfect big-flake snowfall and a couple of inches covering the ground. It was gorgeous!
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It is mid-December and we are finally finishing up getting Lil Blue ready for winter. Granted, we have had a pretty warm start so we haven't been too motivated to get things finished. It's hard to prepare for snow when you barely need a coat.
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Today is a dreary, gray, December day. It's been beautiful and unseasonably warm here all fall and winter so far. The fog never lifted today and it has felt cozy inside Lil Blue. The farm is still and quiet. I couldn't resist a walk with the hubs out into the pastures to see the animals. Some of the cats followed us around as we said hello to the chickens, were startled by the old-man-cough of a goat, watched the sheep bury their heads in hay, marveled at the always beautiful horses, and laughed at the huge boogers coming out of the cows' noses.
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