Sheer Elation/Terror Envelops Us

With only 7 DAYS (!!!) left until we are set to begin our Earthship build, you may be wondering how we're holding up.  Let's just say, we are vacillating between overwhelming excitement and sheer terror.  As a family, we have literally placed all of our eggs (financially, emotionally, physically) into this one basket and while we know we can make this work, one can't help but wonder... what if we can't?!

Tire #1 and Tire #2 of the 800-900 it will take to build our home!

Our biggest concern at this point is not having everything formally approved by the county and not having a clear idea of exactly what tests we should have performed before beginning the build (i.e. Proctor test, core test from completed tires, etc.). We want to ensure that we are covering our bases so that the county doesn't have to do a forensic inspection of what has been completed and so we want to make sure they are in the loop throughout the build.  As I mentioned in previous posts, they are aware of the fact that we are moving forward with the build despite not having the formal permit and they have been incredibly helpful and understanding of our situation (see our post on Building a Rifle Range Backstop for more information).  While not ideal, we couldn't turn away the 35 or so people we have coming out to the first workshop to help us with the tire foundation and so we hope to have a permit before the next workshop on May 17th.

Also, with this being Spring and with us being so close to the flood plane, our land is quite soggy as you can imagine.  Thus, we are going to work with the guy who is helping us with our site prep to create trenches alongside our build site to encourage the water to run off into those as opposed to pooling on our site.  While our plan was initially to do all the site prep ourselves with a large Bobcat that we rented last weekend, our plans were foiled by the aforementioned H2O.  We didn't rent one with tracks which would have helped it grip the soil as opposed to simply sink and were unable to do much of anything with it.

Fortunately, after making LOTS of frantic phone calls early Monday morning, we came across a local, family run excavating company who was able to come out within hours of our phone call to begin the site prep.  Due to all the rain we were expected to get this week, he is going to be coming back mid-next week to finish up the site prep; hoping that we don't get too much rain late next week that will undo it all.

Later Monday, Elliot and I drove to Cedarville to bring dinner to Zac and to see the prep work that had been begun earlier that day.  It is hard to tell in the picture but a DRASTIC change took place!  The site was completely covered with brush initially and when we arrived, everything was staked out and the land was beginning to look more like a build site.

It was surreal walking around our staked-out site and envisioning the spaces that would be our future, kitchen, bedrooms, living room, etc.  We spent a while playing around and dreaming for a bit...

Zac and I are really trying to focus on making the most of this journey and to stay positive.  I think when we have the building permit and have a better idea of what we need to do to appease the county building officials, we will feel a bit calmer.  Actually, scratch that.. I think it would be wiser and healthier to realize that this cautious optimism/ elation/ sheer terror mixture we're awash with is something we should embrace.  Once we obtain a building permit, we will still have deadlines and countless struggles ahead of us.  But, we are so incredibly fortunate to be making this change in our lives when we are and to have the support of so many in our family and community to help make this all happen. It is all a matter of perspective and we are going to have to choose to look on the bright side and enjoy the ride is we're to emerge from this process with our sanity and smiles intact.

As I've said before, I'm quite superstitious so I think it has been hard for me to let loose the unbridled joy locked inside as I don't want to be let down because there have been so many ups and downs already.  However, for today, I think I'm going to allow some of my elation to shine through because I know that we have it in us to make our dream home a reality; regardless of what hurdles lie ahead!

This morning, Zac picked up a gargantuan bundle of cardboard from Trader Joe's to be used in the first phase of our build.  Cardboard is placed in the bottom of each tire prior to it being pounded with dirt to ensure that the dirt doesn't come out the bottom of the tire.  We were so pleased to be able to get all the cardboard we will likely need in just one trip and are so appreciative of the Trader Joe's staff who helped get it loaded in the trailer!  We were told that each bundle has approximately 800-1000 boxes!

My two guys peering over the mountain of boxes!

Jumping in the future hallway as Elliot plays in his future bedroom...

Hanging out in the bathroom...