Scrapbook of a Home
This weekend marked the second weekend that we had the land under our ownership and could work on making real progress towards our move there in April 2014. Zac and I have been working on accepting the fact that because we have a one year old son and don't have adequate space for him to be at the land with us just yet, we must divide and conquer in the short-term. Thus, Zac camped out in Cedarville this past Friday night and spent that night and the next day working on patching the roof and soffit on the micro-cabin and clearing out some brush around it with a friend from work.
While Zac was away at the micro-cabin, I spent time when I could, beginning to clear out the clutter in our home and consolidate to make our move easier. Also, I found a shipping container that will be delivered to our land within the next 2 weeks. We have been storing all the building materials that have been donated in our rental property's garage and it is bursting at the seams so the shipping container's arrival will be met with much celebration indeed!
When Zac returned home, we spent the rest of the weekend working on designing our Eartship in Google SketchUp and have the roof, south-facing windows/ framing and cistern and root cellar to be completed prior to finishing up our first draft! We spoke with our consultants from Blue Rock Station and they are going to get us started on the roof and look over what we have thus far to ensure we are on the right path.
We have spent the great majority of the past two weeks disjointed as a family; dividing and conquering, dividing and conquering. I'm trying to compartmentalize the tasks that are to be completed so as not to become overwhelmed with the larger reality; that is, that we are literally building a house from trash (otherwise, more lovingly referred to as orphan treasures) and earth and are doing so in about 7 months time! Each small task needs to be completed and will add up to preparing us for the move and the build.
While it is difficult on all of us to be apart from one another, we've noticed that the time we have had together recently has been richer overall. Zac and I are no stranger to strong, hard pushes to reach short-term goals so this momentum feels familiar and energizing to us but is more complex than we've experienced in the past as we have a little guy to think about as well. However, we are keeping the big picture in mind and are willing to make short-term sacrifices in the quantity of family time now in the hopes that our dedication will provide us with a wealth of quality family time in the future.
So far, two weeks into our big push towards our Earthship build, I will say the lesson I have learned is that we need to embrace the moments we have together as a family unit and focus on quality, not quantity. Also, I need to be mindful not to get lost in the "end goal" of completing the Eartship because it certainly doesn't end there. At the risk of sounding too cliche, the journey is the destination and this mindset will be something I will have to continue to remind my type A personality that lives for deadlines and checklists.
With only a little over 25 weeks left until we make the move to our land, there is a long list of to-dos but with proper pacing, a lot of communication, support from family and friends, and some serious quality family time when we can get it, I know that we can pull this off.
All of the aforementioned text ^ was further supported by a book I've been reading called Housing Reclaimed. One chapter highlights the Baker family who built a 1,100 sf home from mostly reclaimed materials and did it with their 3 sons in tow! It was so inspirational to read about their journey and gave me more ammunition to move along with. The pride that each family member had in that unique, gorgeous home was immense and their family memories were literally built into each and every square inch of that home. They could look around and reminisce about where each component of their home came from and simultaneously recall the blood, sweat, tears and laughter that went into incorporating it into their family home.
I feel so fortunate to be on this journey and feel more alive today than ever before. We have already met some truly beautiful people whose faces we will see when we look about our home in years to come. One day, we will be able to look at the scrapbook of a home we have created and the love that went into erecting it will be palpable I'm sure! I feel like I need to pinch myself... we are really doing this!
While Zac was away at the micro-cabin, I spent time when I could, beginning to clear out the clutter in our home and consolidate to make our move easier. Also, I found a shipping container that will be delivered to our land within the next 2 weeks. We have been storing all the building materials that have been donated in our rental property's garage and it is bursting at the seams so the shipping container's arrival will be met with much celebration indeed!
When Zac returned home, we spent the rest of the weekend working on designing our Eartship in Google SketchUp and have the roof, south-facing windows/ framing and cistern and root cellar to be completed prior to finishing up our first draft! We spoke with our consultants from Blue Rock Station and they are going to get us started on the roof and look over what we have thus far to ensure we are on the right path.
We have spent the great majority of the past two weeks disjointed as a family; dividing and conquering, dividing and conquering. I'm trying to compartmentalize the tasks that are to be completed so as not to become overwhelmed with the larger reality; that is, that we are literally building a house from trash (otherwise, more lovingly referred to as orphan treasures) and earth and are doing so in about 7 months time! Each small task needs to be completed and will add up to preparing us for the move and the build.
While it is difficult on all of us to be apart from one another, we've noticed that the time we have had together recently has been richer overall. Zac and I are no stranger to strong, hard pushes to reach short-term goals so this momentum feels familiar and energizing to us but is more complex than we've experienced in the past as we have a little guy to think about as well. However, we are keeping the big picture in mind and are willing to make short-term sacrifices in the quantity of family time now in the hopes that our dedication will provide us with a wealth of quality family time in the future.
So far, two weeks into our big push towards our Earthship build, I will say the lesson I have learned is that we need to embrace the moments we have together as a family unit and focus on quality, not quantity. Also, I need to be mindful not to get lost in the "end goal" of completing the Eartship because it certainly doesn't end there. At the risk of sounding too cliche, the journey is the destination and this mindset will be something I will have to continue to remind my type A personality that lives for deadlines and checklists.
With only a little over 25 weeks left until we make the move to our land, there is a long list of to-dos but with proper pacing, a lot of communication, support from family and friends, and some serious quality family time when we can get it, I know that we can pull this off.
All of the aforementioned text ^ was further supported by a book I've been reading called Housing Reclaimed. One chapter highlights the Baker family who built a 1,100 sf home from mostly reclaimed materials and did it with their 3 sons in tow! It was so inspirational to read about their journey and gave me more ammunition to move along with. The pride that each family member had in that unique, gorgeous home was immense and their family memories were literally built into each and every square inch of that home. They could look around and reminisce about where each component of their home came from and simultaneously recall the blood, sweat, tears and laughter that went into incorporating it into their family home.
I feel so fortunate to be on this journey and feel more alive today than ever before. We have already met some truly beautiful people whose faces we will see when we look about our home in years to come. One day, we will be able to look at the scrapbook of a home we have created and the love that went into erecting it will be palpable I'm sure! I feel like I need to pinch myself... we are really doing this!
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