Starting Over... Again

My original job in Houston offer fell through - AFTER we had sold our house and made it to Texas.

We ended up living in my buddy's garage for a few months and I reluctantly took a job in Austin that wasn't a great fit for me - and it was an hours drive from where we were staying. But, the bills needed to get paid.

It didn't take long before the garage living situation became unbearable, so we moved into a 3 bedroom apartment (closer to work) the first chance we could. We never really unpacked though. We just weren't ready to settle in yet.

House Hunting

Since a lot of property was is dirt cheap in Texas, we decided to make the best of the situation and look for a house and continue with our homesteading mission.

We started house hunting and put offers in a few different houses - none of which ever went through. It was REALLY frustrating.

Our luck eventually changed and we found a really awesome turn of the century house in Lampasas. It was really out of the way, but we decided to go ahead and put an offer in on it anyways.

The house needed A LOT of work so it required special financing and bids from contractors.

The owner was more than happy to accept our offer while we worked out the details.

Most of the house was gutted so we were working with a clean slate. We were able to design the kitchen from the ground up which was awesome.


We did all the design work ourselves and had a really good plan on what we wanted to happen and how we'd do it within budget. The contractors were all in agreeance. We were ecstatic with how things were going.

One day we took a walk downtown and while window shopping at an antique store we were introduced to the President of the local Chamber of Commerce. She was able to give us the whole history of the house we were getting ready to buy. Apparently, for a number of years, it was run as a hospice - which explains the poorly constructed rooms that were built on the deck. Something we had planned to return to its former glory.

The stories just made our hearts swell a little larger with pride and we were happy that we were going to be able to call this house and the city of Lampasas home.

Because of the type of loan we were getting the process took a little longer than the normal. It was a grueling process that required patience.

We were about four weeks into it and about two weeks away from closing when the hammer dropped.

We got some bad news. AGAIN.

After working my ass off for six months, I was losing my job. It was more or less a mutual decision - not based on the quality of my work but the ability to perform the job over the long term with my bad back. I was a liability. Oh well, I didn't much like the job anyways, so I wasn't all that heartbroken about it. Now I could just go find another job.

If it were only that easy, though.

I took me almost three months just to get that last job, and Liz hadn't had any luck finding work since we got to Texas. 

What in the hell were we going to do about the house? Do we just not say anything to the finance company and hope were able to figure something out before the first mortgage payment is due? That was an option I suppose but probably not the smart choice.

After a lot of thought, we decided to back out. It was just safer that way. We didn't want to get stuck in a house that we couldn't pay for - in a state that was thousands of miles from our other family.

Even with the bad news (again), we weren't quite ready to call it quits on Texas. We came down here to get our own fresh start. There'd be other houses and there'd be other jobs.

My ex-father-in-law called me one day out of the blue and said they had noticed or heard that we were struggling. He told me that if ever wanted to move back to Washington that we were more than welcome to move into one of their rentals in the Vancouver/Portland area. We'd only have to pay the cost of the mortgage. No pressure - just letting us know that it was an option if we ever needed it.

It was a really nice gesture to which I said thank you and that I'd let him know if it came down to it. We put that idea in our back pocket for later use, if need be.

We spent the next month or so looking for other jobs but didn't have much luck and we lived off of our savings. It wasn't long before we were at the point of no return - we had just enough money left to move back to Washington if we still wanted.

Decisions, decisions.

The lease was up on our apartment the following month and since we had no promising leads on jobs we had a choice to make. Stay and live on faith that something would come our way OR head back to the Pacific Northwest and be closer to our family.

Since I was no longer working, in the meantime I thought it best if I used my veterans benefits and started going back to school and hit the books full-time. This was a great idea but it also dawned on us that it would be a lot easier if we had family around to help with kids and stuff at the same time.

We called up my ex-father-in-law and told him we'd take him up on the house offer.

Less than a year after uprooting the family and driving across the country we found ourselves doing it again but this time, heading back to the Evergreen State.

Road Trip!

Our trip back was eventful. Late into our first day on the road, the brand new trailer lost a wheel in Oklahoma City and had to make an unscheduled overnight stay. I was able to find the parts and fix it the next morning, thankfully. We then drove through the boring heart of Midwest and made our way into Colorado and stopped for the night, before shooting up north into Wyoming the following day. Our unscheduled pitstop put us a day and a half behind schedule. When we got to Wyoming, we spent a few days in Jackson Hole for Liz's brother's wedding and gazed at the Grand Teton mountains the whole time we were there - or at least I did. It was absolutely beautiful and I was mesmerized. We continued on to Montana, stopping about an hour north of Missoula and saw an Uncle of mine that I hadn't seen since I was a kid. The air is just so refreshing there and landscape was like a Bob Ross painting. We didn't want to leave. Eventually, we pushed further west and ended up in Vancouver, WA. Our new home.

That's it. It's a nice place and we were given free reign with the yard to do what we wanted which is awesome. But, we can't have chickens which made us a little sad. I really miss having chickens.

The yard is small, which has its challenges, but we're excited to see what we can do with it. We're planning on being here for a few years to give the kids some stability.

Hopefully, we can get a large variety of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. That's the goal for now.

Texas

I've pulled up this site numerous times since moving to Texas only to have life get in the way. The last time, just over a month ago, I was halfway through a post when I received a text stating my friends daughter was just involved in a fatal car crash.  And that wasn't the first or last death since we've moved.

I finally found myself sitting at a doctor's appointment with nearly an hour to waste so I thought "what better time to catch everyone up?"

So here we are, several full months and some change into Texas. It's been rough to put it mildly. Aside from the deaths, the original job fell through - which meant we ended up staying with friends instead of buying a house. My husband did find another job and our house in Washington finally sold so at least we are not destitute.

Winter here has been like summer in Washington. 70's with occasional clouds and rain. Definitely a shock. I knew it was going to be warm, but I had no idea I'd be sitting with the AC on Christmas morning.

We are currently looking for a house to buy. We have attempted an offer on three houses now. The most recent, a near perfect house for us, slipped through our fingers because I thought it was too far a drive to my husband's work. I finally dragged him up to see it and we decided to make an offer - 1 day too late. So it's back to the drawing board for us.

Today, our oldest son asked me today what the point of life is. It brought up a good discussion about why we are here on Earth. I gave him the standard "find something that makes you happy" answer, but I honestly think it's more than just that.

I have a whole list of things that make me happy.  My husband. A manual car (instead of the automatic I currently have). Gardening. Babies. Cooking. Self sufficiency. Puppies. A nice warm 75-80° day on the beach. Old dilapidated historical houses brought back to life. But I think what it comes down to - besides just "what makes you happy" - is what can you do that not only makes you happy, but also helps others. That's a tough one.

At the same time we are having this discussion, my husband and I are trying to decide what to do with our lives. He's not happy at work so there are many different options available to us. Does he simply find another job? If so, here or elsewhere in the country? Do we move back to Washington? Do we start our own business? What about buying a house? Should we buy a fixer or one we can live in right away? Do we flip it or keep it as our permanent residence? There are just too many possibilities. All I do know for sure is that we will survive as long as we are together. So I guess in the long run, the meaning of life for me is to find someone that cheers you up while you figure out why you were put on this Earth.  What do you think? What's the meaning of life for you?

Big changes

It certainly has been a long time since either of us have been on here.  There have been SO many changes - I'm not even sure where to begin.  I guess I'll just dive right in.  In addition to our chickens from the last post, we also acquired a puppy in April.  She has been a handful, as puppies are - but surprisingly well behaved.  She rarely barks or whines.  We named her Kali - the goddess of creation and destruction.  This morning, she wreaked destruction on the shoes I wore at our wedding.  Sigh. 

We also decided to move.  And by move, I don't just mean we packed up and moved down the street.  We moved over 2500 miles away.  To the hottest place on Earth.  Ok, maybe not the hottest, but certainly close.  The week we chose to move just happened to have temperatures in the high 90's, low 100's.  We are now living just outside San Antonio, TX.  We are still waiting for our house to sell in the beautiful state of Washington which means our rather large family is temporarily staying with the family of my husband's army buddy. 

Selling the house was a big decision.  The location was great - just 1 block from the Elementary and Middle Schools and a few blocks from the High School.  The street was quiet and the neighbors were AMAZING!  But - we honestly didn't have enough room.  Both in the house and outside.  We had 6 humans, 2 cats, 1 fish and 1 dog crammed into 1297 square feet - and most of that was the living room.  The house was poorly laid out and seeing as it only had 3 bedrooms, we had a 14-year-old and a 7-year-old in the same room which led to a lot of arguments and headaches.

The last week of June I ended up putting in my last day at my job and worked full time on the house.  We painted, cleaned, painted more, sanded, installed trim, tile, painted...if you can imagine it, I'm sure we did it.  

 Before and after of house.

 Kitchen

 Bathroom

By the time we got done, the house was completely different - and beautiful.  We didn't want to leave.  But we had already made the decision so we woke up early on the 19th of August, packed up our few remaining items, said goodbye to our awesome neighbors and hit the road.  For 5 days, we drove; from the time we all got up and had breakfast until we couldn't focus on the road anymore and needed a break.  We made it down to Texas on Sunday and school started on Tuesday which left us one day to finish registering and buy school supplies.  Whew!

Now comes the hard part.  We both need to have proof of steady income before we can buy another house.  We also have a few bills we would like to have paid off before we buy again - which means we need our house to sell first.  So for the moment we are just waiting, going bit stir crazy and questioning our decision to come down here.  I know in the long run we will not regret haven taken this leap - but right now I have to keep reminding myself of that fact.  It has made me realize more than ever before how very fortunate to have my husband by my side.  If I had made this crazy decision by myself, I think I would have had a mental break down already.  Fortunately my husband is patient, kind and loving - and most important has a great sense of humor which is invaluable during stressful times.  Even though things are tough right now, together we will get through this, find a beautiful house and have a great time building a wonderful memory.

And hopefully we will remember to keep this blog updated on regular basis....

Chickens!

We just recently were given 4 Americauna chickens (all hens) at no cost to us. Now we just need to find a place to put them (and I need learn how to care for them). They're chickens, how hard could it be? I ask because I've never in my life cared for a chicken prior to it going into my grocery cart at the store. I'm sure I'm not the only one out there experiencing this.

Like I said, we have a fairly small piece of property, with lots of kids, and available space is at a premium. So, It's time to get creative and try to make the space we do have available pull double duty.

What does it take to raise and care for a chicken? 
I'm not sure, but if you find out will you let me know? The basics (outside of food and water) are... shelter/protection with plenty of ventilation, a place to roost, a place to nest, and a place to scratch. A properly built shelter should take care of most of these.

Planning...
I started taking a look around at what I had to work with. A dilapidated garage on the edge of our property and a somewhat unusable space full of sticker bushes in between it and the property line. Since Liz needs ample room in the rest of the yard for her gardening ambitions, this spot will be perfect. I'll build the roosting and nesting spot inside the garage and the run can be outside. Perfect!

First we have to clear some space though.... One of the biggest hurdles we faced- other than the abundance of sticker bushes, was the soil. Previous owners of the property treated it like a junkyard and we were constantly pulling car parts out of the dirt. Windshields, CV Shafts, Master Cylinders, tires, ammunition, roofing material, tarps, etc... we've found it all. It's like our own personal Hanford waste facility!

So after we (by we- I mean Liz) pulled out the sticker bushes, I got busy cleaning out the inside of the garage and building a sifter for the outside dirt (which by the way has come in very handy since then).

Once all of that was cleaned up and cleaned out, it was time for the coop build.

The Build...

This was a little scary... I actually bought some pretty elaborate plans, but since I was working on a pretty meager budget (as close to free as possible), I decided to forgo the plans and create something with all of my scrap wood-which I had a lot of. There was various sizes and thicknesses of plywood and plenty of random 2x4's cut to different lengths. None of which were very long.

When it comes to the build, I knew there were a few design features that it needed:

Roosting poles - This is where the chickens sleep.
Nesting boxes - Where they lay those delicious eggs.

Since I knew I was getting 4 hens, I decided to make two nesting boxes and try to squeeze in two roosting poles. It took a lot of trial an error, but I got it done.... I even added a little flood light to keep them warm and add a little bit of light to the inside.

Where did the time go!?

I swear we are still in the middle of winter.  But a few days ago I started counting back from our last frost date and realized that I need to start seeds 2 weeks ago.  So this last weekend I scrambled to get all the seeds in order by the date they needed to be started and then pulled out the soil and planted away.  I don't have much yet...but next weekend I will have quite a bit more.  Here's what I started:

4 Goji Berry
6 Fig
12 Mint
9 Yellow Pepper
9 Orange Pepper
9 Chocolate Pepper
18 Sweet Spanish Onion
9 Copra Onion
4 Cayenne
4 Rhubarb
9 Leek
4 Dill
4 Black Beauty Eggplant
4 Early Long Eggplant
4 Toothache Plant
36 Cabbage
9 Shady Lady Tomato
9 Beefsteak Tomato
9 Cherry Tomato
9 Black Krim Tomato
20 Lavender

As mentioned in a previous post, we are planning on growing all of our own food. Looking at this list, I am guessing that I probably started more peppers than we need - but I am not sure we will have enough onions, leek or cabbage.  However, the kids are not big on those so who knows - maybe my estimate will be perfect.

On a side note, a few weeks go we also got 4 Americana chickens.  We didn't expect them to start laying yet - seeing as how it was 30 degrees outside this morning at 8:30 am.  But I was surprised when I went to give them a few snacks after work and found two pretty blue eggs.  I'm egg-cited to see if they continue producing this winter!  ;)

Influx of seed catalogs

This time of year is a gardeners dream.  At least this gardeners dream.  I love looking through the hundreds (literally) of catalogs at all the different varieties...the tips and tricks for each.  The colors are so amazingly vivid.  I have been known to spend weeks dreaming what the upcoming seed purchase was going to include.  This year has been no different - except this year we are taking it a bit more seriously.

In the past I have limited the amount of seeds that I purchase to common vegetables (corn, carrots, tomatoes, etc.).  However, this year I am going all out - for a few reasons.  

1.  We have a HUGE family.  Our average daily family size is 9 plus a newborn.  

2.  Most of our family has allergies or intolerances to one or more of the following foods:  processed corn, sugar, dairy, grains, fish, soy, peanuts, and a few other items that I am drawing a blank on.

3.  We would like to be self-sufficient.  Why rely on the grocery store if we don't have to?

4.  Money.  In order to get produce and meats to the grocery stores, the stores have to jack up their prices to pay for employees and transportation.  We can grow most of our produce for the price of a few seeds (if we don't get them for free) and the cost of water (wishing we had a well!).

5.  Variety.  Ok, this is probably one that only I would consider a valid reason.  There are hundreds if not thousands of different varieties of all plants out there - including some that have a much better flavor than what you could ever find in the store.  Most grocery stores in American have dumbed down the produce - only selling what people readily recognize.  You rarely will find Lilac Bell Peppers or Cherokee Tomatoes at your local store.  Let alone one of my favorites...the Kiwano Horned Melon.  Yum!

Unfortunately we have limited space (roughly 2500 square feet according to the planner I use) and not so great soil.  What all this comes down to is a lot of research on my end to plants that do well in our area, produce high yields, store well and (hopefully) will continue to produce year after year to save some moolah.  I also have to ensure I don't pick plants that are hard to grow - at least not until we get our soil up to par.

So I have ordered a lot of seed catalogs this year.  My favorites so far?  Glad you asked!  I have always been a fan of Pinetree Garden Seeds.  They have a good variety and great prices.  Their customer service has always been excellent and their shipping is decent.  I also like the look of their site.  It has a clean, crisp feeling to it.

Raintree Nursery is one of my favorite's as well. They are not far from us (a few hours drive) and they have a lot of plants native to the northwest.  I am very excited to try their paw paws which is high on my list this year.

This year I also checked out Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  I LOVE that they are GMO free and that they have varieties that no one else offers.  Don't tell anyone, but I actually paid for their 2015 Whole Seed Catalog - the first time I have ever paid for a catalog.  I sometimes wish I had not because a similar (albeit smaller) catalog came in the mail for free a week or two later.  However, as soon as I open up the larger catalog, I am so impressed with what they offer that I forget that I ever thought I shouldn't have wasted the money.  It is beautiful and well worth the small amount I paid.

I have quite few other catalogs to look through, but I bet you that my seeds this year will come from some combination of those three companies.

On a side note, if you need help planning your garden, I highly recommend Smart Gardener.  It's an easy to use program that helps you lay out your garden.  It even sends weekly "to-do" emails to help you take care of your garden.

I still have a lot of planning to do though - so I'm off to do some more research!

-Liz

In The Beginning...

We have always had an interest in becoming more self-sufficient and now we are going to start putting our feet to the fire and put our words into actions. Lucky for you, you get to sit back in relative safety and enjoy the ride as we aim to achieve our dreams of setting a great example to our children while attempting to create a self sustaining, off the grid, micro-homestead in the middle of a city.

Is this even possible? We certainly hope so! And we hope to give you the inspiration to do it yourselves!

To learn more about who we are, please see our about pages.

Thanks for stopping by!