Let It Go!

Go ahead. Sing it. I know you want to. It has been playing in my head all week as I go through the house and do just that. I know I just posted a blog, but this has been weighing on my mind as I work on the tasks of sorting, packing, donating, and trashing. There is a lot to let go of that has accumulated over the past twenty years living in this house. I will admit that I am a recovering pack rat. Over the last ten years or so I have worked on being better at throwing things away. Still, it feels good to hang on to some of those things that evoke strong memories. I truly believe that most people find it easier to hold on to things rather than letting them go. We keep pictures, trinkets, report cards, candles, gift bags, and single earrings. I have piles of towels, pillows, blankets and placemats. Does anyone use placemats anymore? These things have filled closets, boxes, shelves, under bed spaces, attic cubbies, and cupboards. I had to decide if I loved it or if I could live without it.

Last week I filled boxes and bags with craft supplies (so many craft supplies), vases, picture frames, office supplies, trinkets, coats, socks, shoes, mugs, plastic bowls, and of course placemats. They are all piled on a 12-foot trailer ready for the thrift store. That is trip number one. I think there will be a second trip either later this week or perhaps next week. Hopefully the trailer will not be quite as full the second time.  About three-quarters of my house has either been given away, thrown away, or packed into bins and stored in a big box trailer. Before I know it, the house will be listed on the market, and we will be living in a 31-foot fifth wheel camper. Pairing down from almost 3,000 square feet to less than 200 square feet for the next 6-8 months means no more holding on to things.

Holding on to things. I have thought a lot about that over the last few weeks in anticipation of clearing out the house, making it lighter, learning to live with less. Sometimes it is hard to let go of the stuff, and other times it can make one feel many positive feelings. I am sure it releases some incredible amount of dopamine. There is tremendous peace in letting go of things.

I have also thought about how people tend to hold on to negative emotions, poisonous situations, wrongs done to them or by them, unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, and the like. When I say people, I include myself chief among those people. I am learning to let go of those things as well. Keeping them in my "mind palace" does nothing positive for me. They only serve to hurt me, not help me. I have realized that I cannot wait for an apology when I feel I have been wronged. Waiting has a negative effect on my emotional well-being. The perceived wrong-doer doesn't feel the negativity. It doesn't weigh on them, cause them to lose sleep, or even feel any need to make things right. I have also realized that situations don't always turn out the way I imagined they would, and people do not always behave the way I think they should. Disappointment in those situations and people doesn't help me and won't change the outcome. Finally, I am learning to be flexible with the future. I am trying to "go with the flow" instead of rigidly adhering to some perceived end goal.  I am learning to let go of things I don't have control over, things like people, situations, the future. I am letting go to make room for more positivity in my life. I hope to be more giving of my time, more encouraging with my words, more positive in my attitude, more content with my present. More love in my heart, peace in my soul, joyful memories, and freedom.

I am convinced that less "stuff" equals more freedom. I much prefer freedom.

Let it go!
Lizabeth

Of Tractors, Trees, and Mud

January 2019 update

So much has happened, and yet so much more has to happen. This has been a slow time with a lot of wait and see. I am really thankful that the process has not been rushed. We have the benefit of taking our time, thinking things through, and searching for great deals. One thing I have learned is not to let four months go by without posting about our progress. There are a lot of photos to go through and a lot of things to say.

First of all, middle Tennessee had more rain in 2018 than we have had since the 1970s. Of course we have. Of course... What that means for us is a lot of mud and not a lot of work. But what have we done? In reality, so much has been accomplished. Let me catch you up. I have included a lot of pictures to save myself writing thousands of words.

September 2018

New lairds of the land

It was an exciting day when we finally closed on the property. We are very thankful for our wonderful realtor, Jennifer Alston and her Q Realty team in helping us find the land of our dreams and closing in a painless although not quick way. That wasn't her fault though. It took a great deal of time to get the land re-platted and to get the closing papers in order. The closing itself was a dream. We immediately drove over to the land, hopped out of the car, and took a quick shot in front of the field at the start of our new 8 acres. Right behind our heads is now the opening in the trees for the driveway which you will see later in this post.

The next big purchase was a new tractor. David's old International is good for some things, but it won't quite cut it with all that has to be done. So we bit the bullet and bought a new Kioti tractor with lots of attachments. We are thankful to the Larry Stovesand Equipment team (including Jesse Jordan, a former student of mine) who helped us with this purchase. You know boys and their toys. Well, I have learned to drive it as well.

The next day David started cutting trees and made some great progress.

This is a shot of the tree line before any trees were cut down.

Truck and tractor in place to start the work. September was a warm month. It was fairly dry and lots of work was accomplished.

The mighty woodsman and his chainsaw go to work.

The driveway opening is now visible in the tree line.

October 2018

David was able to cut the driveway from both ends and meet in the middle. I spent a little time helping to drag trees to the front of the property, but let's face it, he is really the worker here. There is quite a learning curve for me. He has it down pat. He spent a lot of time on the land cutting trees, dragging them out of the driveway, digging ditches and trenches, cleaning up brush, and trying not to get stuck in the mud.

This is the top of the driveway down to the gully.  We purchased a culvert for the gully and some kind of fabric to lay over the driveway before the gravel gets put down. One of the great (or is it?) things about punching in a driveway is discovering some amazing top soil beneath all of those trees. Unfortunately for us, that means the ground is very soft, and we really don't need the soil or the soft earth for all of the big equipment soon to drive down our little road. We did not find a lot of clay and rocks here which are the norm for this area. That means when it rains, we get mud. Lots and lots of mud. That equates to very soft ground and with all of the steep hills, difficulty in getting a tractor in and out. The tractor happened to get stuck at the bottom of the driveway after a decent rain. A chance meeting with some construction workers in the neighborhood netted him a pull out of the mud and a relationship with someone who had equipment to get in and do some digging that our tractor could not do. We are so grateful for the chance meeting and help.

November 2018

Our dear friend Tay Krull came in from Washington to help cut down more trees and clear out the building site. All of the trees were cut down, leaving behind more than 45 stumps that still have to be pulled out. The orange flags are the corner markers of where the building will eventually be. The cedar tree on the left will be right outside our bedroom window.

Here is a shot from the other side of the clearing with the cedar tree now on the right.

The guys saved a tall cedar stump that will be cut for our new mantle for the stone fireplace in the sunroom. Here they are marking the lines to be cut so it can be dried over the next 12 months.

Some of the trees were too beautiful to cut down. This white oak was one of our favorites from the first time we saw the property and the clearing in the middle where our future home will stand.

This beautiful white oak marks the corner of the driveway on the building side and will be visible from our living room window.

That big pile on the right is only part of the residue of all of the trees that once stood around the original small clearing.

Burn pile to the left and cedar logs for future projects to the right.

The best of friends, Dave and Tay. What would we have done without his hard work?

David and Tay in front of the big tree pile

Sharpening chainsaw blades...again and again. He is a master at it!

The week before Thanksgiving we took a hiking adventure to the property with the kids. It was a great time getting everyone over there to see where "the old folks" would be living. A hike down to the creeks and back up to the clearing gave them all a great perspective of this beautiful piece of land. Then we went home to decorate the Christmas tree for the last time at 5075. We are intentional in creating memories during this season. We have so much to be thankful for: healthy and happy children and their significant others, gorgeous creation, clear and cool weather for the day, joy, love, peace, and blessings too numerous to mention.

Nate, Savannah, Ryn, Sara, and Ali

December 2018

The second week of December we took a trip with Robbie, our friend and general contractor, to visit VersaTube and meet with Mike Bond. We sat down for a couple of hours and hammered out a lot of details on our building. We were able to handoff our hand-drawn plans to their engineers and tour the facility. Sadly I did not take any pictures of that adventure. What was I thinking?

We connected with friends who will be allowing us to rent some property from them for a month or two to park the RV on until we can get in to the building site. For that to happen we need to have gravel, power, water, and a septic tank.

Dave got back to the property with Allen Keymon along with a trackhoe and a skid steer and they made changes to the big curve on the driveway, dug some trenches, pulled out some stumps, and put in the culvert.

Dave has done so much to get the property ready. Plans are solidifying for the electricity and water trenches as well as the laying of the rock and gravel for the driveway. We are hoping that in the next month we will be able to accomplish at least the driveway gravel so we can begin putting the rest of the infrastructure.

Last Christmas as 5075

Before the kids tore into their "goodies"

Last "before stockings" picture on the stairs.

Mom and Dad join the steps selfie

Snuggled into our tiny living room. Next year we can spread out in our 600 sq. ft. sunroom.

The end of December found us "inspiration shopping" to look at stone, tile, light fixtures, and some other necessities. It was fun to dream and see products in person, even if it was a bit overwhelming to see all of the choices that are out there. So far we have settled on a siding style (board/batten steel siding), quartz for the kitchen island (Silestone Pietra), and some pretty cool tiles for the kitchen (white hexagon with grey grout) backsplash and bathroom shower.

January 2019

Last week we made arrangements to purchase an RV. It's not as big as I was wanting, but it will be a cozy home for use for 6-8 months during the building process. We did originally want to "go tiny," so this will be an adventure into what might have been. We really only need a bed, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a space to hang out. Anticipating living there from March through October, we will be able to utilize outdoor space quite a bit, which will help keep us from feeling claustrophobic.

The first week of January for me has been filled with cleaning closets, packing what we are keeping, loading boxes to donate, and filling trash bags. I think my favorite part has been going through old photographs and sorting them into bins for the kids to take. Minimize. Minimize. Minimize. Hopefully that task will be finished by the end of the week. Then we will be staging our home for photos and listing it at the end of the month. Once it sells and closes, we will move into the RV and begin the next phase in earnest.

Be looking for more frequent blog posts! Please comment, like, share, etc. Follow us on Instagram (@notquitetinytn) and check out my Pinterest dream board for the house (Lizabeth Brasells, board name: This is not That Tiny House) to see some of our plans for the interior and exterior.

Until next time!

Whose Woods These Are

Have you ever had one of those dreams that morphed and changed frame by frame? You started out doing one thing and then all of a sudden you were somewhere else and the person you were talking to was now your dog who was responding to you like a human? This is a story of a dream like that, only I am wide awake, truly I am.

About four years ago I was encouraged to watch a Netflix documentary about the tiny house movement. I was skeptical. At the time I had never heard of tiny houses before, but the idea of “going tiny” intrigued me. It reminded me of all of the times we took our family of five to a condo at the beach for a week and lived with very little yet somehow created gigantic memories. I always said that I wished we could get rid of all of our “junk” and just live like we did at the beach, the basic necessities in the kitchen, a few board games, a few changes of clothes, and peace. I have also commented on numerous occasions the wish that I could take the roof off of my house, turn it upside down, and shake everything into the yard then only put back in what we really needed or loved. All of these things seemed to just make sense. I encouraged my husband, Dave, to watch the documentary. I figured he would get a kick out of it and probably roll his eyes at me and say, “Yeah, right!” Boy, was I wrong.

He watched it, and immediately the wheels started turning in his head.  He started watching YouTube videos about living tiny and building tiny. The dream struck a chord in him, and before I knew it, it had taken off on a “road less traveled.” Maybe we could do this.

Initially, we talked about buying a large gooseneck trailer, custom built. We bought a truck that could pull it. We were going to build a 40-foot tiny house on the trailer and take it wherever we wanted but maintain a central home port on a little piece of land somewhere. We watched video after video, drew up plans, went to a tiny house expo, and drove down to Alabama to see an actual 40-foot tiny house in progress. We talked about roof lines, fold-up decks, water bladders and filtration systems, marine heaters, library ladders, and composting toilets.  Our bedroom would fit into the “gooseneck” over the bed of the truck. Our bathroom would be small but sufficient. We would rely on the outdoor spaces for entertaining purposes. It would require a few steps which we would build on both sides leading to the bedroom area – his and hers steps.

Then our dream took a slight turn. We are in our early 50s. We are not getting any younger. Who is? Thankfully we are both in great health, no heart, BP, or other major health problems. But in another ten years, we may be looking at problems we couldn’t anticipate. Did we really want to be 65 and climbing down a ladder in the middle of the night from our loft bedroom to go to the bathroom…twice, three times? Probably not. I suggested one day, off-hand, that we might consider building a stationary tiny house. I had seen a few articles about “granny pods” which are essentially a tiny house. We really only need a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. I was even willing keep the composting toilet (sort of). After a few days of contemplation, he was on board.

I also suggested that we buy an RV. If we were going to live tiny, we could still have our tiny house to come home to and be able to travel as well. The transition between living in a tiny house and then traveling for a couple of weeks at a time in an RV would be an easy one. Apparently, that was a good suggestion and also reason enough for keeping that truck…which we had already replaced with a second version that had better suspension and didn’t bounce the heck out of my insides when we were on the road. We explored some new fifth-wheel trailers to see what it would be like to live in one for a few weeks. We could do it, just not in a new one!

Dave discovered a metal building company, VersaTube, that makes steel-framed shop buildings rated for our area of Tennessee. We looked at pictures online of shop homes and “barndominiums” which were mostly much much bigger than our “tiny” plans. So, I went to work with graph paper, and started creating our initial 30x30 plan. We would live in 10x30 and he would have 20x30 for a shop. The building also came with 12-foot covered porches on either side. That allowed us to have some outdoor living space. That building grew a bit and became 40x40 pretty quickly. I was granted 12x40 but convinced him we needed to bump out 3 more feet for the kitchen all the way back to the bedroom. Not too many weeks later I had managed to bump out the bedroom another 5 feet to allow for a door into the shop to access the laundry. My initial 300 square feet plus 360 square foot patio had grown to 600 square feet in the house plus a 480 square foot patio. I could live with that.

Then we started to look for land this spring. We wanted at least five acres, private, treed, and the icing on the cake would be a creek. We looked at ads, we drove by a few properties, and then we found a fantastic real estate agent, Jennifer Alston. She took us down all kinds of country roads, pulled on her rubber boots, and walked into the woods, threatening to be back at her car before we even knew it at the first sign of a snake. Thankfully we didn’t see any snakes. We walked through people’s yards, drove out into the middle of nowhere, and saw some amazing and some not-so-amazing properties. We found a gem that we both loved with everything we wanted except for the creek. At the time we were not ready to make an offer. It wasn’t a big deal because this land had been for sale for quite some time with no offers at all. Then about a week before we were going to be in a position to go to the bank for pre-approval, a contract was put on our dream property. So back to the land hunt we went. This time we got pre-approved for a loan before we fell in love with anything else. Again, we poked around, drove around, hiked around, and dreamed. Jennifer is the best. I am convinced she can find anything.

In June I headed to North Carolina to my niece’s wedding. While I was there Dave decided to go look at a piece of property that he saw an ad for online. He texted me pictures. It was just over 8 acres with lots of trees, a big clearing in the middle of the trees…and a creek – two actually. It was perfect, exactly what we were wanting and more, exceedingly abundantly more. There is a large walnut tree at the edge of the clearing. There are trees upon trees upon trees. A beautiful old logging road with trees lining and arched above it. Trees for shade, trees for simply being beautiful, trees for little ones to climb and explore one day. “One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.”

We started the process. Jennifer went above and beyond working out detail upon detail. It took a while to nail down the contract, and that is where our dream took yet another turn and our “tiny house” was tiny no longer. You see, deeds often have restrictions. Even though our home is well off the road and in the trees and won’t be seen by any neighbor, we would have to abide by the restrictions and have a minimum of 1500 square feet of finished living space if we wanted the land. So, the building grew to 40x50 with 18x50 for the main living space, and the patio will now be enclosed into a finished sunroom, complete with windows, insulation, heating, and cooling. That would give us exactly 1500 square feet of living space: 900 in the house proper and 600 in the sunroom. The silver lining to this is that the sunroom will be livable all year round, not just in the not-so-hot and not-so-cold months. It is going to have a massive fireplace, a hot tub, a dining area, and lots of comfy seating. I can definitely get behind that.

Then it took even longer to get the paperwork together (title companies want everything perfect before they will sign off…imagine that) and nearly two months after having our offer accepted, we have now signed the closing documents, and that little piece of heaven is ours. The first step to fulfilling a dream, transformed though it may be, has finally been completed.

Over the course of the next eighteen months, we are embarking on a journey to put in a road (driveway), power, water, septic, and building our “shop home” complete with solar panels and a flushing toilet thanks to that septic tank I mentioned just a second ago. No stairs, no ladders, just plenty of high ceilings, windows, and minimal “junk” to clutter our lives. Stay tuned for posts as we go through this process. We are continuing the process of de-cluttering, packing, and preparing to sell our current home of nearly twenty years. We hope to be able to tell you about some great vendors supplying products we will use to build this “not quite tiny” dream. We hope to share design plans, projects, and pictures along the way. If you are curious about my style, go check out my Pinterest board “This Is Not That Tiny House.” It is divided by room and will show you what I am drawn to. You can also follow our journey by following us on Instagram @notquitetinytn.

Oh, and that RV? We are going to be buying one in January and making that home for about a year…I thought I said two weeks at a time. Remember that morphing dream? Everything changes. You just have to be flexible and willing to move with the changes.

For now, the mighty woodsman, the tamer of trees will be clearing a driveway and path for the power company. “Into the future. Let what will be, be.”

Ps. Thanks, Robert Frost. You never fail to disappoint.