Life so far in the Mini Mansion

After traveling 2400 miles we picked up our new home and are now half way back to where we started from.

After nine days on the road 3 in a motel and the rest in the Mini Mansion at a BLM campground in Utah to Canyon De Chelly national park in Arizona to a dust bowl in Shamrock Oklahoma we have stopped for a day of much needed rest at Horsehead Lake in the Ozark forest in Arkansas.
As I was quickly becoming a mean, stinky, hairy woman it was in Marks best interest to find a place to say for more than one night. So here we are on the edge of Ozark national forest and as much as I hate mornings I am glad the dogs got me up because the view was worth it.
Here is what I have learned so far living mini on the go, the lighted parking lot at Wal-mart makes me feel safe when I walk the dogs at night the lights put off a romantic glow in the trailer right until you go to bed and the skylight above the bed lets the light shine in your eyes, I looked over at Mark and seen him blinking probably could have read a book!! Found some cardboard and put it in the hole to block the light, perfect!! until it fell on me at 3 AM and scared the crap out of me. Not to self don't park under lights. I hate dust so staying in a dirt RV park in Oklahoma was not a good idea by the time I swept the floor I had enough to to plant a nice little garden, note to self don't park in the dirt. Blu dog has learned that if you want to get from one side of the table to the other it is easier to walk across the table than go around. Cole has learned that it is pretty cool to stretch out on the bottom bunk and snore like a buzz saw. Nick has learned that it is easier to be even closer to me in a small space. Mark has learned that every time he leaves the cabinet door above the sink open his wife will hit her head on it. And me well I have learned that home cooking means tearing off the lid pealing back the cover adding boiling water, stir and let stand for 3 minutes is as good as it gets. And so here we are at the lake paved level spot, leafs on the ground and no dirt no spotlights in the eyes and I finally got that hot shower that turned me back into a human.
PS if you ever go to Monument Valley don't buy the Indian print blankets they are made in India

Be Careful What You Wish For!

For a few years now I have been obsessed with Jay Shafer and his Tumbleweed tiny houses. The premise is all about living small and living simply with only the things you use the most so that you have more time with friends and family. If you are interested in his designs you can click here: http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/  It is a style of living that would not be suitable for everyone I understand that however with my Virgo neat freak orderly personality it makes perfect sense to me. When we got serious about buying property I was ready to move into 200 square feet, Mark on the other hand was appalled, not that he minded living small just not that small. Except now we are going to live temporally ever smaller. We may have sold our house, we accepted and offer with a closing date the end of January. I will not feel as though it is a reality until we are signing the papers. Meanwhile we need a roof over our heads and water not to mention a climate controlled environment and most importantly hot coffee in the mornings. We are putting in place the things we need like a pump for the well so that we can actually get water out of the ground, electricity so that I can have my coffee because it would be extremely ugly if I didn't get my coffee every morning. Decorative fencing so that I am not chasing black dogs around 3 1/2 acres at 3:00am. All this effort so that we can move into an 8x24 foot RV if you do the math that is about 190 square feet or 38 square feet per live body that will inhabit the trailer. It's a good thing two of the bodies only weigh 25 pounds, but the big dog is like a third person, thank heavens they don't need close or we would be in trouble. As luck would have it our kids own this mini mansion on wheels and because they love us and understand that we are a bit crazy they are letting us use the trailer for an as yet to be determined amount of time. If you are desperate to see what it looks like here you go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OdYiytooRc
Now that the steps have been set in motion Mark is talking about living like this for a few years and I am trying to figure out how to get the house build faster than the proposed 7 months!!! Oh how attitudes and opinions fluctuate in this house. We are also having a 20 x 21 foot two door barn built on the farm to store our stuff in so we have access to it and are not paying storage fees plus later it will give Gertrude a nice place to rest in between mowing's and a shop for Mark to tinker in. Technically we will be "camping" on our property and as long as we move the trailer every six months our "camping" starts over, by moving I mean hook up the trailer drag it around the block and put it back or maybe we could really go camping for the weekend. Well we would need someplace with power because my little Betta fish need his heater. Not sure where his bowl will go yet but we will figure it all out as we go. As soon as we get the mini mansion set up I will post pictures and give a tour. Can't wait to wash my clothes at the Laundromat, kinda makes me feel like a newlywed again!