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A few kind souls have asked for a house update, so here goes...June 14 we became home owners. Today is July 26. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd still be living sporadically without running water or a proper lavatory. But that's the nature of home remodels sometimes, especially the DIY kind!With the help of our family, we've done a LOT of work on the house to get it as close to our dream home as possible. More work than we originally planned to do prior to move in, in fact. We are incredibly thankful to have encountered as few snags along the way as we have (no asbestos, no active mold, no infestations), which is amazing given our house is 95 years old! And while we're still…

As I write this, a handful of unpublished posts sit in my drafts. It's been a while since you've heard from us as we've struggled to write much over the last 2.5 years.  When we started this blog and began documenting our vision, our dreams and our goals, we were in the preparation process; honing our skills, gaining more knowledge, and preparing to be able to hit the ground running once our dreams of land ownership and self sustainability became realized. Over the last 2.5 years, however, much of that was put on hold. Our first daughter was born, we moved into an above-garage "apartment" with Ben's family to save up a down payment, Ben began working a second (third?) job, and life overall became way too full, too chaotic,…

It's been quite a while since we posted anything, and that's because the past year has been very busy. The little one turns 2 in just a few short months; she's been more than a handful for Ari, of course; and I've had my nose to the grindstone working to build up our down payment. It has been a long year, and now that year is behind us. And yet, it will be approximately one more year before we become homeowners. More grinding, more hustling, more saving, and more waiting. But hey, you can do anything for a year, right? ...One more year? Sometimes it feels a bit bleak, but right now I see a really bright light at the end of the tunnel. I see a wonderful dwelling place at the end…

I'm positive if you read my husband's latest post on debt, you might think him insane and a little too polarized on the subject of debt and finances. Goodness knows we've encountered plenty of people along our journey who can't seem to understand why we live the way we do. However, our seemingly offbeat perspective is actually not without balance. If you have ever listened to Dave Ramsey or taken his course, you will have heard him describe two kinds of people: Nerds and Free Spirits. The nerd is the one who, while he or she may have debt, is more thoughtful before making purchases, will weigh pros and cons, acts more rationally toward money, and is the cautious decision maker. The free spirit, on the other hand, spends money on a…

"And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: Tradition!" ~Reb Tevye, Fiddler on the Roof   If you've ever had a serious conversation with my husband, you will surely have heard him say "It's a balance!" a phrase which seems to always land him the last word in any discussion. As is evident by our silence these past few months, I have obviously struggled to find the balance of maintaining our home while learning how to be a new mom and keep up with our blog! (As of this week, our thriving little 7 month old is a joy and has us absolutely transfixed, in a good way! I promise to update more on her later!) What's on my mind now is this matter of balance and its…

Up until about 60 years ago, borrowing money was generally frowned upon by society. Even today, nobody likes that one "friend" that always tries to mooch cash off you. Borrowing puts you in a place of disadvantage. The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. —Proverbs 22:7 Why, then, is consumer debt so prevalent today? Partly because businesses are really good at marketing instant gratification. You need it now. With college students being told that student loans are normal, everyone being mailed credit card offer after offer promising low interest rates and high credit limits, and car manufacturers enticing would-be car owners with zero-down delayed payment plans, it's no wonder that everyone has so much consumer debt. Marketers have done a fantastic job at normalizing it.…

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry We bought bicycles. We live in a world where it is so very easy to overcomplicate things. Technology has reached a point where complex machines are easy to fabricate, and we don't give them a second thought. But machine complexity increases rapidly the more work they take away from us, and sometimes simpler is better. I use the word machine here, of course, in the broad sense of a tool that consumes some form of energy to accomplish an action or goal. The advantages to simpler machines are that they are generally cheaper, I can usually make and repair them myself, and they often have a wider range of…

Recently a post circulated Facebook about Seattle and the coming of Fall rains and how comforting they seem to be to us native Seattleites. I found it surprisingly true. Though we long for the warm Summer months and often complain of the dreary skies come April, the transition from Summer into Fall brings a certain level of familiarity and comfort and routine back into our otherwise busy lives. Ben and I are similarly working on our own transition to cultivating a new routine, a new normal, if you will. We recently moved from our apartment in the city to a mother-in-law apartment in the "country" on the property of our parents with the goal of simplifying our lives, boosting our savings, being closer to family, and working towards our goal…

Last night we moved our first belongings from our current apartment into our new home. It was both exhilarating and intimidating. While we're thrilled to have the hard work of cleaning up and painting our new apartment behind us, the sadness of leaving our old apartment is quickly setting in, for me at least. I've always been pretty sentimental towards places I've lived. Having a home where I feel safe is extremely important to me. And as I look back, each move away from my home has been equally bittersweet. I long for those perfect moments spent in my old home that allow closure and adequately commemorate the end of a season without putting too much glee in the changes ahead. Despite whether I was allowed this closure or not, I…

Last weekend, Ben and I were privileged to spend a weekend away in the San Juan islands to celebrate the wedding of some good friends of ours. We feel so fortunate to live in a part of the country where such a gorgeous spot for a getaway is just a few short hours away! In those few hours of travel, however, we were transported further away than just the 105 miles it took to get from our home to the island. The week preceding our trip, we had to cram as much as we could fit into a shorter week in order to fulfill our responsibilities before taking off for the weekend. We found ourselves rushing every single day, getting to bed late and waking up early, running errands and trying…