Moving Forward...

Our house is gone. We closed on October 13th, so we spent the weekend before clearing out the house, and cleaning. The night before we brought the girls back over to help with a little last minute cleaning, and for them to say good-bye. They took pictures of everything, and when our big camera died, I gave my cell phone to Lexi so she could keep taking pictures. She took this one of Lilly. It describes perfectly what our mood was that night. As glad as I am to be rid of that house, it was our home for the last 11 years, and the only one our girls have ever known.

Shortly after moving in, my grandma went into the hospital for surgery, and ended up with a blood infection that she couldn't recover from. It sucks to move so close, only to have her gone just 2 weeks later. I still don't think it has set in completely, but I hate that she'll never know whether or not we will get the rehab house we are looking at. At this rate I'm not sure we'll ever know either! We are currently waiting on the appraisal, which should have been in last Friday, but we've yet to see it.

Moving in to tiny barn hasn't been easy, but we've managed these past few weeks. We are currently fighting off a little sickness, which is hard when you live in less that 480 square feet with 6 people. There's no place to rest in the quiet, and when one is up coughing, everyone is up! We got through Halloween, although we had no inside decorations. We still have a lot of organizing to do in tiny barn. We'll probably have it done by the time we move out lol! If you can't tell, we were Doctor Who themed this year

And here's me with one of our chickens that are left. Whenever we move, building a bigger chicken coop is one of the first things on the list, so not only can we get our two remaining chickens back, but get more too!

Tiny Updates...

There has been so much going on this summer, that I still haven't gotten Lexi and Lilly's birthday party put up, or any holidays for that matter. Luke has been busy with weddings, and I've been busy trying to organize and pack up this house. We still haven't sold the house, and we are actually considering renting in out. No matter what we do with the house though, it is time for a change. We currently have a plan that involves my dad buying a barn/shed to put in his backyard. We will finish off the inside, install a small bathroom/kitchen, and move in. It will be extremely tight to fit a family of 6 in to a rectangle that is probably no bigger than 12 feet x 36 feet, but in the long run we will save money, pay down debt quicker, and that will make it easier for us to buy the house of our dreams!

With that current goal in mind, Pinterest has become a major inspiration for minimalist living, tiny homes, loft bedrooms, and how small can I make a bathroom ideas! Hopefully things will slow down enough in the next week or so for me to get caught up with blog pictures, and then it will probably get super crazy as we move!

West Virginia Getaway

Last week we made the 4 hour drive down to rural Calhoun County West Virginia to visit my (Holly's) grandparents, better known as Nana and Papaw to the girls. I've been going down there all of my life, and if you are looking for some quiet time and fresh air, this is the place for you! Our cell phones don't even get a roaming signal, and the internet is so slow Facebook doesn't load most of the time. Luke used the time to catch up editing pictures, while I actually sat and read books! The girls had a great time playing with toys, learning chess, sled riding on the hill, and walking up the road to feed the horses. I will say it is a lot more fun in the warmer months, when the trees are full of color, you can play in the creek, and you're not freezing to death.

Here's some of the beautiful winter landscapes on grandma's road.

Since we didn't see them over Christmas, we gave them our gifts we made, including a block puzzle and framed map. The girls love to climb the hill across the road to the cave, and the porch is a common spot for us to hang out with the animals.

Athena and Apollo love coming down to roam the hills. The girls had a blast sledding down in just their snowpants, but we had some sled wipe outs too!

See! Not even a paved road (imagine what the dogs looked like after walking in this mud!) The neighbors up the road have horses, so we took a trek up that way to feed them some carrots.



The girls go down a few times a year, and we are hoping that this year we can make it down more often as well. There is a blog I follow on Facebook, and she is located in the next county over. She offers classes and workshops on different homesteading ideas, and I would love to take a class or two. Although I don't personally know her, her website is full of information on country living. Check her out! Chickens In The Road