Snow Day!

Just kidding. We were very hopeful last night for a good snow day off school with 6″ due overnight. Alas, our city has it together all too well and the plows got plowing in time for the busses to run safely. This meant I did actually have to pull my bum out of bed in time to get our driveway plowed as well so that Hazel can get to school. It is a drawback I knew was coming but this winter has been MILD overall. I expected to be doing a lot more plowing by now.

Plowing is one of those things that seems so simple but it scares the bajeezuz out of me. I feel like I am about to break things: the truck, the plow, the road. It all seems scary. Alas, we have to do scary things in life, too. So I plow. At the end, I felt pretty darn powerful, and nothing broke. I even get the chance to be a good neighbor back occasionally, so it’s all a win.

While I was out plowing, Miles played with the cats int the snow. The cat’s hate the snow, especially so when they jump in a drift that is taller than them. He made them little paths to go on their adventures and drew up some waterproof signage to let them know the hazardous avalanche areas. 🙂 This kid has to be the creative one when his sister is away. He’s got the skills to rise to the occasion though, so it’s all good.

Social media update

I won’t lie, it’s been an adjustment. It’s also been an absolute eye-opener how often I mindlessly search for those buttons to IG or FB on my phone. They of course aren’t there anymore so I instantly redirect my attention. In the one short week I have been off socials I have gotten SO much done! So much! I write, I read and we (Miles and I) explore the world more readily. And we are chipping away at hand quilting our roadtrip quilt, one state at a time!

Together we are listening to ‘The Anxious Generation’ by Jonathan Haidt which has been eye opening for both of us. I have been pretty free with these kids’ screen-time because they use it pretty well and don’t slack on being creative in real life, too. Miles is who noted that he might be spending a little too much time on a screen because he prefers it to in-person time. The book is helping him realize there are a lot of really important life skills that you only really get from in person interactions. He’s even noted that his issues in enunciation might be caused by not enough of that. It’s given him a bit more reason to justify not canceling all of our in person plans all the time, even if they take a lot of social energy out of him. We’re only a few chapters in but I highly recommend it. (there is a documentary called ‘Childhood 2.0‘ that is also great, but probably more appropriate for teenagers than kiddos)

The ICC code committee continues to meet on the next iteration of tiny homes in the IRC. I am not real hopeful about it but I am not giving up, either. Time will tell. What helps a lot to get me through it is the community we have cultivated up here in Moscow. My friends started a book club with a focus on feminine empowerment (via feminine rage ;-)) and the books nurture my spirit in crazy times like this. My book recommendations from that are ‘When Women Were Dragons‘, ‘The Lost Apothecary‘ and my favorite so far, ‘What Wild Women Do‘ (these are affiliate links because including them helps me pay for the costs of this website, by all means check them out from your local library or Libby, your libraries online check out service, that’s what I do!).

Connecting

My other favorite of the week is all of the actual connections made! It has been so fun to hear from people from all chapter of my life! Old co-workers, tiny house folks, my Boise crew and so many people from so many different parts of life. I’ve exchanged emails, phone numbers and been pretty chatty with loved ones. The thing is, I take all these pictures and I don’t get to share them anywhere anymore so, know, if you text me or email me, I am probably going to send you at least a random picture or two, maybe with a story… 😉

I have not sent out my February email just yet but if you still want to sign up for that you can add yourself to my mailing list, here. After signing up you will get a confirmation email from ‘MiniMotives’ to verify that you put the right email in and that you do actually want to receive these emails. If you don’t get that email, check your spam folder or try again (I know at least a couple of the emails were mistyped). About 20% of the folks who have signed up have not confirmed, in that case, no emails will reach you.

Also exciting!

After nine years our house got to make another mini appearance on the Tiny House Giant Journey YouTub Channel. Boy has Jenna grown that platform up! It took her original video of our home a couple years to reach a million views, I am excited to watch how long it takes this one! It’s old footage still, but funny to see because I am pregnant with Miles way back then. Maybe we’ll have to try to get together again to do an update video.

I always enjoy combing through the comments on these videos and helping those who are interested but stumped about some part of the equation. It’s also been pretty fun to watch the perspectives of tiny homes shift over time. Nine years ago people could be pretty darn mean online. Now, if they are, they seem to get put in their place a little better about it! In my closing of social media accounts I reopened my Reddit and was shown all the old notifications from that time. In the first three I was called an idiot, untrustworthy, a liar, a terrible mother and inhumane. It’s been a while since I have heard those insults thrown my way (phew!). For that, I thank all of those other tiny house dwellers for helping to normalize tiny living, I feel the difference you make!

For what it’s worth, I don’t think DIYers are dead or even on the decline. There are a LOT of us, certainly way more than there were 10 years ago. There are just a lot more builders who are up for making it easy for youtube channels to tour their units (free advertising!). I can say also that I would be a lot less likely to let a camera run through my house than I was then. It only stands to put me at risk. I did it back then to help demystify tiny homes. Now there are a ton and they aren’t all that mysterious. People online are mean, and I literally get nothing from opening my home up to others except LOADS of criticism. We DIYers are still a very large part of the success stories behind tiny homes. And we usually do it a lot cooler and a whole lot more affordably! 😉 That’s my two cents on that!

Be well and enjoy some snow if you were lucky enough to get some!