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Simple Living

Westcliffe CO: And Back Again

You people aren’t going to believe this. Some of you are going to think we are nuts.

And you’re definitely correct about that.

We’re moving back to Westcliffe – the land flowing with milk and honey.

Well not quite. At least about the honey part.

We’ve had quite the adventure over the past 2 years of marriage. We got married and started building a tiny house and lived it in for a few months, we moved to Westcliffe CO after dreaming about it for a couple years. We attempted to make it work (financially) in the small town – and figured out in order for us to get anywhere in life, we needed to make some substantial money first (otherwise, we’d end up living in cycles of poverty for quite awhile) – we moved to Brighton CO because Ryan got a job working in the oil fields in Northern Colorado.

Well, as you’ve all noticed gas prices are way down from what they used to be.

And while this is wonderful for lots of people, this has put his job at risk. In fact, he was pretty much guaranteed a lay off in the next few weeks/months. Since we are young and used to change, this hasn’t exactly shaken us too much. On the contrary – it feels like freedom to us in a lot of ways.

Most people know someone who works on the oil field, and you know that their work hours are unreal. Ryan has been averaging at 110 hours per week that he works (2 week on, 1 week off rotations). There are 336 hours in 14 days. 220 hours he has been working, 116 (58 a week or 8 hours a day – which always ends up being closer to 6) hours are spent sleeping, eating, showering, traveling to and from work, and anything else that comes up in life: like spending time with your wife.

Needless to say, we’re kind of DONE with oil field lifestyle.

So while this bring a tad of uncertainty back into our life, being the oldest children that we are, we both find some excitement in that.

Which brings me to the title of this post:

We are moving back to Westcliffe!!!

LOL

I’m sorry, I can’t help but laugh and roll my eyes at us. So its totally ok if you are too :)

Our goal in moving away to Brighton was to save some money so that we could *someday* move back, buy some land, and live simply. Well, this move back is certainly quicker than we thought it would be, but I suppose that’s life.

We are in the process of purchasing a piece of land in a beautiful valley (a couple lots over from this picture), with amazing neighbors who are already well on their way to living the homesteading lifestyle that we’re interested in. On the land and what we will live in is an…. (get ready to laugh and roll your eyes again)….

UNFINISHED TRAILER!

LOL! (Maybe I should have named this blog post “Déjà vu“…)

I couldn’t really believe it either when we started looking at this lovely piece of mess (sorry, no pics yet). I told Ry, “I’m really not sure I can do this again…”

I remembered last time we lived in a shed(tiny house), without electricity, without water, without a kitchen or bathroom… I mean, HELLO: I wrote an entire blog on it!! But before we saw the inside of this creature, we went through the things that were needed in order to make it livable:

Water
Electricity
Warmth
Functioning Kitchen & Bathroom

When we finally got into the tiny shack, we realized: it’s not as bad as we thought it was!! While it definitely needs some TLC, and a couple of major changes (like digging a well), overall, we don’t feel overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done. And that’s saying something.

Another question we’ve wrestled with: “can we/should we finish the tiny house?” And this is something we are still wrestling with. Because at this point where we are at with it is still: unfinished. Is it better to put money into tiny house or another unfinished housing project? Well, “what one requires less cash & stress?” is going to be the winning answer.

I haven’t found very many other tiny house people with a similar story to ours: except Casey and Jessica Friday (recently had their tiny house stolen). I empathize so much with this blog that Jessica recently wrote about why they won’t be living in their tiny house. While we do have several of the things that the Fridays no longer have at their disposal (land, lifestyle..etc), I totally get the basis of what she’s getting at here. The whole point of the tiny house movement is what? SIMPLICITY. So that’s our focus moving forward: do the simple thing.

So here’s to many more future blog posts about building chicken coops, milking goats, making cheese, and sharing life (and cows) with neighbors in our precious lil mountain town. Here’s to not many more moves, but an acknowledgement of “that’s where we are in life”.

Here’s to the kind of simple living that is sometimes more… complicated :)

(linking up with Leigh Kramer– because what I’m up to these days is moving and living the nomad’s life)

March 4, 2015

Country Living, Simple Living, The Year in Books

The Year in Books: Off On Our Own (Ted Carns)

Two words to describe this book: inspiring and entertaining.

Since I met husband, his passion for simple living has easily infected me. Probably because I’ve become slightly knowledgeable about tiny houses since meeting him, folks that live off the grid capture my attention a lot these days. I recently read Off the Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America, by Nick Rosen. And will soon be starting The Good Life: Helen and Scott Nearing’s Sixty Years of Self-Sufficient Living. I supposed its safe to say I’m nearing obsession.

But I really just like the stories that are found in all of these books. And this one by Ted Carns was no different.

Towards the end of it, I found myself writing lists of things that I want to work on either learning or creating to make our lives more sustainable. And I really want to make this someday…

Ted Carns appears to be slightly brilliant, although (like many folks who live off the grid) – slightly odd. This makes him endearing to me, and possibly just cooky to others who are less inclined to enjoy crazy people.

I say brilliant, because of all the various systems he’s concocted in his compound over the years. To start out, he has around 15 or so buildings on his property – all with very specific purposes.

He goes into LOTS of details (although not nearly enough to recreate it) with his various systems. Like their water filtration system (which passes through somewhere around 10 different filters before their grey water is deposited into the garden. They have MANY power sources at the “Stone Camp”: wind, solar, ethanol, thermoelectricity, methane, wood gasification, human power (bike with 12 volt alternator), hydrogen cell, steam generation, hydropower, and biodeisel. They make their own wine and maple syrup by the gallons. They are aspiring to make buildings made out of their trash from the past year.

Other impressive features to “Stone Camp”:
– a homemade, 40 ft windmill tower (which he CLIMBS in the middle of a blizzard)
– a “sugar shack” where he and he wife Kathy collect sap and create syrup
– His library which is described like a hobbit hole that I want to go snuggle in.
– I can’t remember what right now, but he makes something useful from hunter’s cigarette butts he finds while hiking. #nastyyetresourceful

I found myself wishing there were more pictures in the book. THANK GOODNESS I decided to visit their website, although I was quite surprised after reading their book to discover that they had a website.

Like most off-the-gridders, Ted Carns has really strong opinions about most things, and is also a deep thinker, and communicates his life philosophies in an overall inspiring way. He is super passionate about preserving nature, and mentions a little bit from lots of religions that support his deep roots with all things green, organic, and untouched by humans evil desire to conquer the world.

Overall, its a great and entertaining read that will have you wanting to go start digging a hole in your front yard with a backhoe and calling it a greenhouse…. that might have happened in this book…

Here’s a quote to either throw you off the scent of this book or get you completely hooked (I don’t see there being much middle ground):

“You can buy out a company and increase your net worth 20-fold, but that kind of shit pales besides getting up at 5am, firing up a the tractor and going out in the woods to gather sap.”

Also: this documentary-style video, made by some Buddhists missionaries, really paints a good picture of Stone Camp with Ted and Kathy Carns. In fact, if you watch this video, you might not even need to read the book.

(All pictures, unless otherwise noted, are from Ted and Kathy’s website)

January 30, 2015

City Living, Country Living, Simple Living, Tiny Living

Simple Living Part Five: Interview and Freebies with Shalom Mama (Nina Nelson)

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned several folks and their blogs that I enjoy following on my journey of experimenting with simple living. One of them was Nina Nelson with Shalom Mama. I got a hold of Nina last week and had a few questions that I wanted to ask this veteran of simple and natural living.

How did you get into natural living? What made you want to start living differently? Or has this always been a way of life for you?

“I actually grew up on an herb farm but didn’t get interested in natural living until my early twenties when my husband and I decided to get out of debt. We were determine to cut costs wherever we could so I started researching and kept coming across recipes and tips that suggested natural living would save money. I made a few things and was hooked. Since then, I’ve become the “family hippie” and have embraced a simple, natural lifestyle.”

What is your favorite recipe of something that makes your life easier?

“Hmmmm, that’s a tough one. I’d have to choose two. First is my healing balm (recipe here). We use it all the time for all sorts of things. With four kids someone is always getting an owie of some sort (plus I’m super clumsy), so it comes to my rescue quite a bit. Also, my calming balm. This is a godsend at night when everyone needs to simmer down (myself included) and get some restful sleep. You can find the recipe in my free ebook, Simple Family Wellness.”

If you could summarize your passion in a few sentences, what would you say?

“I’m passionate about living a pure & simple life and helping other people do the same. To me that means getting rid of the excess in life so you can focus on what really matters, while living as naturally as possible.”

What does a “day in the life of Nina” look like?

Hmmm, a bit scattered. :) I’ve struggled for years to create a schedule that works for us, but what I finally realized is that I just can’t do that. I buck anything that feels constricting, so instead a loose routine works best. And we definitely leave plenty of room for interruptions (friends dropping in, invitations to hang out, etc.) because that’s why we simplified our lives in the first place. Also, my husband is very involved and has an odd schedule (he’s a paramedic that gets to respond from home every other shift) so he’s super helpful with what can sometimes feel like complete chaos.

So here’s what it usually looks like:

– Wakeup, read devotions, figure out my top 3 things to do for the day

– Breakfast and Cleanup

– Get kids started with school (we home school)

– Check email and do some admin stuff for my biz while they’re working independently

– Lunch prep & lunch

– My work time (kids will have quiet time, continue school they’ve not done yet, go play at our awesome neighbor’s house or hang out with my husband if he’s home.

– Tea time (very important for me to take some time in the day to rest)

– Dinner prep, dinner, clean up

– Hang out with the family

– At some point in the evening I’ll do yoga, depending on what we’re doing

– Kid bed time (Woo hoo!!!)

– Watch Downton Abbey or something with my husband or play a game

– Bedtime”

What are some resources you would suggest for someone just starting out on a “natural” journey?

“First off, I’d say keep it as simple as possible. Choose one or two areas in your life you want to focus on and work on those for at least six weeks. So, for instance, you want to switch to a whole food diet, find a good resource and start implementing a few changes at a time. Once you’re comfortable with those, try some more. This is the best way to make a sustainable change that will last.

For me, the most helpful resources were blogs, but I have some favorite books as well:

Blogs

Books

Your Real Food Journey by Trina Holden
Simple Natural Health (this one’s mine – I’m a little biased)
DIY Non-Toxic Cleaning Recipes by Heather of Mommypotamus

And here are my top 40 recipes for natural living.”

You lived in a bus with 5 other people for a time: tell us about that and where are you now?

I loved it and still long for it now. We had a lot more time to spend together, it was much easier to clean and my bath tub was amazing. :) However, now that we’re in a house again (we had to move closer to my husband’s work after he got a full-time job), I’m loving the opportunities we’ve had for hospitality.

Though my word of the year is sustainability, I easily could have chosen hospitality. Relationships have been an important part of our journey. And while I love the bus and living small, I feel so drawn to embrace the opportunity we have right now to easily welcome people into our space.

If people want to contact/follow you, where are you?

I have a few favorite places I like to hang out. First is my blog, which you can find here. Aside from that, I’m on Facebook, Pinterest and my favorite, Instagram.

In case you happened to miss several of these listed about, here’s a list of FREEBIES on this lady’s site:

Also a few very affordable e-books

(or click here to buy them all in a bundle together)

Village wise woman

I’ll leave you with this excerpt from Nina’s free e-book Simple Family Wellness:

…I’ve secretly always wanted to be the village wise woman.

That woman who nurtures and heals her family and teaches other women how to do the same. The woman who encourages others to learn and experiment but is always available as a resource. The woman who whips up a remedy or pours a cup of tea or lends a listening ear to the friend in need.

This world needs more wise women. More nurturers and healers spreading their love to their families and communities. All that love and wisdom, just spreading and spreading. And so, that is my mission. To call forth the family healers. To be an empowering resource. To listen and love. To create a community of wise women.”

(This blog contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you)

All pictures are from Shalommama.com

January 29, 2015

City Living, Simple Living

Simple Living Part Four: Homemade Face Wash

Here is one of my favorite experiments so far: homemade face wash!!

So confession: I don’t always wash my face. Especially if I don’t wear make-up that day. It’s just a pain. Call me lazy or unhygienic – whatever. ALSO, I hate buying face wash because it can get expensive (I am super cheap, have I mentioned this??).
But, I’m not going to lie… Once I made this stuff, I wash my face almost everyday. MOSTLY because it has natural oils that remove makeup AND it’s all natural ingredients (not to mention cheap and lasts a long time).

This recipe comes from a very productive play date a friend and I had a month ago to make some amazing natural goods. SO, I’ve been using the face wash since then, and I really like it. It’s different than a face wash you would buy from the store because there is no lather, which I’ll admit was weird at first. But because the base is coconut oil, it can also be used as a makeup remover.

1 cup coconut oil

1 tbsp baking soda

5 drops lavender essential oil

5 drops frankincense essential oil

5 drops lemon essential oil

Glass jar

Directions:

1. Melt the coconut oil in a pan over low heat

2. Once melted, remove from heat and add in the remaining ingredients.

3. Store in a glass jar and keep it in a cool place.

See? Super easy!

(Hint: when I use it, I normally just scrap a little bit off and rub all over my face, then rinse.)

Simple Living Philosophy

Ok, now I just have to share some simple living philosophy that’s been bouncing around in my head for a few weeks now… mostly because if I don’t write it down, it will just disappear into my brain.

So, I really enjoy learning about living simply.

If I’m completely honest, is mostly because I’m a woman and I need something to control :) Better this than my husband’s schedule, am I right??

Just kidding (mostly). But really, making something useful from scratch, that you can make again and again, with very little ingredients…. doesn’t that just feel nice to you?? It makes me feel empowered and happy – like if for some reason grocery stores stopped carrying face wash (drastic I know, but whatever), than I would be OK.

However, I don’t want to fall into the trap that if I can make everything from scratch that my life will automatically be different/better. We all know I’m not actually in control of a whole lot in life by creating these products from scratch. In the end, it won’t really matter if I use store bought face wash or I make my own to avoid chemicals: I will still get sick every once in awhile, and the possibility for major illness is still there, despite all my attempts to thwart it. Life is bigger than that and there have been so many people before me that have already done what I am doing, and they didn’t solve the meaning to life, or find a “cure all” for all sickness.

Makes me think of those super encouraging words in Ecclesiastes,

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

I say that sarcastically, and yet I think I mean it. There is something comforting about the fact that everything I am doing (philosophically) has already been done. I’m not inserting anything new into this time and place that hasn’t been done before. I feel like that should be depressing, but it’s not. At least not right now. I’ll take it :)

Anyways, I would love to hear your “simple living philosophy”, even if it differs from my own. Teach me something new people!

Also, let me know if you make the homemade face wash, I want to know how it works with other skin types!

* I am not super partial to a specific brand of essential oils. I tend to lean towards using Eden’s Garden because of the affordable pricing. (I get nothing for recommending them, just a warm heart knowing that more people know about affordable essential oils)

(homemade face wash recipe is from Dr. Axe)

January 23, 2015

City Living, Simple Living

Simple Living Part Three: Homemade Deodorant & Simple Friends

Today I’d like to share some others who I’ve discovered live simply, in their own way. There’s also a homemade deodorant recipe, keep scrolling:)

Simple Living Friends

Wellness Mama: This blog is is intense. She has SO many recipes for SO many different things. In fact, the recipe that is used in this blog for shampoo is from her. She does research on most her projects and even the comments from others below her blogs are super helpful.

Shalom Mama: Nina’s website is awesome. She’s got recipes, books, essential oils…etc. She also has a cool side story: her and her family of 6 lived in a SCHOOL BUS! :)

Mundane Faithfulness: I found Kara’s blog (and Instagram @tippetts) through the recent controversial topic of euthanasia. She was diagnosed with stage four metastatic cancer and recently wrote a response letter about why we don’t have to be afraid of dying. Reading her blogs about keeping life simple and focused on the things that matter, in the midst of chemotherapy and radiation is beyond inspirational. Side note: her site has been getting huge amounts of traffic, so it might be down at times. If so, check out her Facebook page.

Julie @Homesweethomestead / cinnamongirlofmaine.com : I have no idea how I found Julie, but her Insta feed is always FULL of inspiration for the homesteaders at heart, and her blog is super authentic. Check out her recent blog and adorable homemade hen ornaments.

Andrew and Crystal Odom with Tiny r(E)volution : They built a tiny house, and currently live in an RV full time. Their blog consists of countless helpful tips, suggestions, and ebooks on simplifying your life. Start here by reading their manifesto.

Ok, and now onto other simple things :)

Homemade Deodorant

This was one of those recipes that my homesteading-small-business-dreaming friend (Erin) and I created one night a few weeks back. Some of those recipes didn’t really work out, and some totally did. Like this one. Only 2 ingredients.

1/2 cup of coconut oil

20 drops of Purification*

We put the ingredients in a pot over a hot stove top and stirred until the coconut oil was melted. Then, we poured the mixture into mason jars – because that was all we had at that time. However, once I got home later, I realized it might be kind of hard to put on deodorant from a small mason jar… I just happened to run out of my travel deodorant a couple of days before, so I just cleaned out the residue left from the previous store bought deodorant,{{recycle}} and poured the (still fluid) coconut/essential oil mixture into the plastic container. You can also buy these (unused) online if you don’t happen to be running out of your current deodorant.

One interesting (and slightly random) thing…Ryan and I both take pretty hot showers, so I can’t actually keep it in the bathroom – it melts! Soooo I keep it in the fridge.

Right next to the pesto and soup ;)

I think that this may be due to the type of coconut oil we used. Erin and I switched from making it with her version and mine, and I don’t actually remember which one we made this one from. So, that’s not super helpful, but hey – this is a documentation of my experiments. ;-) I would like to know if anyone else tries this, and what kind of coconut oil you used, and how it turned out.

If you are interested in using a more natural version of deodorant, but aren’t really interested in making your own, you can

(1) contact me and I’ll try to whip something up for you.

(2) purchase Primal Pit Paste (that’s right) from Mountain Rose Herbs. Click here and scroll down until you see the paste :)

Well, this concludes round one of my attempt at homemade deodorant. Let me know if YOU have a different recipe, and love it. I want to experiment with other recipes too!

Here’s to having a wonderfully smelling week!

* I am not super partial to a specific brand of essential oils, this time we used Young Living because this was the recipe and ingredients we had at the time. I tend to lean towards using Eden’s Garden because of the affordable pricing. I will most likely purchase the needed ingredients next time (Citronella, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Tea Tree Oil, Lavandin, and Myrtle) from EG or create my own blend. (I get nothing for recommending them, just a warm heart knowing that more people know about affordable essential oils)

January 5, 2015

City Living, Country Living, Simple Living, Tiny Living

Tiny House Magazine Feature: Tiny Living, Big Community

Tiny House News

We are super exited to be featured this month in Kent Griswold and Andrew Odom‘s online creation of Tiny House Magazine!*

This month they are celebrating their 2 year anniversary! Congrats guys!!

The article tells much of Ryan and I’s story: from meeting, to engagement, to wedding, to tiny house building, to current.

There is a focus on our wedding and how it literally took our entire community to pull it off (there are several folks mentioned – not by name – in the article, so if you were involved in helping with our wedding, you might just be in there…) We like to think of it as our “barn raising” wedding.

Also a snazzy infographic (created by yours truly) depicting the average costs of weddings in the U.S. this year based on a study by Statistic Brain.

Here’s a sneak peak of the article:

I had never heard of a Tiny House until I met my husband in 2012. I met him in a coffee shop that I was working at in Golden, Colorado. He was living in Houston at the time and was just visiting family, who was traveling through the area. We had a lot in common; We’re both oldest children, both fairly stubborn, both enjoy learning, and we both wanted to live a life that was different than the average person.

To read the rest, click here or on the picture above to purchase this month’s edition of Tiny House Magazine! Get 25% off if you use the code 25FOR5 from now until December 23rd. (If you click on the link, scroll down until you see the 24th Edition- $3.99, with 25% off with coupon code)

Included are other stories and pictures of tiny house and sustainable living enthusiasts. If you like reading about things like grown men making homes in dumpsters, or families living in hobbit holes, or if you just enjoy learning about how to live a more sustainable life – you need to check out this magazine.

Other News

Another 2 year anniversary is quickly approaching – our wedding anniversary! I mean, we’re still like 4 months away, but whatever :)

This month I’ll remember my babe’s sweet proposal on Christmas day

cute baby tree and gorgeous big girl ring

It was awesome. Like for real. Totally didn’t see it coming. He’s so creative too: he wrapped up every candle, then as I unwrapped it he lit them all, and placed them around the room so that by the time I got to the last present we were sitting in a cozy, mountain, candleland. (#soromantic) He just rolls his eyes (like a good husband does) while I bring out the tissues while looking through every.single.wedding.picture. I can’t help it. #iloveus

As well as having fun memories from last Christmas when my family came to visit us and we packed 10 people in a two bedroom one bath lil rental, went sledding, and frolicked in the Sangre de Cristo mountains for the holiday. This Christmas will be quite different from my family’s normal traditions as my dad is recovering from a scare with severe acute pancreatitis. I may write more about this experience in the future, we’ll see. For now, we’re all just really thankful that my Dad is alive and on the mend.

My family, minus Ryan… he was making my Christmas presents #spoiledrotten

So I’m not exactly sure what this year’s Christmas festivities will include, but at least we got the tree up :)

Merry Christmas everyone! Don’t forget to grab your copy of the Tiny House Magazine, cozy up next to something warm (fire, candle, or coffee mug will do), and check out our article! :)

(*This post contains affiliate links)

December 18, 2014

City Living, Simple Living

Simple Living Part Two: Homemade Mouthwash

As I mentioned in the previous blog, I’ve really enjoyed learning about how to make simple and cheaper versions of things I use all the time. I don’t think that there is anything morally wrong with just using whatever you buy at the store – I’m not one of those organic evangelists who thinks that if you feed your child Cheerios you are a horrible parent (I buy my 31 year old baby Cheerios. I DO roll my eyes because he works in the OIL FIELD people! Don’t you need more energy than those lil round things to work 16 hours a day?! Whatever. He loves them).

I think that sometimes “living simply” can mean so many different things for people. For example, for someone who is working a demanding job, perhaps living simply looks like whatever can get them relaxing with their family as much as possible. Or if things are tight financially, living simply looks like purchasing/making whatever allows there to be more free room in the bank account. Does this make sense?

I am super curious about experimenting with various methods of making my own products (fill in the blank: toothpaste, shampoo, tomato sauce, candles…etc.).

ALL this to say, the next month or so I am going to do a series, titled Simple Living, documenting my experiments and reviews of specific recipes, as well as interviewing several natural living experts. Just like any other blogger, I love to get feedback. If you have a recipe for something YOU make around the house that simplifies you and your family’s life, I want to hear about it! I would love to feature YOUR recipes here :)

Email me at restoringsimple@gmail.com or fill out the form below to share a recipe, story, or experience you had creating something to simplify your life.

And now: HOMEMADE MOUTHWASH!

I recently got together with a good friend and we cranked out 6 different recipes that we wanted to try, including deodorant, face wash, make-up remover, shampoo, conditioner, and mouthwash.

Homemade Mouthwash: big thumbs up.

Slightly cinnamon-y, minty, and refreshing. Doesn’t have that crazy burn that most mouthwash has. I had a painful mouth sore when I started using it and the next day after using this mouth it was significantly less painful, and by day 2 it was gone completely. My husband thinks that the mouth sore had just run its course, while I think the essential oils did the trick – this is an on-going debate we have about success of EOs. He thinks its in my head, I partially think it is too, but I still LOVE essential oils and am convinced that they do their job. But more about that later…

I like this recipe because it uses the essential oils that it does, so you get the added benefit of having the Thieves, Peppermint, and Lemon swished around in your mouth.

Plus, I kind of feel like there is a Christmas-y cleaning party going on in my mouth. It’s very pleasant.

Try it out and let me know how you like it, or don’t.

Here is the recipe that my friend provided (she originally found it here, but tweaked a few things):

2 tsp calcium carbonate powder

10 drops of trace minerals

10 drops of peppermint

5 drops of lemon

5 drops of thieves

2 cups of filtered water

Store in the fridge for up to two weeks (precaution).

Now, I’ve had it now for four days, and I haven’t yet put in the fridge… mostly because I keep forgetting :)

So try it out and let me know what you think!

And if you have a recipe or homemade product that you’ve made before (doesn’t have to be an original recipe) and want to share it, please fill out the form below and you’ll be hearing from me shortly :)

December 13, 2014

City Living, Country Living, Simple Living

Homemade Cleaning Products: Laundry Soap, Glass Cleaner, and Dish Soap

It is so much easier than you think to make your own homemade cleaning products.

For real. Like it took me a few minutes to make these cleaning solutions for laundry soap, glass cleaner, and dish washing soap.

I really enjoy learning about how to make a simple version of things we use all the time. AND CHEAPER. And so many of these recipes I’m finding all use the same ingredients. Now, that just makes sense to me. There will be more recipes coming in future blogs, I promise. I’m way too obsessed to stop now. For now, I’ll start with these THREE recipes for homemade cleaning products I’ve made over the past few months and LOVE them.

Ok. Go to the grocery store, (or your pantry) and grab these items:

– Washing Soda and Borax (both typically right next to each other on the laundry supplies aisle at the grocery store)

– Bar of Soap

– Citric Acid (I’ve never used this before, and after searching the store for 30 minutes and googling, “where to find citric acid in a grocery store”, I finally found it near the canning supplies on the baking aisle. You’re welcome.)

– White Vinegar

– Spray Bottle

– Corn Starch

These recipes came from Wellness Mama’s blog – which I highly recommend if you are a DIYer or lover of all things natural. ::thumbs up:::

Use 1/8-1/4 cup per load

Laundry Soap

– 1 parts soap (grated into fine pieces. We love the smell of Dr. Bonner’s Lavender) mixed with

– 2 parts borax and

– 2 parts washing soda.

That’s it.

Use about 1/8-1/4 cup for each load. Our clothes always smell super fresh.

Super crispy clean, no streaks

Glass Cleaner

– Mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with

– 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol

– 1 TBSP of corn starch and

– 2 cups of warm water

Mix ingredients and you’re good to go. While I’m cleaning the bathroom mirror, I go ahead and use this cleaning mixture to clean the sink, bathtub, and toilet. Easy Peasy.

(Hint: shake the bottle or jar before each use to get the corn starch mixed evenly)

Not bad!

Dish Washing Soap

– Mix 1 part citric acid with

– 1 part salt

– 2 parts borax and

– 2 parts washing soda

Keep in an airtight container or the mixture will harden into a solid mass. Learned this lesson the hard way after the first batch. Still cleaned the dishes amazingly, but I just had to work for it (think hammer and chisel). Another option for this, as my brilliant husband suggested, is to store the citric acid (as this is what causes the mixture to harden and stick together) separately and then add to the mix when starting a load of dishes. This may vary depending on how hard/soft your water is, so just experiment until you find something that works :)

(Hint: we use about 1/2 cup of vinegar as the rinsing agent)

Let me know how these recipes work for you!

Happy Cleaning!

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December 8, 2014

City Living, Simple Living, Tiny Living

The Realities of Living in an Unfinished Tiny House

I (Hannah) have had several people recently ask me questions about living in an unfinished tiny home. I finally sat down and replied to someone with a really long email about the whole experience.

If you are considering moving into a tiny house that is not yet finished, perhaps you should read this. Or not. If someone had tried to tell me this information (oh wait… they probably did), I/we would not have listened. We wanted/want to live our own adventure – hard times and all.

Without further ado, a story about living in an unfinished tiny house as told in a reply to a question via email from Hannah’s perspective (Ryan may add his thoughts later on).

Alli,

Good to hear from you! I’ve really enjoyed the Tiny House community on Instagram.

Ok. “What was it like to live in an unfinished tiny house?” This is gonna be long. Prepare yourself.

When we first moved in, we ONLY had the bedroom built. Like, just a 10X10 (or so, I don’t remember exact dimensions right now). Pics on website, on “Tiny House and Wedding Update” blog post or the “Our Tiny House” page. We eventually finished the entire exterior, but this was while we were living in it.

A tiny bit of back story: we got married in April 2013 and a week before we were married the housing situation we were planning on moving into together, fell through and we were forced to scramble last minute to find a place. We found a month-to-month rental place that was 240 sq feet (great practice for Tiny living). We knew that in July 2013 we either had to make a year commitment to the rental place, or find somewhere else to live.

Around the beginning of June, we found a great deal on a gooseneck trailer that we bought. So our thought was to start building immediately and move into it at the end of July when our lease was up.Everything worked out: we found somewhere super close to where we both worked to start building. An amazingly sweet elderly woman had a few acres right in the middle of Golden CO (where we lived at the time) and allowed us to park the trailer (and all of the extra stuff that comes with it – turns out building materials take up a LOT of space) and start building.

We did get the bedroom somewhat livable before moving in..meaning it was framed with plywood and some tarps to keep out the rain. VERY basic. We ran an extension cord out from her shed to charge cell phones, laptop, and power tools, and kept water bottles around and used her hose to refill. But we didn’t have room for a kitchen, it was just the bed. She allowed us to keep our clothes in her garage, so that became our closet. We didn’t have any food storage options, so we just went to the grocery store every morning for breakfast, fast food (ugh) for lunch and dinner. We’d come back to the tiny house after work and work on it in the evenings before bed. We showered at my office which was like 2 miles away and used the bathroom at a gas station close by.

The lady whose land we were living on eventually took pity on us (I believe her words were, “no one should have to live like this”) and invited us to use her kitchen and bathroom. So at that point we were basically living with her, without living in her house. She allowed us to use part of a fridge and freezer space, kitchen to cook meals each day, and bathroom to use and take showers in. This significantly improved our quality of life, as you can imagine.

The building process took us SO much longer than we anticipated. We moved in in July, and I was under the impression that we were going to have the whole tiny house down before winter.

October hit and the temperature started dropping significantly, especially at night. Although we did make significant progress, we didn’t have electrical wiring or insulation done yet. Tragically, the elderly woman passed away very suddenly, and her family decided to put the house and land on the market. For 2-3 months around that time, we lived in friends basements, guest bedrooms, and cheap hotels around the Denver area. We decided to move to a tiny mountain town 4 hours south of Denver at Christmas, and moved the Tiny House down there as soon as the family sold the place.

Summary

Overall – yes, I can honestly say that I am slightly scarred from the experience of living in the tiny house before it was complete. There may have been other factors involved with that time period being difficult, like we were VERY much newlyweds, basically moving into a shed after being married for 3 months, living a “3rd world country experience” yet still trying to keep up with our “1st world” jobs and community. Or the fact that when we were dating and first married we had like $300 and had no idea what we were doing as far as building something this enormous – did I mention that our tiny house is HUGE? Like 250 sq feet. Needless to say, it made me feel fairly unstable and made both of us stressed out in general, not having somewhere to just CHILL and recoup. To be living in a construction zone, always having SO much to do: that list only gets longer and involves more money.

All that and I still say this: I really hope that this doesn’t scare you away from building a tiny house or even living in it unfinished.

I know that for who my husband and I are (we’re both firstborns) we needed to do this. If you are even considering building a tiny house, I feel like you will understand this somewhat. Even if it causes some scarring :) you can heal from it and learn a ton.

Where we are at now:

The tiny house is still down in the mountain town on some other friend’s land, in the unfinished state we left it in. It is PACKED full of building materials. We basically ran out of money and realized that we needed to spend a few years being a tad more strategic in planning our future. We moved back to the Denver area, took great jobs, and are living a fairly focused life just working and planning for the future. My husband works 7 days a week in the oil field and he has 1 week off every once in awhile so he is planning on going down there every so often to finish the house. We still have high hopes of finishing it, and we just realized that we had to be a bit more strategic if we wanted to remain sane :)

Advice (take it or leave it) for those considering living in an unfinished Tiny House:

– Work on finishing the inside first. That’s what you’ll be living in. If the outside just has tyvek for awhile, and it looks like crap, but you have electricity, insulation, drywall and a bed and chair (:sigh:) and the inside can be a refuge for you, it will help you keep going when you feel overwhelmed.

– If you do move in without electricity and water, and its basically like a shed, simplify your lifestyle. And by that I mean cut out as many extra activities as possible. I don’t know if you work, or how much, or if you are super involved in your community, or hang out with friends a ton, or have your own business, etc… but the more of these “other activities” you can temporarily cut out during the time you are building and are forced to live a highly rudimentary lifestyle, the better. Almost like meditating or something, just make your focus the tiny house for a little bit. I think that if I would have been able to do this, I MAY have enjoyed the process a tad more. If I could have just woken up each morning, not had to think about how long it would take me to actually be ready for the day (grab clothes from garage, go to store get breakfast, drive to work take a shower, awkwardly have wet hair and toiletries at work…etc) but just wake up, enjoy living a slightly “pioneer-ish” lifestyle for a few months.

– Have a back up plan. If/when the tiny house takes longer than you anticipate, have a backup plan in place so that its not this extreme pressure to complete the massive project before the first frost or something. We both didn’t handle that pressure very well, me more so than my husband. I think the unknown for me was almost unbearable. Not knowing how long I’d have to live like this was really difficult. If you set deadlines like, “if we don’t have the inside livable by November 1, we are moving into this apartment.” That way, when things get hard, you can just tell yourself, “Hey, I got 2 months of this and then we’re either going to be living in a functional tiny house, or this other housing situation.”

– Passion vs. Practicality. I read an article in the paper that talked about 10 ways passion could kill a new business. Basically, that emotions can block logically decision making. We just wanted to build this freaking house and at times this basically stopped us from creating a realistic timeline or putting a plan in place. So, for your overall health, be willing to set aside excitement for the finished product for like a few days, and maybe talk to some people in your life that you trust to help you come up with a practical plan for executing this fun project.

Questions for those considering moving into a tiny house that is unfinished:

– Where are you located?

– What’s your story? Are you married? Single? Do you have kids?

– Where do you work? What is that environment like?

– What is your background in construction? (for the record, mine was NOTHING when we started)

– What kind of budget that you are working with?

– Whats your timeline?

– How did you get involved with tiny houses?

– How have the people in your life responded to your dream of building this tiny monster? ;-)

Hope this helps somewhat, and I’m super pumped for you guys who are building or thinking about building!

If you are reading this and you are considering building a tiny house, or if you are considering moving into an unfinished tiny house, tell us your story! We would really enjoy connecting with you.

And if you’re ever in the Denver area, let us know. We’d love to have you over for tea :)

September 22, 2014

City Living, Simple Living

Homemade Energy Balls: Make in 15 Minutes!

I’ve never really been a huge fan of energy or power bars. I mean, I’ve really tried to be, especially the ones that have a ton of protein. To get a whole meal’s worth of nutrients in one bar – that’s super convenient! If you don’t have time to make a lunch, or just want to save money, I feel like power bars are a reasonable choice. There are some pretty healthy options actually.

But the taste… ::shudder:::

I typically thrive in denial : Let me be ignorantly bliss please. But I cannot ignore the fact that most power bars taste like cardboard. No matter how much I try to tell myself, “Hannah, this is good for you. These ingredients are natural, and you are getting the protein that you didn’t pack in a lunch today”, I CAN’T DO IT!

Well, sound the Hallelujah chorus now please: I’ve found a great energy ball recipe!

Several years ago after a hike, my friend pulled some funny looking balls from her freezer. These energy balls were SO much better than any power bar I’ve ever had.

I finally made my own batch last weekend – and they taste like cookie dough. Chocolaty-chocolate chip cookie dough energy balls. Yet, I’d still consider them a healthy snack. Or meal. I had a bowl of them for dinner last night. #dontmindifido

I think I really enjoy these because you can put whatever you want in them. If you want to use organic, all natural ingredients, you can. If you just want to use whatever you have in your pantry, you can.

Ok. So here’s how the magic happens.

Side note: I don’t have a food processor, so I kind of used a blender (I say kind of because a food processor would have worked MUCH better). If you have a food processor, or even a good blender, you could do all the steps below in the machines. Since mine sucks, I adjust.

(measurements are approximate)

– 1-2 cups almonds (demolished them in a blender)

– 1-2 TBSP cocoa powder (add to the almonds before it turns to butter)

– 1-2 TBSP wheat bran (add to mix)

– 10-15 dates (soak for an hour or more in water, then mash in a bowl with a fork. Add the wheat bran, almond, cocoa powder mix)

– 1-2 TBSP chia seeds (stir into mix)

– 1-2 TBSP unsweetened coconut (stir into mix)

– 1-2 TBSP mini chocolate chips (stir into mix)

The mixture should be somewhat sticky as you roll into small balls and then roll through some more chia seeds, OR chocolate chips, OR coconut… and then pop them in the freezer for a snack.

Some suggestions I’ve had and seen for other ingredients were:

– peanut butter (thanks Emma girl!)

– flax seed

– sesame seed

– macha powder

– cinnamon

– oatmeal

– honey

– cacao nibs

– other kinds of nuts (pecans, pistachios, walnuts, peanuts…etc)

– NUTELLA! (goodlord that’s a great idea)

– pretzels

– the list goes on…

I stored them in these lil containers and a few more in ziplock bags for Ryan to grab and take to work (because let’s be honest, if he takes that tupperware, I’m never going to see them again).

I’ll let you do your own research on what benefits each of those ingredients has, but all I know is that they tasted amazing.

ENJOY and let me know if you have more ideas for additional ingredients or another energy balls recipe!

September 19, 2014

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