A lot of you as you read this post will probably begin to wonder why it is i'm collecting materials for flooring already when I just purchased my trailer recently. Seams a bit out of order, yes I agree, but when opportunities for free materials present themselves you take them. I'd decided awhile back that I wanted to make my flooring out of recycled pallets. I can break the pallets down, plane them and end up with beautiful wood floors in my tiny house. What most people fail to realize, or sometimes forget, is that most pallets are made out of oak. If you find pallets that are in good shape you can end up with some really nice wood from them.
Once again I was cruising craigslist, and while browsing the free ads I found a couple different businesses that were offering free pallets to whoever felt inclined to come and get them. I figured it wouldn't hurt to swing by and take a look at what shape the pallets were in and if I even wanted anything to do with them. Turns out the odds were in my favor again! The first place I went to had a huge stack of basically brand new pallets. I was so surprised by the condition of them that I went inside and talked with the owners to make sure I was taking the right pallets. I spent the next couple of hours breaking down pallets in the brisk 15 degree temperatures, but ended up with an entire camper shell full of awesome oak wood that should work great for my flooring. Not only were they free, but the owners thanked me for taking the pallets off their hands and encouraged me to come back for more! Tiny house grand total still = $850!
The link to the newest clip is here!
The Best Things In Life Are Free
Friday, November 14, 2014
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Day One : Picking Up The Trailer
Nothing special about this post really. I happened across a nice 8' X 20' trailer on craigslist that was in pretty good shape. So this last Sunday Jaz, my five year old lab/blue heeler, and myself made a trip to St. Ignatius, MT roughly 45 miles away to pick up the trailer. Best part about it was the price tag, $850! Grand total spent so far on this tiny house project = $850.
Check out this short clip of our adventures!
Day One : Picking Up The Trailer
Check out this short clip of our adventures!
Day One : Picking Up The Trailer
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
The Beginning Of The End
Two years ago I was living in a completely furnished five bedroom house with a two car garage..........by myself. Well, almost by myself, my dog was my only roommate. I had a dirt bike, four wheeler, 2004 Toyota Corolla S, 1998 Ford F-150, massive flat screen TV and about every other fun toy a bachelor is suppose to want.
I'd taken the fast track through college by opting to attend a technical school that I finished 2 ½ short years after graduating high school. My school internship the summer before my final semester had been a paid position working in the Bakken Oil Field. Then during my final semester I was offered a position working at a local area refinery, exactly the field i'd gone to school for, and spent the next year and a half starting a career. I was living the "American Dream", I was 22 years old and miserable.
I'm not exactly sure what triggered me to question what I was doing with my life so unrelentingly, but the longer I was into the work force the more I found myself filled with doubts of my stereotypical life. Maybe it was my overriding sense of unsettledness taking over again? Maybe it was my need for adventure trying to peaking it's head out. Or maybe I was simply bored, regardless I'm glad I was.
In the fall of 2012 I began to become very restless with my life and the path in which it was quickly headed down. I had the things that most people spend a good portion of their lives striving for, yet felt more empty than I ever had in my entire life. Minimalism was something that had always kind of intrigued me and I started to research it more seriously. It wasn't long before everything I was reading about were things I wanted to apply to my daily life. Why do I have all this stuff? What is it doing for me other than making more things to have to take care of when i'd rather be out doing other things? I knew that I had a choice to make. Continue holding the wheel steady for the next forty years the way I had been for the last couple years, or jump ship.
My first big step away from my consumer lifestyle into something more simple was spending the summer of 2012 working as a staff member at Christikon Lutheran Bible Camp. I had attended the camp in my younger years and it had always held a special place in my heart. When the then director Bob Quam approached me about working on staff for the summer I couldn't think of a better way to spend a summer then in the mountains of Montana. I spent the entire summer with nothing more than one large suit case, a backpack, and a rubbermaid tote worth of belongings. It wasn't until returning home after that first summer at Christikon that I really began to live into minimalism more though. I'd spent an entire summer living completely comfortably without any of the things that now filled my house once again. Did I really need all of this stuff? Little by little I started to get ride of my things. First the dirt bike, then the four wheeler, then the car. With every material thing I parted ways with I felt an even greater sense of relief and satisfaction.
In the coming months I returned to work at the refinery and fell back into my old life. It was so easy to fall back into old habits and old patterns. I was still slowly getting rid of possessions, but it still wasn't living, it was merely existing. Shortly after I had returned from camp, in the post summer excitement, I had applied to a program to spend a year volunteering overseas with the Lutheran church. By the time December rolled around though I had completely written off the possibility of going."You've got an incredible job, you could be set for the rest of your life if you just stay here." I believe is something about like what I found the voice inside telling me. Deep down though, I knew it wasn't the life I wanted.
When February rolled around I received news that I had been accepted into the program Young Adults in Global Mission to spend a year volunteering overseas with the Lutheran church. Instantly I was so excited, and yet so torn. What was I going to do? Accepting the opportunity to go overseas likely meant leaving my job that was rapidly turning into a career behind. I accepted the invitation to the interview and placement weekend to interview for multiple countries I may possibly go to and continued wrestling with what I was going to do.
I can't ultimately tell you why I finally chose to go, or what the breaking point was that lead me to jump ship, but what I can tell you is that it was the right decision. Not only that, but the best decision i've made in my entire life. After returning from a trip to Scotland in April of 2013, I sold my things. Literally almost everything. I emptied the five bedrooms and two car garage until the only things I still owned fit inside a 5' X 8' enclosed trailer. I spent another incredible summer working at Christikon, was home for 4 days and then boarded a plane to South Africa with a carry on suit case, a duffel bag, and a backpack. I spent from August of 2013 until August of 2014 with only what I could carry. Since then there's been no looking back.
I learned what I need rather than what I'm supposed to want. I learned the freedom and true living that comes with having less things. I learned the value in shared experiences, memories and the people you share them with over material things and money. And I think most of all I finally learned to honor the person I am at the core of my being rather than the person I thought the world was expecting me to be.
My life has changed a lot and I have grown drastically in the last two years. I've started down a different path than I was before and i've never been more excited to see what may lie ahead. This last sunday I committed to taking my simple living to the next level when I bought an 8' X 20' flatbed trailer to begin building my tiny house on. This blog will be my way of capturing the experience as well as sharing it with others.
LET THE TINY HOUSE ADVENTURES BEGIN!!!
I'd taken the fast track through college by opting to attend a technical school that I finished 2 ½ short years after graduating high school. My school internship the summer before my final semester had been a paid position working in the Bakken Oil Field. Then during my final semester I was offered a position working at a local area refinery, exactly the field i'd gone to school for, and spent the next year and a half starting a career. I was living the "American Dream", I was 22 years old and miserable.
I'm not exactly sure what triggered me to question what I was doing with my life so unrelentingly, but the longer I was into the work force the more I found myself filled with doubts of my stereotypical life. Maybe it was my overriding sense of unsettledness taking over again? Maybe it was my need for adventure trying to peaking it's head out. Or maybe I was simply bored, regardless I'm glad I was.
In the fall of 2012 I began to become very restless with my life and the path in which it was quickly headed down. I had the things that most people spend a good portion of their lives striving for, yet felt more empty than I ever had in my entire life. Minimalism was something that had always kind of intrigued me and I started to research it more seriously. It wasn't long before everything I was reading about were things I wanted to apply to my daily life. Why do I have all this stuff? What is it doing for me other than making more things to have to take care of when i'd rather be out doing other things? I knew that I had a choice to make. Continue holding the wheel steady for the next forty years the way I had been for the last couple years, or jump ship.
My first big step away from my consumer lifestyle into something more simple was spending the summer of 2012 working as a staff member at Christikon Lutheran Bible Camp. I had attended the camp in my younger years and it had always held a special place in my heart. When the then director Bob Quam approached me about working on staff for the summer I couldn't think of a better way to spend a summer then in the mountains of Montana. I spent the entire summer with nothing more than one large suit case, a backpack, and a rubbermaid tote worth of belongings. It wasn't until returning home after that first summer at Christikon that I really began to live into minimalism more though. I'd spent an entire summer living completely comfortably without any of the things that now filled my house once again. Did I really need all of this stuff? Little by little I started to get ride of my things. First the dirt bike, then the four wheeler, then the car. With every material thing I parted ways with I felt an even greater sense of relief and satisfaction.
In the coming months I returned to work at the refinery and fell back into my old life. It was so easy to fall back into old habits and old patterns. I was still slowly getting rid of possessions, but it still wasn't living, it was merely existing. Shortly after I had returned from camp, in the post summer excitement, I had applied to a program to spend a year volunteering overseas with the Lutheran church. By the time December rolled around though I had completely written off the possibility of going."You've got an incredible job, you could be set for the rest of your life if you just stay here." I believe is something about like what I found the voice inside telling me. Deep down though, I knew it wasn't the life I wanted.
When February rolled around I received news that I had been accepted into the program Young Adults in Global Mission to spend a year volunteering overseas with the Lutheran church. Instantly I was so excited, and yet so torn. What was I going to do? Accepting the opportunity to go overseas likely meant leaving my job that was rapidly turning into a career behind. I accepted the invitation to the interview and placement weekend to interview for multiple countries I may possibly go to and continued wrestling with what I was going to do.
I can't ultimately tell you why I finally chose to go, or what the breaking point was that lead me to jump ship, but what I can tell you is that it was the right decision. Not only that, but the best decision i've made in my entire life. After returning from a trip to Scotland in April of 2013, I sold my things. Literally almost everything. I emptied the five bedrooms and two car garage until the only things I still owned fit inside a 5' X 8' enclosed trailer. I spent another incredible summer working at Christikon, was home for 4 days and then boarded a plane to South Africa with a carry on suit case, a duffel bag, and a backpack. I spent from August of 2013 until August of 2014 with only what I could carry. Since then there's been no looking back.
I learned what I need rather than what I'm supposed to want. I learned the freedom and true living that comes with having less things. I learned the value in shared experiences, memories and the people you share them with over material things and money. And I think most of all I finally learned to honor the person I am at the core of my being rather than the person I thought the world was expecting me to be.
My life has changed a lot and I have grown drastically in the last two years. I've started down a different path than I was before and i've never been more excited to see what may lie ahead. This last sunday I committed to taking my simple living to the next level when I bought an 8' X 20' flatbed trailer to begin building my tiny house on. This blog will be my way of capturing the experience as well as sharing it with others.
LET THE TINY HOUSE ADVENTURES BEGIN!!!
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