A "Manual" Housewife?

Can I do it?  Can I manually grind wheat and make juice?  Can I make 5 loaves of bread a week if we have a  few more kids? Can I keep up with the chickens, weed the garden, do the wash by hand, and homeschool on top of it all?  I could, but it would be all my life.  There would be no time for family or friends. If a family were to go all out with this lifestyle they would have to become a team, no questions asked. Everyone would need to do their part to help out the whole family.

At this point with two young ones I have to pick and choose.  So far here is what I have done to transition to a more "manual" lifestyle using people energy instead of other energy.

1) No dishwasher - We do all our dishes by hand
2) No more microwave - Not sure how much energy this saves, but it is taking away a conveniece that really isn't all that missed!  Supposedly it is healthier too!
3) Manual hand crank Juicer - A step to a healthy lifestyle.  Many people don't juice at all so it is somewhat irrelevant to the average family, but we have begun juicing wheatgrass.  Check out the awesome benefits of wheatgrass here
4) Manual wheat grinding - My 4 year old is getting in on this one. I hope to have a post on this soon, but I have yet to make a full whole wheat loaf or a loaf of bread without the bread machine. Why
5) Cutting back on the dryer - This is soon to be my next step. Since I do cloth diapers while at home it really is good to do some line drying.  While in the mobile home I would like to at least have an accordian drying rack or a ladder used creatively like one of these ideas.

I am doing quite well with this gradual transition.  This is a surprise because I am such a black and white all or nothing person.  If we were to do it all at once I would certainly give up the first week. Transitioning slowly gives me the opportunity to master different aspects of the lifestyle we would like to achieve. Maybe someday I'll be making my own soap, cloth napkins, and other things.

Back to planning

Update:

-Jake lost his job December 31, 2011

-We have been on unemployment and watched God provide in awesome ways

-We had a baby girl on January 15, 2012

-Jake found some really awesome freelance opportunities at the end of April, 2012.

So now we can begin to plan again. For a while we really just stopped looking at land, stopped dreaming and considering house options, because we found ourselves getting too anxious over something that might not work out. We were just thankful for each day with food on the table for these last 5 months. We have not struggled nearly as much as many people do around the world. 

Where are we in our land/home plans?  Last night we were talking about the future home for the family and the topic came up of electricity.  We decided that perhaps staying on the grid would keep us from having to have the whole battery shed thing so technically we probably will not be going "off grid", but we would still try to generate our own electricity with solar and wind. We will also still try to have a manual lifestyle using as little electricity as we can. 

So our next plan is to finish paying off the debt. (When we sold the house we said we wanted to be debt free in a year.  With Jake losing his job we weren't sure if that would happen, but hopefully within the next few months we can be completely debt free! I can't wait!

Then it is save save save for land as much as possible and to keep our informed eyes open for the right land. We will be making need and desires lists for land and I will share those when we make them.  I will also share with you some of our thoughts on the home, green house and energy and perhaps some ways I am transitioning as a wife and mom in our little single wide. We also have a raised garden with 8 beds at Jake's parents house not too far away.  

I am looking forward to getting back into a paced dream mode and looking forward to having you along for the journey!

DVD give away at New Life On a Homestead!

I am entering New Life on a Homestead's DVD giveaway for:

Inherit the Land: Franklin Springs DVD

You can find the giveaway here.

I hope to win this to help inspire our long term goals to raise a family on land, learning how to grow our own food. 

Still settling in

I am almost to a point of taking pictures of our new home.  We still have clutter to deal with in the laundry area and of course our everyday clutter.  Not many, if any, are reading this blog, so I guess there is not much of a rush. LOL That is okay because this was meant to be a record of our journey and if I am going to journal it, most probably won't read. Which is fine with me.

Fall commitments began to get busy last week so it was really good that we moved when we did. I've learned that whenever you move there is a small window of motivation before you lose steam.  We still have some projects left, but we all really feel the need for a normal life routine.  Perhaps we can still fit a project in every week as part of our routine.

We are still waiting on the bank for finalized paperwork on an asking price for the house. We've learned to be patient and to just let the negotiator do his job.  The house is completely vacated save Jake's hydroponic lights and our plastic wheelbarrow behind the shed.

We hope we can close before snow so we are not having to go snow blow for every showing. LOL

The light at the end of the debt tunnel is getting bigger. I am not even allowing myself to look at land until we start actually saving money.  Plus, we have no idea when the right land will present itself. That is God's timing. I've become more picky on location recently, although I probably shouldn't.  It would be nice to stay within an hour of our hometown. Family is here and we don't want to be too far since one of us is not a big traveler.    Being far away and driving in to see family is a gas guzzling activity though, if you allow yourselves visit so often.

Our goal is not get away from family, but to be frugally below our means so we are able to give.  "Be a fountain not a well"  If we are called to be further away we know it won't be because we really want it, but because it is God's will. Which is always best, and also usually not what we think we want. Wanting what God wants is always better and takes discipline to listen to Him in the present, trusting Him with the future.  His way is perfect. I am thankful that He has given us His Word, the Bible, to know His will so we don't have to hem and haw.  If it is according to the Bible, it's what He wants, which usually always means..He wants our hearts pure and faithful only to Him, not any man. If our purpose and allegiance is truly with Jesus Christ's and the furthering of His Kingdom it will be God's will and we will have peace.

I am comforted as I look back at our decisions to see that we were making huge directional changes about things we saw as being unwise.  For both of us to really have the same mind about something big like this is really rare. As a married couple with very different personalities it was odd that we saw our inward promptings similar as we discussed our future on our anniversary overnight.  Perhaps it shouldn't be odd, but to us it was. Perhaps this is a new way for us, which would be great. :)

It is comforting to see Christ at the center of our relationship.  With our different personalities it is difficult to maintain a productive marriage together.  It takes real Love as described in I Corinthians 13. It takes patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, selflessness, etc.. to be at peace with one another.  When any of those things are off, even one, we are at odds.  It has become a high priority for me that our family be at peace with one another and to not have any inner dwelling bitterness. That takes work, but it is worth every ounce of effort to see God working in and through us as we live at peace with each other.

Move in ready!

In the previous post I listed what we needed to do to make the new home liveable.  We have done all things shy of finishing the kids/guest bath walls (ran into issues with the paneling) and getting the tubs ready for use.

We are doing the big move tomorrow and hoping to have all the little things over by the end of the week. Jake took the week off last week and built beds and an entertainment center. The home is already looking quite cozy and I'm looking forward to organizing all our things, as tedious as it can be. :)

Once settled I will be posting some after pictures of what we have done to the place in the last 5-6 weeks.

The short sale is moving along.  We have had one showing despite not even being on the market yet.  I am glad we will be showing a just vacated home.  Our short sale negotiator has informed us that we would have a investor who would buy the home, but we hope and prefer the home to go to a family so the home is not sitting vacated like so many are these days. It is nice to know that this chapter could be coming to a close shortly.

Now I am off to crank the music and pack the last of our things for the move tomorrow! :)

Home Preparation Checklist

We have come a long way in just 10 days of getting our "Transition home transitioned"! All the yellow highlighted items need to be completed for the home to be ready to move in. Everything else is cosmetic that can be completed as money and time allows. Jake is focusing mainly on Flooring and handyman fixes and installations. I am focusing on the cleaning and painting. We help each other out as need as well.

Last night was fun. My sister took B to Big Lots.. it's their special place to go together. Jake and I had a lot of fun and got a lot of work done in just a few hours. He did the kids bathroom floor and installed the toilet. I prepped the walls in his office for painting and was his helper while moving one toilet from one side of the house to the other. Helping, as in, following him with a rag to catch the drips... This is where you say ew! (we are switching the toilets to have the nicer one in the hallway bath.

B’s Room Tear out old floor
Staples out of floor
Patch walls
Prep walls
Paint  
Lay carpet

Kids Bath
Gut
Put in new sub floor
New Floor
Install toilet
Floor to ceiling white wainscoting Paneling (great idea Dad in law!!!)
New vanity
New tub fixtures
Towel racks
Storage shelf over toilet

Master Bedroom
Tear out old floor
Staples out of floor
Patch Walls
Prep Walls
Paint
New floor

Master Bath
Gut
Put in new sub floor
Prep walls
Paint
New Floor
Install toilet
New vanity or Pedestal sink
New tub fixtures
Fix tub caulking (worst caulk job we've ever seen!)
New shower curtain

Living Room and Hallway
Gut
Staples out of floorPatch Walls
Prep Walls
Paint

                               
Kitchen
Clean everything
Contact Paper on Shelves

Windows
Replace screens
Wash windows
Sew curtains
Curtain rods
Put up shades


Doors
Replace front screen door
Paint door frame
Paint front door white

Light Fixtures
New throughout inside and out
Exterior outlet thing

Outside
Trim hedges
Weed Whack
Fall Landscaping

Other

All carpets cleaned

All trash removed

Exterior photos of Transition Home

Here are the exterior pictures of our transitional home that we are transitioning to be more livable. :) Estimated move in is mid-September.