Oh Canada - Part 1

I've officially been in Canada for the last three days and I thought I'd write a little and share some pictures of what all I've been up to. I can't believe how much I've done in the short time that I've been here and what more there is to see and do!

Friday, November 20:

I left College Station at 7am and flew to Dallas. The plane ride was extremely bumpy due to the thunderstorms. It was probably the most turbulent flight I've ever been on. It was over before I knew it and I landed in Dallas. I had about a two and a half hour layover in Dallas. So, I proceeded to get some Starbucks (yay for peppermint white mocha frapps!) and listen to my iPod while I waited for the next plane.

Before I knew it I was buckling in to the least crowded plane I've ever been on and I was off to Canada. The plane from Dallas to Calgary was only about 30% full, so I had a row all to myself and was able to stretch out a take a nap, watch the new Star Trek movie on my laptop and listen to some great hymns on my iPod. Less than four hours later we had crossed the US/Canada border and I could see the great Rocky Mountains out of the plane window.

After getting through customs, exchanging my money, and picking up my bag, I proceeded to a lobby area where I read a book while I waited for Shawn (Tania's hubby) to pick me up from the airport. After Shawn picked me up we drove to Tania's work and I got to see the women's shelter where she works. We all went back to Shawn and Tania's place where Tania made us an awesome spaghetti dinner.

After dinner, Tania and I went to Spruce Meadows. It was all decorated for Christmas and we toured their Christmas market with booths from local vendors and artisans. We enjoyed sampling the cider and hot chocolate and looking at all the fun crafts. There was everything from alpaca stuffed animals to ostrich lotion. It definitely was a great way to get inspired to start thinking about the Christmas season (especially since it was so cold outside!). I picked up some Saskatoon Syrup from the Saskatoon Farm booth. Saskatoons are like blueberries, but they have a different flavor.

Saturday, November 21:

After such a long day on Friday, I enjoyed getting to sleep in on Saturday morning. After we got up and moving, Tania and I went to the grocery store to shop for the week. I was shocked at how much more expense things are up here than back home! Not only are the groceries much more expensive, but they don't really have any coupons like we do back home. Sad day!

After the grocery store, Tania and I went to Serendipity, a coffee/gift shop in the downtown area. It was very quaint and eclectic. We had a yummy lunch and enjoyed some hot beverages and then some sweet time in The Word. After we were done reading we shopped around the store a little. I found an awesome Brie Baker. I, of course, got one in red! What's a Brie Baker? You put a wheel of Brie in it with the top cut off and then you cover the cheese in jam or compote and put the lid on and bake it in the oven until the cheese is gooey. Then you serve it with crackers or toasted bread. It's soooo yummy! We got some Brie and tried it out that night!

We visited the historic Lougheed House after the coffee shop. The Lougheeds were a prominent family in Calgary. They lost their home in the "dirty thirties" for failure to pay taxes. It has been many things to the community including a red cross building. They've spent a lot of time restoring the home and the last 3-4 years it has been open for public viewing. They elaborately decorate the home for Christmas every year, so we were once again inspired for the Christmas season! Each room in the home represents a different era of the house and is decorated accordingly. I picked up a teacup for a souvenir. I inherited my great-grandmother's teacup collection. She used to collect teacups when they traveled. I've decided to try to carry on the tradition and to add to the collection when I can.

After the Lougheed House we came back to the house and made an awesome gourmet pizza for supper. On the whole wheat pizza crust, Tania made pizza sauce from scratch and then we added sliced tomatoes, chopped basil, crumbled bacon and lots of feta cheese. Yummy! After dinner we watched a movie.

Sunday, November 22:

We got up and went to church. It was such a blessing to get to worship with Shawn and Tania and see their church and meet some of their church body. After church we went back to their home for lunch. Then Tania, her friend Megan and I went to Heritage Park.

Heritage Park also decorates up for Christmas, so we got to see the little town all dressed for Christmas. The park is set up like a historic town with a bakery, stables, inn, school house, church, and homes big and small. There was lots to see in the different homes and lots to learn about the various families that once populated Calgary.

After Heritage Park, Shawn, Tania and I went to Shawn's parents' house for dinner. We got to visit with Shawn's parents and his sister, Lindsey. I haven't seen any of them since Shawn and Tania got married over 18 months ago! It was a blessing to get to catch up and share a meal together.

Not surprising, some of the wildlife here is much different than back home. For instance, the squirrels are not fluffy and light brown, but small with short tails and black. They also have these black and white birds called Magpies (sp?) which I guess are kind of like pigeons. Another thing is that they have these wild rabbits that no joke are HUGE! Wild rabbits back home are like the size of a cantaloupe, but the wild rabbits here are the size of a watermelon! I saw one for the first time outside Shawn's parent's home and snapped a picture of it.

Monday, November 23:

Tania had to work today, so I slept in and then went across the street to the "mall". I say that because most of the malls here are not like American malls. They are not usually anchored by a department store and are much smaller than what Americans would consider a mall to be. For instance, this particular mall is anchored by a grocery store and a Wal-mart. But, most importantly, there's a Starbucks inside. So, I did a little shopping and then went to the Starbucks for some Jesus time. I enjoyed their new holiday latte, Carmel Brule. It was super yummy. The rest of today should be fairly relaxing.

Most likely going to the mountains tomorrow...check back for more pictures!

Many blessing,
Jess

The house has moved and so have I!

These are the updated pictures of my little house. So much has happened these last couple of weeks and unfortunately I haven't been very good about updating the blog. Two Saturdays ago I was so blessed to have many men come out to prep the land to move my house. They cut down five trees, made repairs to the road, chopped down a lot of brush and laid the "foundation" for my house. Then a wonderful friend from church picked up my house with his truck and moved it out to the farm.

I was a nervous wreck the whole day. By the grace of God, I got through it and my house was moved relatively without complication. The Lord's timing was perfect, as usual. We had an entire week before the move in which there was no rain and sunny warm weather, so the ground was dry and it was the perfect time to move. It was also cool enough for the men to do the hard work of chopping down the trees. What a blessing!

Supposedly some ladies took pictures of the moving, but I haven't gotten copies yet. My camera was trapped in a room with a sleeping baby, so I didn't get pictures of the historic move. So, for now you'll have to settle for the pre-move pictures.

This last weekend, the cats and I packed up and actually moved into the little house. I haven't had a chance yet to take pictures of us in the house, but I'm hoping to soon, hopefully this week!

I've now spent three nights in the little house. It has already been an adventure. As a city girl moving to the country for the first time, there's a lot to get used to! The first night I kept waking up because I think hogs were running into my house during the night. Anytime there's a sudden movement either inside or outside, the whole trailer shakes. So I think the hogs just ran into it and it shook and woke me up. Either that or I was just imagining things, which is entirely possible, but hogs running into the trailer definately makes for a better story!

Then next night, my littlest cat, Bella, decided to practice getting up to the loft and getting down several times while I was trying to fall asleep. She was making so much noise I decided finally to turn on a light to see what in the world she was doing. I had done two things to give the cats the opportunity to get up to the loft with me. First, I placed a two by four along the wall with one end leaned up against the loft edge and the other down on the wheel well cover so the could walk up and down. Then I set up the folding table under the edge of the loft and put a folding chair on top of it so they could jump up.

Apparently, Bella didn't really like those options, so instead she decided to climb the ladder just like me. One leg at a time, all the way up the ladder. I can't even begin to describe how cute and silly she looked doing this! I've already been asked to video tape it and put it on You Tube. I will do my best to do so. To get down she was kind of afraid of jumping at first, so she was dragging her claws down the two by four as she slide down. She doesn't do this anymore because she's been watching Diesel jump down and figured out that she could do that as well.

Last night, we had out first rain storm since moving in the house. I woke up at 4am with the wind blowing really hard. I shut the windows and Bella and I snuggled and listened to the rain pound against the metal roof litterally inches from my head. It sounded like a hurricaine! I guess that's just another sound I'm going to have to get used to!

Thanks for tuning in. I'm certain there will be many more adventures, interesting stories and hilarious tales to come! Oh and pictures, 'cause I'm pretty sure some people are about to take me out if I don't start posting more pictures! :)

Have a blessed week!

Painting the Little House

What is the Little House on the Trailer?

It's going to be my home! I'm so thrilled that it will be a little house all my very own. I know a lot of people think I'm crazy and don't understand how it's all going to work. Like I mentioned in the previous post, the Lord has taught me so much throught this project and one of the most important things He's taught me is that it doesn't matter what others think. After all, where would we be if Noah had given up all those many years ago? People were sure to think that he was crazy...I mean seriously, building a big boat when it had never even rained before...try explaining that one!

I've learned that when you're walking in obedience to the Lord, nothing else matters.

So when you walk in the LHOTT, you're in the "kitchen". I have a small fridge/freezer. It's larger than a dorm one, but smaller that what you would see in a small apartment. I think it's about 9 cubic feet if I remember correctly. I will eventually be building some shelving in this area to keep my kitchen stuff in. Some great friends of mine are giving me the large toaster oven and hot plate set they used to use when they lived in a little house. I'll have a microwave and a few other small appliances like a coffee maker. My goal is to get down to what I really need in the kitchen. This will be hard as I'm currently rather attached to my kitchen stuff.

After the kitchen area will come my "living area" of sorts. Right now there's really not much here. I'm hoping again to add some shelves or something, not sure quite yet how that's all going to come together. I am planning on anchoring some serious hooks into the opening for the loft and hanging a hammock chair in the middle of the room. That way it will be easy to go around, easy to take down, and something that I can move outside for outdoor seating.

The opening for the loft is right about here and I have a telescoping ladder anchored to the opening. The ladder pulls down when needed so I can access the loft. After the opening to the loft comes the bathroom/closet area. I will have a tub, which will actually be a modified galvenized steel tank used to provide water for livestock. I have a stackable washer/dryer and a sink. I will be getting a composting toilet and I'll have room for my clothes.

Upstairs in the loft area is my bed. The air conditioner is located up here as well. I have lots of room for storage in the loft area and will be using this to keep my crafting supplies as well as surplus other stuff.

My house has nine windows and one door. It was built on a heavy duty car hauler. It has a metal roof.

I guess that's about it. It's pretty awesome. I could not have done this without the help of so many wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ! I lost track of my camera charger for about 3 months, so I do not have any updated and recent pictures of the progress on the house. I'm hoping to post a more updated slideshow this week sometime. Thanks for checking in...hopefully moving day will be soon...but if there's one thing I've learned, God works on His timeline and the house will be ready to move when He determines it is time.

Why the Little House on the Trailer?

I've finally caught up enough on life to get back to blogging! At least for a little while. The house is still a work in progress and I haven't moved in yet, but I'm getting very close. If you've just happened upon this blog you're probably wondering what this is all about, so I'll try to explain below a little about how this all got started.

First let me explain up front that I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. He is my savior and Lord of my life. I am a member of New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. Here is a statement of what we believe, I strongly encourage you to read it! http://www.newlifecs.net/about/what-we-believe/

Back in February of this year the Lord began to work on my heart about moving in with a family from my church. I have to admit, I was prideful about it. I was in love with my independence. I thought girls who moved in with families from church were crazy. And then my roommate and I had to move out of our house for a couple of weeks. I went to go stay with a family from my church. My time with them was amazing. I came to realize two things 1) I love living in the country and 2) I loved living with a family. The accountability was amazing. The feeling of coming home to a house full of joy was awesome. I felt safe and loved. I began to pray and ask the Lord what he would have me do. The answer...move out of my current living situation.

Even though I was in a two year lease and had other commitments, the Lord was clear that I needed to do it. So, I began to pray about where to live and I asked the family that I had stayed with to pray about me moving out to their place. They did and we agreed that that is what I should do. So we began to discuss the logistics of that. They only had one spare bedroom and it wasn't going to be spare for long because they were in the process of adopting.

I began looking into what it would cost to put up a shed on their property and then modify the inside to be a small studio apartment. In doing my research on small houses, I stumbled across this website... http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/ and I began exploring the idea of building a tiny house on wheels. Now, no offense to the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, but they wanted a little too much for their houses and after consulting with some friends I concluded that I could do something very similar from scratch for much cheaper.

And so the idea of the Little House on the Trailer was born. What I liked best was that I would be able to move it whenever the Lord saw fit to call me away.

So, in April 2009 I began to build my tiny house on wheels with the help of some of my closest friends: Rachael, Britt, Simone and Stephanie. It's now October and the LHOTT (I'm working on coming up with a better nickname for the house), is almost ready for me to move into. I've got some prep work to do on the land where my house is going to be moved to and I've got a handful of things that need done on the trailer and then I'm ready to move! I've learned a LOT of lessons over the last six months. The Lord has grown me in so many different ways though this project. I will definitely be writing more about what all the Lord has done through this project. Thanks for joining me to learn about why I set out to build a tiny house.

Little House Construction