Christmas Decor, Part II

We don't have much room for a full size Christmas tree, so I decided to just go with my three little Charlie Brown trees that I scored at Michaels last year for $7.  My massive star on top doesn't even look too ridiculous if you don't look too closely.

The red extension cords are totally classy, right?  Yep, that would be our cords for the outside lights since there aren't any plugs outside.  The one benefit?  All of our Christmas lights are on one timer, so the holiday spirit comes in full force at 5:15pm each day.

Even though I have about 200some ornaments, I kept it simple with my clip on butterflies.  Of course, Karl hung his Family Guy ornament front and center.  I did mention how classy we are, right?

Good thing I was too lazy to hang my pictures above the couch - It was the perfect spot to to hang a few more decorations.

And finally, my favorite decoration of them all - My sledding moosie!

Hope everyone else is getting in the holiday spirit and enjoying the season of decorating!

My Tiny House Experience (so far)

Since my most viewed blog post is from way back in April when I talked about tiny houses, I figured I'd do a little update on my experiences thus far living in a tiny house.  Once we realized we had to start out renting, finding a little house (720 square feet) was pure luck.  This was about the size that we planned for our own tiny/small house, so I consider this a practice run in organization and space saving.

We could probably go a little smaller if we didn't have a need for a guest room.  Our second bedroom probably makes up about 20% of our house, and isn't currently used for much.  It is, however, an absolute requirement now that I am living so far from my family and friends.

Do I think I could have transitioned into a small house as easily if I hadn't sold nearly all of my belongings before we moved?  Nope.  

Being on a limited budget for furniture purchases required us to be creative with what we did have.  The toy chest as a coffee table was a no brainer - now we don't need a separate coffee table, and the chest stores all of our board games in an easily accessible location.  We don't have room to keep all six chairs at the table in the kitchen, so I'm using one as an end table near the couch, and the other as a bedside table.  Easily moved should we have dinner guests and need the extra seating, and fully functional in the meantime.

I'm also hopeful that the small space will help us considerably as we try to stay warm this winter.  To conserve energy, Karl and I always keep our thermostat pretty low.  With our house heating up so quickly once the furnace kicks on, we're able to push it even further.  We're shooting for 60 degrees when we're home, and 50 degrees overnight or at while we're out of the house.  The great part about the small house living is that I can always crank up the thermostat for 5-10 minutes to get the chill out of the air if I'm feeling a bit on the cold side.  However, the more you get used to keeping the thermostat low, the less you will realize you need it to be any higher.  If it's 72 degrees in your house, 35 degrees outside will feel much colder than if you already feel warm at 60 degrees.  Plus, who doesn't love snuggling under a blanket?

We're also becoming much more conscious of the food we keep in the house.  When you only have one cabinet to store everything, you can't really tuck too much food away and not plan to eat it in the near future.  This will hopefully reduce our grocery bills a bit, which is good when a trip to the Alaskan grocery store is enough to want to stop eating altogether when it's time to pay the bill.

My struggles so far?  The closet.  I'll admit it, I have a minor obsession with clothes and shoes (mostly shoes) and nowhere to put it all.  Everything is kind of packed in like sardines, with more shoes stuck in the corner of the bedroom.  I have no solution.  I'll let you know if I figure it out (doubtful).

My favorite part?  The house is so much cleaner than I would have ever expected.  I hate to vacuum, I hate to dust, and I really hate washing dishes.  However, a small house allows you to vacuum in a just a few minutes, and the lack of counter space necessitates dishwashing several times a day.  The small spaces motivates me to spend just a few minutes a day tidying up, and I'm rewarded with a neat, clean house almost all of the time.

Living in a small space certainly isn't for everyone, and you have to be in the right frame of mind to look at it for it's potential versus what you feel you're missing out on.  The first step is to realize that you don't need the majority of what you have stuffed in corners and closet.  The second step is making that a reality.  The third step is enjoying the simpler life!  I can say without a doubt that I am enjoying my small house a hundred times more than our house in Pittsburgh that was three times the size, so it was definitely the right choice for us.

And finally... The Kitchen!

This isn't the greatest picture in the world - the afternoon sun shines right in the kitchen window!

Our kitchen is pretty tiny, which has presented it's own challenges.  I'm glad we were able to fit our dining room table in, even though we had to take the leaf out.  You can't really access the chairs near the walls either, unless you pulled the table out.  Oh well, I don't know anyone to invite over for dinner anyhow!  The back door was a disaster when we moved in - half of the paint was missing, leaving the brown door underneath exposed.  The whole kitchen looked bright once it had some fresh white paint!

I was so excited to put my place mats and dish towel out - thanks, Terese!  They made my kitchen feel homey right away!

The kitchen has a tiny alcove with some shelving, so I was able to store most of my larger kitchen supplies there.  I also got a great deal on this kitchen cart, which stores all of my serving and baking utensils, as well as spices and other random things.  My mixer sits so nicely on top!  It's on wheels, so I can drag it over to the counter whenever I'm doing some baking and my two feet of counter space aren't going to cut it...

Speaking of counter space - booo!!  It's nice to have a big sink, but I'd rather have another foot of workspace!  Oh well, the benefit of having such a small counter is that the dishes are basically always washed and put away.  There just isn't the room to leave them sitting out for even a short time.

We installed this shelf above the stove to hold the microwave - obviously, there was nowhere else to put it!  My cookbooks fit perfectly on the end, along with my recipe box.  The shelf is a big higher than I would have liked, but I wanted plenty of space above the stove for working.  It's only a problem when  whatever is in the microwave ends up in the back because the turntable was spinning - I have to keep turning it until it comes back to the front!

Well that's the end of our house tour!  I still have the guest bedroom, but there's no furniture in it!  I decided that I will not be purchasing a bed until my first lucky guest has booked their plane ticket!

My favorite room in the house!

The living room!  I adore how the light shines through my curtains and gives the whole room such a sunny feeling!  Amazingly, I had 3 matching curtain rods that I had brought with me so I didn't even have to shell out any extra money.  My awesome dad sent me Joann's gift cards for my birthday, so theoretically, my window treatments were free!

The living room is my favorite place to be so I like to keep all of my important things there.  I think this is why small house living suits me so well.  I could surely set up the guest room as a craft room of sorts, but I wouldn't use it.  I'd just end up dragging everything into the living room as I used it, so it might as well be there to begin with.

My table is a perfect size to hold my sewing machine, but still large enough to use for other projects without having to take everything off.  There's my lovely photo boxes with my craft supplies so neatly organized! (Except for everything crammed in the closet...)  The large sewing chest on the floor was my Grandma's and came all the way with me from Pittsburgh!  It holds all of my sewing patterns, scissors, rotary cutter, buttons, pins and needles, and other odds and ends.  Imagine my excitement when I found its baby sister on Craigslist!  The little one has been designated as the storage for pens and pencils, office supplies, stationary, and other necessities.  I still need a chair for the table - I've been dragging the toy box over which is not particularly back-friendly.

Here's Willow enjoying a bone on her new bed in her new house.  I decided to use my old pop bottle crates as storage as well as decoration - they're actually full of Karl's video game accessories!

Here's the other side - The cabinet against the wall is another Craigslist find.  It holds 200 of Karl's video games, and I don't even have to look at them!  I still have some photos to hang on the wall, but that is my least favorite chore ever.  No matter how many times I check it with my level, they still hang completely crooked...

Here are two of my favorite things in the living room:

You said it, moosie!

Both were awesome finds at the Alaska State Fair!  I'd been eyeing up the chainsaw carved animals since my very first visit to Alaska.  Unfortunately, they were usually well over $200.  This cutie only cost me $75 and I love it!

Sitting in my own living room makes me so happy, especially after all we've been through these last few months.  What a wonderful feeling, sitting here on my big, comfy couch, snuggled under a blanket and next to Willow, and typing up my blog to share with all of my friends and family!

The kitchen is our last room in the tour - check it out tomorrow!

Creating a new routine is tough!

I feel somewhat guilty in my rather sporadic posting lately - I blame it on the massive changes in the last couple of weeks that wreak havoc on my usual orderly schedule.  Karl and I have both started working again, which is doing wonders for both of our mental states.  I love being able to interact with my coworkers each day and I'm so grateful that they welcomed me into their group so easily.  I haven't really met anyone else in Alaska yet (it seems like 99% of all advertised get-togethers and clubs are focused on people with kids), so I'm enjoying feeling a bit more welcomed into the state.  Karl appears to be having a similar experience at his new job, so we're both in pretty good spirits.

Adjusting to us both having regular workday schedules is quite the feat.  In addition to figuring out Karl's video game time, there are so many other things I didn't realize that we would need to adjust.  Firstly, I would usually go to bed hours before Karl because he didn't usually have to be up early for work.  This allowed me to sprawl out all over the bed to fall asleep, a habit I've basically had my entire life.  Now I am resigned to my little half, which is made even smaller because Willow usually sleeps on my side.

We also have to get used to eating dinner every night.  I embarrassed to admit how many nights I ate cereal for dinner, because I just didn't have the motivation to make anything else if Karl was working that evening.  I can barely figure out how to grocery shop for more than one dinner a week!  Good thing we both like mac 'n cheese and ramen...

On top of all of this, we're also trying to get the last of our things unpacked, purchase a few more items we're in desperate need of, and finish sewing curtains.  So, my blogging has been a big lacking...  I can partially say it's because I'm spending less time sitting around feeling sorry for myself, but the real culprit is that I still don't really feel settled enough to spend much time on my computer.  I set a goal to finish every last bit of the house this weekend so we can start next week fresh.  I hope to have pictures ready of the living room and kitchen - there's only a few finishing touches left in each room.

On a side note, can someone please come visit me?  I promise I'll take good care of you!

What a lovely bathroom!

Jeez, I didn't realize how many days had gone by until I came to my blog and realized I hadn't read anyone else's for almost a week!  Having Karl working the same schedule as I am certainly requires some adjustments to my usual routine.  I'm used to having almost every evening to myself because Karl would be stuck at work until midnight or later.  Looks like the big compromise will be Karl's video game time... The prior rule was that he was not permitted to play any video games if I was home and awake.  Considering we rarely saw each other because our work schedules conflicted, it wasn't that much to ask.  Now that we're both home in the evenings and on weekends, neither one of us has that special "me time."  I'm sure we'll figure it out, but for right now it seems like we're on another planet!  I think I've seen Karl more in the last few months than I have in the last 6.5 years.

On to the next room in our tour!

The bathroom was actually the first room to be almost 100% complete.  I finished it up this weekend by making my shower curtain.  I fell in love with this fabric a few weeks ago and knew I had to use it for the bathroom.  I used four yards of fabric and stitched buttonholes across the top for the hooks.  Easy peasy!

Yes, guilty as charged.  I do not iron when I sew unless it is completely and totally unavoidable.

Isn't it fun?  Now my bathroom will be spring all year round!

I didn't have anywhere to hang my water conservation sign in the kitchen, so I decided to move it over to the bathroom.  Do you see the color coordination between the sign and the toilet seat cover?  Totally unplanned, yet completely perfect!  Anyway, the concept of water conservation is almost a joke here, since the city of Anchorage seems to think it's a good idea to charge everyone the same amount for water regardless of how many people are living in the house and how much water you use.  Doesn't sound like a good way to motivate anyone to reduce their water consumption...

The days are getting darker here so much more quickly than I'm used to!  The shorter days always seem to come as a surprise, but we're losing almost 6 minutes a day right now.  Adds up pretty quickly over a week!  I'm especially grateful of the window in my new office, because I know I'll get to take advantage of whatever daylight is out there.  Karl has to work in a basement though with no windows - good thing he says he's used to it!

A peek at our new home

Here it is, our first place to call our own in Alaska!  I've learned that Alaska appears to be the land of duplexes, so I'm very excited that we were able to get a house all our own.  Yes, that is a terrible towel in the front window!  We have a driveway too, and I think we'd probably be able to fit three cars in it.  Hopefully Karl will be able to bring his Mustang over so he can drive it next summer!  The two windows that you see on the left are in the living room, and the one on the right is in our bedroom.

 Here's our cute little fenced in backyard.  We need to do something about the fence to block Willow's view of the 37 dogs that appear to live in the neighboring yards, but she's already happy to have her own little patch of land!  The window on the far left is is in the guest bedroom, the one in the middle is in the bathroom (actually in the shower - weird, right?) and the one on the right is in the kitchen.  The door on the far right is actually just a tiny storage area, which will be great for shovels, camping supplies, and other stuff that doesn't need to take up space inside.

And here's our bedroom!  This is the only room that is even close to finished, so it's the only one you get to see for now.  You may wonder why we decided to live on the edge and get a white comforter with a stinky black doggie - I had actually fallen in love with this comforter a few weeks ago, but it was far too expensive considering we usually have to buy a new one each year due to excessive slobber and dirty feet (and that's just Karl - ha!)  In any case, when we were buying some bathroom linens Karl came across the comforter in the clearance section and it was only $40!  Works for me!

We finally brought the last of our stuff in from Wasilla on Wednesday night, so now we just have to put everything away... We're getting there though, and it's definitely starting to feel like a home.  We seem to be having some considerable trouble in getting anyone to provide us with television service, so we've been watching every single episode of Family Guy on DVD!

Check back next week for some more photos!  I'm hoping to hit Joann's this weekend and get a shower curtain made and finally have the bathroom 100% finished.  Once the rest of the house is done, we'll get started on the guest room - then I'll be taking reservations for all of my lovely family and friends to come visit!!

Home Sweet Home!

I apologize for being MIA the last few days, but at least my silence this time was due to some good news!  We were FINALLY able to move into our rental house in Anchorage last Friday, so we've been frantically getting things cleaned up and moved in.  We finally told the management agency that we were willing to sign a lease before the work around the place was finished, and that we'd handle the painting ourselves.  We just couldn't wait any longer for them to get it done on their own.  The only frustrating thing now is that we could have decided to move in way back when we first looked at the place and it would have been the same amount of work!

I was a bit nervous about this house just because it looked a little rough around the edges when we came to check it out.  Karl assured me that a fresh coat of paint would do wonders and boy, was he right!  I chose a beautiful shade of blue to replace the Aquafresh toothpaste color that was previously on the walls.   I had to work throughout the weekend, so I left Karl in charge of painting when I headed to work Friday. Our hope was to finish the living room that day so we could start moving some things in over the weekend.  Karl worked like crazy and had the living room, bathroom, and bedroom all finished by the time I got home!  I finished up the kitchen that night, and we headed out to Wasilla on Saturday and Monday to get some of our things.  We also picked up a brand new mattress (which was heaven to sleep on!) and a couch over the weekend, so it's really starting to feel a bit like a home!  It's almost weird using the word 'home' because I've gotten so used to saying 'Karl's dad's house' and 'the motel' over the last few months.  It's such a wonderful feeling to be able to say 'let's go home' and not mean heading back to Pittsburgh!

Pictures will be coming shortly, but I've been too busy to even open my camera case - Actually, I'm not really even sure where it is right now!  We finally went grocery shopping today, so we can actually cook ourselves some food too!

In other exciting news, Karl got a job last week!  He'll be working at a bank, which is exactly what he was hoping to do here in Alaska.  He's pretty excited because he gets his own desk, which he's never had before!  He has a little photo of Willow set aside to take with him - how cute!

I'm so excited to be able to write a happy blog post again!

Final FINAL floor plan

Revision #927834 has finally been Dad-approved!  For your viewing pleasure:

I've kept the basic elements from the last plan, but the new arrangement has actually given me more usable space.  The 6" lost from an interior wall makes a huge difference when you are designing such a small space!  I've been able to add a small hall closet for coats and such, as well as a pantry closet next to the laundry area.  The addition of a pantry means I can get away with less cabinets (thus less $$$).  I decided to go with a rolling island behind the couch, which will have enough space to hold all of my pots and pans, and will give me an extra work space.  I also envision being able to roll it out of the way (like in front of the laundry) if I need a bit of extra floor space for entertaining or a big project.  See that room in the bottom right?  That's the guest room for everyone that comes to visit!

Now I'm sure some small changes are still possible, but I was really determined to finalize a floor plan so I can start working on electrical and plumbing plans.

The Complete Guide to Wiring

Karl and I just ordered this book after we perused it at Barnes & Noble.  Looked like a really good manual for someone that has no concept of what they're doing!  Lots of full color photos explaining exactly what to do.  I'm anxious for it to come in the mail so I can go over it with my dad, and maybe feel a bit more confident in doing this ourselves!  I'm hoping Karl will take the lead on most of the electrical stuff, as he's already knowledgeable about car wiring.  I, on the other hand, can barely hook up a TV anymore.  In my defense, I have never had to touch a single plug for anything in the 3.5 years Karl and I have lived together. 

Hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day - better remind Karl to call his mom tonight!

Final floor plan (maybe?)

This is the plan for my one floor, 768 square foot cabin.  My current cost estimates are around $30,000 to build and completely finish.  I hope to be able to stick to that budget by finding some things below the estimated cost to balance out the things that end up being over.  Things always end up being more expensive than you think, but I am still so excited!  

Quitting my job is the other huge reason that I am excited to move.  Sometimes it seems like each day at work drains the spirit out of my soul a little bit more.  Maybe I'm being idealistic in thinking that leaving my job will improve my life so much, but I guess I will just have to see.

Today is May 1st, so that means I'm leaving next month!

Tiny Houses = Living Simply

I think I may have redesigned the floor plan for the cabin about 87 times...  I'm back to one floor now, and I increased the footprint to 24' x 32'.  Construction logic states that it's cheaper to build up, than out, but I'm not so sure how true that is for smaller houses.  Increasing the footprint by 8' is likely going to be a lot cheaper than adding an entire second floor, and actually results in a similar amount of usable space.  Building stairs to code takes a LOT of space!  I think a lot of us are used to steps that are a bit steeper and narrower than what is currently required for new construction.  I was losing almost 75 square feet just by putting stairs in! So the current plans afford me 768 square feet for a kitchen, dining area, living room, bathroom, laundry room, and two bedrooms.  Don't forget to cram some closets in there, too - doggie food and a vacuum has to go somewhere!

So, depending on who you ask, my little cabin in the woods might qualify as a 'tiny house,' or maybe just a 'small house.'  By comparison to some hardcore tiny house-ers, our cabin will be a mansion!

Although, I am now completely sold on the concept of building one of these on a trailer rather than shelling out $80,000+ for an RV:

So for any of you that haven't heard of the tiny house movement, there are tons of blogs and websites dedicated to the people living ultra simply.  It does make you wonder, how much do we really need?  How much furniture/clothing/stuff do you have in your house that you probably wouldn't notice if it went missing?

Sure, Karl and I could borrow a couple hundred thousand dollars and build some big house with lots of rooms we probably wouldn't go in (other than stuffing some useless junk the closet of course).  We could then pay a ton of money to heat it, and furnish it, and maintain it, and continue to slave away working to pay for the big stupid house that we don't even use because we're too busy working just to pay for it.

Or...

We can go low key.  Live simply.  Keep the things that are important to us and forget the rest.  Spend more time together, doing things we love, and with friends and family.  Limit our expenses to the things that matter and stop the incessant consumerism that is so harmful to our planet.  And stop slaving day in and day out while life passes us by.

Of course, I may be a bit more of a hippie tree hugger than the average Joe.  But I really encourage everyone to make an effort to live simply.  It's an achievable goal, while the constant more more more will never be enough.

My great idea!

I've been thinking a lot about how to afford a fence for Willow so she can have a backyard at her new home.  Obviously, that's one of the major benefits of owning your property.  However, with the huge expenses of house building, I was worried that Willow would end up with a teeny little yard because we'd only be able to afford 20 feet of fence!

Until I had my great idea:

What is made of wood, roughly 4 feet in length, and easy to get for free because most companies have to pay for disposal?

Wooden pallets!!  A surprising number of people have beat me to this great idea, which means I have lots of examples to model my fence after.  Willow will be happy that the size of her yard will only be limited by our energy to dig post holes!

Chickens

Perhaps I'm starting to go overboard in my plans for a sustainable future, but I totally want to have my own chickens for eggs.  If you know me, you know I've talked about having chickens for awhile.  Having my little house in Alaska finally gives me the chance to do it!  This would probably be a plan for next spring, but I like to do lots of research so I know what I'm doing when the time comes.   I am also loving the idea of making a little chicken coop that's a mini version of the house.  Maybe Willow will have to get a matching doghouse, too (not that she'd even go near the thing - spoiled dog).

But seriously, who wouldn't want to be able to go outside and collect eggs from your own chickens?!?!  I see it the same way I see growing lettuce -  Oops, need some lettuce on your burger?  Why don't I just go outside and pick you a leaf?  Oh, scrambled eggs for breakfast?  Absolutely - no grocery store runs here!

Hmm, guess I'll need to get started on that greenhouse, too.  Definitely need to extend growing season as long as possible.

Clearly, I should have been born in like 1920.  Or 1820.  Some time period where these sorts of things were appreciated.  Even a time when striving to be a housewife was acceptable, which isn't so much the current climate in this country.  Luckily, Karl is very supportive and is cool with the idea of at least trying to live as sustainably (and therefore cheaply) as possible, thereby reducing our financial requirements.  And anyone that has spent any time considering this lifestyle knows that it is definitely still work, just a different kind!

In house building news, I'm still trying to crunch some numbers to see what kind of up front costs we're looking at.  I'm fine with leaving a lot of interior stuff until more money is available (and hello, doesn't adding shelving between exposed studs on interior walls sound totally awesome??)  What I really need to do is nail down a plan so we can figure out lumber costs, and whether we're going with a DIY raftered roof or manufactured trusses.  Karl's job will be to call Spenard Builder's Supply and get a quote on trusses so we can price that.  The other major expense will be a cistern and septic tank, so quotes will be needed on that, too.

Only ten weeks away - EEK!!

So this is what I've been working on...

I've been on my computer for several hours each night, but I've been so busy trying to figure out how to build a cabin, I haven't had any time to post!  I made up some floor plans tonight, so I can show what I've come up with:

First Floor

Second Floor

The plan is for a 24' x 24' footprint, with two stories and a plain gable roof.  I've had some pretty intense building sessions with my dad, and I'm actually feeling surprisingly confident about Karl and I doing this ourselves (with some help from his dad, of course)!  Money is always an issue, so I'm trying to keep it as low cost as possible.  Most of the walls on the second floor wouldn't likely go in when we're building.  I don't mind if the upstairs is one big room if it means we can get some more important things accomplished.  Utility hookups are going to be our major expense - In Alaska, you aren't even guaranteed access to electric on any given lot!  Luckily, the area we're planning to search for land will probably have power lines, but water or natural gas is highly unlikely.  This means a really expensive cistern and bulk water delivery (rather than a really REALLY expensive well digging), and probably a pellet stove.  I kind of want a wood stove really badly, but they just aren't that efficient and can't burn unattended as long as a pellet stove can.  Check pellet stoves out here.  Kind of fits into my goal of being as environmentally friendly as possible - most pellets are made from scrap wood or sawdust.  Unfortunately, I haven't found one at less than $1500...  I'll try to document the building plans as I go, so everyone else can save up and build their cabin in the woods, too!

But I WANT a CABIN!

The more I think about the big move, the more disgusted I am at the thought of renting another house.  I seem to read about more and more people that have moved to Alaska and built themselves a small cabin, having limited finances and no prior building experience.  Well, why can't that be me?  Karl and I want to live as sustainably possible, and frankly, that gets pretty difficult when you are forced to rely on your landlord's crappy furnace, poorly insulated windows, and complete inability to install your own solar panels, geothermal heating, etc.

Also, it gets really difficult to find a place to live when you have a 65 lb. pitbull, because people seem to be convinced that she is going to eat babies and take over the world.

I'm currently in love with these:

www.intershelter.com

Granted, Karl would probably not let me get one that looked like an apple.   However, these dome shelters are fully portable, can withstand subzero temperature with a small space heater, and will hold up in hurricane force winds.  There's also options available to provide all of your own cooling, heating, and water needs 100% off grid.  Cost = $15,000 to $20,000 for a 20 foot model.  ($7000 to $10000 for a 14 footer.)  These are absolutely awesome, because they're actually designed to be temporary housing for disaster areas.

Yeah, it wouldn't be huge.  I don't need huge.  When I think of our house right now, we don't really use most of the space anyway.  In fact, it's mostly furniture taking up space, so we don't have a bunch of empty rooms.  Considering we're selling most of our stuff anyhow, I'm intrigued with the idea of staying super low maintenance.

Or, do I want to build a log cabin?

The biggest problem with building is the need to purchase land, which is a big up front cost in addition to the building costs.  If we were lucky, we'd get a lot with enough trees to cut for the wood.  However, this would definitely be a long term solution, especially if we were able to be on the grid for our utilities, at least while we figured out other options.  Running a generator for a couple of years isn't a very good option.

The benefit of buying the dome is that we could hopefully put it up in Karl's Dad's backyard.  Did I mention that you can build and rebuild these domes as many times as you want??  This way, we'd still be at his dad's house, have access to his shower and kitchen, but have our own privacy and avoid paying $1500 a month for rent as soon as we moved.  Maybe this would give us a lot more time to relax and adventure, before us both being forced to have full time jobs.  Expenses would be super low (and we wouldn't be cramping his dad's style by staying in his house for months).  Willow would probably be a lot happier, too.

Decisions, decisions.  Karl is so much more go with the flow, but I thrive on the planning.  I know that I will adjust so much better in Alaska if I can use it as an opportunity to create a life I do not have here, but that I desperately want.  Alaska has so many more people homesteading and living off grid than anywhere in Pennsylvania.  I would be infinitely happy if I could have my own little cabin, work part time or sell soap out the wazoo, and reduce expenses through energy independence, having my own greenhouse, canning and preserving, making my own bread, etc.  There's people out there doing it... why can't it be me?