We move to South Carolina in a few hours. I am so excited that even though it's 4am, I can't sleep. Sleep problems aren't usually something I have to deal with, so this is a somewhat new experience. However, like everything else in the last 2 days, I am too cheerful right now to be concerned with how a lack of sleep might affect me later. WE ARE MOVING AWAY FROM MILWAUKEE IN LESS THAN A DAY! It's finally happening. Is everything from our Milwaukee chapter neatly closed off? Not a chance. We still haven't sold our house and there are quite a few belongings that we can't fit in a trailer and bring with us. They will either be free on the curb or remain in the house for future Cris/Paul to deal with for when the house finally isn't our problem anymore. Maybe a nice couple will buy our home this weekend and be like: "Ooh, look, the house came with a mattress, couch and chair, rugs, a desk, and a dining room table set! Score!" That would be sweet. Then we wouldn't have to spend even more money on this place by hiring a company to haul it all out.
Moving to another state is certainly way more expensive than I even imagined. We knew it would be rough, but we have been saving for this for quite some time. However, when you think you have a few weeks to sell things and then it turns out you only have a few days (Paul has a second interview in SC this Thursday and it's cheaper to move now than drive down for the interview and then come back up and pack, etc.), then you try to sell perfectly reasonable things for WAY cheaper than necessary. For example, my sweet beloved car is a Hyundai with 94,000 miles on it. Perfect shape and drives great, just needs the air condition to be recharged, has some cosmetic issues, and the back doors stick so they are difficult to use. We are currently asking for 1,000 bucks for it. It makes me cringe. We put our awesome brown faux-leather couch and chair, only 3 years old and in perfect condition, up for sale for 500 bucks. No takers yet, which surprises me. We also have brought tons and tons of our stuff to a local thrift store (lucky store). Roller blades, nice clothes, nintendo games and a nintendo DS, frames, pictures, kitchen gadgets, and much more have been brought to the thrift store. It's sad to see them go, but there's no room. We had to buy a closed utility trailer for our belongings, so hopefully we can sell it for a similar price when we get down there. Yup, moving to another state is expensive. And scary. Where are we going to live? That's what everyone asks and we have no idea. Are we supposed to buy a place to live without even visiting it? We have to wait until we get down there. So it's a bit of a gamble: we are going to stay in a hotel for a week and by the end of that week, we hope to have a place to live. No pressure or anything. :)
Anyway, this post is supposed to be about my final thoughts on Milwaukee so I better get focused (hard to do at now 5am, but I'll give it a try). We have been in Milwaukee for 5 years. It was the second stage of our married life. The first stage was our naive honeymoon phase, where we were still getting our undergrad degrees, living on campus, and eating free food given to us from our awesome parents. :) That lasted about a year. Then we moved to Milwaukee so that I could go to graduate school and thus began Stage Two of our lives, which I suppose should be called our 'Learning Stage'.
Here's a few things that we have learned from being here in Milwaukee:
(1): We are not city people
**Our time in Milwaukee has been a bit miserable for us because we learned that we hate city life. We learned through these five years that our favorite hobbies include: fishing, hiking, sailing, going to wineries, gardening, making crafts and furniture, etc. None of these are good hobbies for people who live in the city. They all take place hours away from cities, so it has been rough. We do NOT like: going to bars, going to baseball games, going to museums, and other city-type activities. When holiday breaks come, we leave the city as fast as we can. On normal weekends we are bored out of our minds. Thus we learned that we cannot ever again live inside a city. We need a few country acres near a lake to be happy.
(2): Midwestern social and cultural ways do not fit with us
**Paul and I are terribly shy and awkward around strangers. It takes us a long, long time to feel comfortable around people. The few people we got along with here in Milwaukee were from other states. We would become friends and then they soon left us for their awesome states again and we would be friendless once again. We need to live in a place where people are nice and outgoing to strangers and newcomers. This is one of the reasons we are going to move to the South. Every time we visit the South, people are so friendly that we forget our awkward ways. When we came to Milwaukee, we knew no one and had no friends. As we leave, we only have Rick, a friend from Michigan and a few other nice people that we know but weren't really friends with from Milwaukee. That's right, we arrived with no friends and left with no friends. Sigh...it's been a tough five years, but we did learn that we need to try a less snobbish/cold culture than the Midwest.
(3): There are a lot of bad people out there
**In rural Michigan, Paul and I were pretty laid back and trusting when it came to other people. We both came from households that were pretty laid back about locking house doors at night. Then we moved to Milwaukee and learning quite a lot about bad people. We were here for only a few months when our car's window was busted and our car was robbed. That was the first break in our naive understanding of the world. We learned that we could no longer ever leave anything valuable in our car. We learned that you can't have a nice radio system in the car or a nice GPS, basically don't leave anything nice in a car in Milwaukee. Our next two vehicles in Milwaukee were involved in parking lot hit-and-runs. Our second car we owned here had the front right almost completely ripped away from the vehicle in a hit-and-run. Instead of getting it professionally fixed (why spend a lot of money on a car if it might get in another of these type of incidents?), we bought good glue and glued it back together. Thanks for the lesson, Milwaukee, that there are bad people in the world. Our newest vehicle was also involved in a hit-and-run, but that was only minor: a few scratches on the back bumper and a busted back light. How tragic, though, that we have had such bad vehicle experience here. I also learned about how college campuses can be dangerous because of bad people. At UWM, there were robberies done to students walking near school almost every day. I was lucky enough to avoid that, but they emailed everyone whenever it happened and the amount of emails I was getting everyday made me freak out. At Marquette, I had to take the public bus to school everyday, where I was scared for my life every single time. Druggies, homeless people, alcoholics (sometimes all three in one), gang members, violent people who argued with bus drivers and had police come on board, etc. It was terrifying. I couldn't even walk from the bus stop to my house without creepy men (multiple times!) stopping their cars next to me and asking me if I wanted a ride or saying other creepy things. I no longer can be in my front yard without Paul home and the dog at my side. When Rick moved into his house, it wasn't even one month before his home was robbed. He lived right down the street from us, so we also learned that we weren't safe even in our own house. Yep, Milwaukee taught us that there are lots and lots of bad people in this world. We have heard multiple gun shots just down the street from us, we have had police with guns drawn in our yard as they inched carefully to raid our neighbor's drug stash, we have had people knock on our door to tell us that bad people are driving down alleys throwing rat poison in yards just to purposely kill dogs, and we even had an armed robber use our yard as a getaway point, so that detectives stopped by to take pictures of our place and yard. We no longer feel safe anywhere if the doors aren't locked or a dog isn't around to give protection. I can't go for walks alone anymore, even with mace in my hand. I hope someday we meet enough nice people that we can stop being so paranoid about the bad people. I hope what we learned about people in the world can be made more positive in our next stage of life.
(4): God is in control of our lives, not us
**When we moved to Milwaukee, I was one of the most career-driven people out there. As long as I can remember, I was dreaming and perfectly planning out my career and life. First, I would get my Master's degree, then my PhD, then I would get a professor gig and life would be grand. We originally moved to Milwaukee so that I could get my Master's degree. It was a success, and I must admit, I felt on top of the world, maybe even a bit smug. Then I applied for PhD schools and I got accepted into two of them. I was even more sure that my life was going exactly how I planned. I decided on Marquette University and started inching even closer to fulfilling my dreams. However, Marquette was a nightmare. It was very easily the worst year of my life. It is the worst school EVER. Anyway, after months of crying, stress, and depression, I dropped out of their PhD program. Fortunately, I got adjunct professor jobs immediately afterwards. I made my dreams come true: I was a professor! Except that then reality crashed down on me. Adjunct jobs don't pay much. It was enough money to cover the food that I personally ate, and not much else. I could not make a living like this. Professor jobs make me incredibly happy, but they do not make my wallet very happy. I started substitute teaching on the side to make ends meet. It worked out, but now we are about to move and I have no idea what I will do for work when we move. We are moving somewhere with less big Universities. So far, I have had no bites for adjunct professor jobs in SC. People keep asking me what I am going to do for a job when we move and I have no idea. For the first time in my life, I have no career goals driving me. And I am okay with it. I had a career-dream, and I made it come true. Now it's time to look at how I can make my life more God-focused. I would like to see my spiritual side become refueled and re-energized. Being in Milwaukee has made my spiritual life become dimmed, and I don't like it. A big lesson that I personally learned from this stage in our lives is that God is in control, not me. God should be my focus, not a career. Perhaps God will bless us with a better next stage if we make Him our focus instead of careers. I have learned from my time here that there are way more important things in life than a career. I want my next stage of life to be focused on God, on making lasting friendships, on finding good people in the world, and on having fun with hobbies with my wonderful husband.
I look forward to the next stage of life and I look forward to sharing those adventures with you!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Nothing to Say
My apologies for not writing much lately. There are many reasons for my absence:
1) I was miserably sick for the entire month of January. No kidding. I am currently wondering if I developed mono or something similar to that because during the last two weeks of that month, I was so exhausted (as in about to pass out) that I was going to bed between 8 and 9pm every night and then sleeping for 12 straight hours every night. It was a terrible start to a new year, and I am hoping it's all out of my system and the rest of the year will go by smoothly and EXACTLY how I would like...it's only fair, right? :)
2) There really isn't much to write about. Life here in Milwaukee is winding down for Paul and I, so there are no new adventures. We used to do home improvement projects, but everything major has been done and we don't see the point of spending any more time or money on the house now that we have it for sale. We used to at least TRY to meet new people to be potential friends, but since we are leaving in just a few months, we don't see why we should put ourselves through that emotional roller-coaster if we don't have to. We used to do things to get through the "Winter Blahs", but we are trying to save money for moving and are not leaving the house much. All of these things mean that life is pretty boring. The most exciting thing I can write about is that I bought supplies for making homemade candles. I wanted a project to make the time go faster. So that's something, I suppose.
Other than that, all I can say is that Paul and I spend most of our time getting ready for the Big Move and dreaming Big Dreams for our future. We started looking at property, which is a terrible idea, because we keep finding land that we like, and what are the chances it will still be available when we can buy it? Oh well, it's fun to look at possible locations for our house. :) I've been applying to every job I think I could maybe get in Upstate SC and I just keep praying and praying and praying that God will let it all work out. People keep making it clear to us that they think we are crazy for moving down without jobs set up and that we are moving down there simply because we like the area. I think more people should do what we are doing. We found a place in this world that makes us both happy: fishing, hiking, mountains, nature, the ocean isn't far away, good climate, etc. Why shouldn't we move there? Life is more than just jobs. Jobs will come. We have been smart with money and should last a while without jobs in the worst-case scenarios. So we shall see how this all works out.
We are going down to SC for Paul's spring break in April. We are planning on bringing down our first load of stuff and renting a storage place. It's so exciting! We have all sorts of plans for that week including both fun and work (meeting realtors, discussing housing plans with committees, etc.) Hopefully we get a lot accomplished! And we could use the prayers that I am able to get a full time job down there. It would make things better if that happens.
Anyway, that's life over here right now. We are actually getting out of the house this weekend, so hopefully, I have something interesting to write about!
1) I was miserably sick for the entire month of January. No kidding. I am currently wondering if I developed mono or something similar to that because during the last two weeks of that month, I was so exhausted (as in about to pass out) that I was going to bed between 8 and 9pm every night and then sleeping for 12 straight hours every night. It was a terrible start to a new year, and I am hoping it's all out of my system and the rest of the year will go by smoothly and EXACTLY how I would like...it's only fair, right? :)
2) There really isn't much to write about. Life here in Milwaukee is winding down for Paul and I, so there are no new adventures. We used to do home improvement projects, but everything major has been done and we don't see the point of spending any more time or money on the house now that we have it for sale. We used to at least TRY to meet new people to be potential friends, but since we are leaving in just a few months, we don't see why we should put ourselves through that emotional roller-coaster if we don't have to. We used to do things to get through the "Winter Blahs", but we are trying to save money for moving and are not leaving the house much. All of these things mean that life is pretty boring. The most exciting thing I can write about is that I bought supplies for making homemade candles. I wanted a project to make the time go faster. So that's something, I suppose.
Other than that, all I can say is that Paul and I spend most of our time getting ready for the Big Move and dreaming Big Dreams for our future. We started looking at property, which is a terrible idea, because we keep finding land that we like, and what are the chances it will still be available when we can buy it? Oh well, it's fun to look at possible locations for our house. :) I've been applying to every job I think I could maybe get in Upstate SC and I just keep praying and praying and praying that God will let it all work out. People keep making it clear to us that they think we are crazy for moving down without jobs set up and that we are moving down there simply because we like the area. I think more people should do what we are doing. We found a place in this world that makes us both happy: fishing, hiking, mountains, nature, the ocean isn't far away, good climate, etc. Why shouldn't we move there? Life is more than just jobs. Jobs will come. We have been smart with money and should last a while without jobs in the worst-case scenarios. So we shall see how this all works out.
We are going down to SC for Paul's spring break in April. We are planning on bringing down our first load of stuff and renting a storage place. It's so exciting! We have all sorts of plans for that week including both fun and work (meeting realtors, discussing housing plans with committees, etc.) Hopefully we get a lot accomplished! And we could use the prayers that I am able to get a full time job down there. It would make things better if that happens.
Anyway, that's life over here right now. We are actually getting out of the house this weekend, so hopefully, I have something interesting to write about!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Christmas Break
Well, this post is long overdue. I apologize for that, but the reasons are perfectly...reasonable. You see, Paul and I went home for Christmas and while there, we obtained a parting gift from someone in the form of sickness. This seems to happen every time we go home: there is a new strand of sickness going around and we aren't immune to it yet, so we get it and bring it home with us. Huzzah. This sickness was probably the worst sickness that Paul and I have ever dealt with. Ever. This is no exaggeration. We got home on Jan. 1 and Paul was already sick. This was a weird cold/flu combo thing and he was pretty miserable. However, Paul didn't communicate just how sick he was, so like a good wife, I acted like a diligent nurse and promptly got sick myself. From Jan. 1 - Jan. 7, Paul and I did nothing but lay on the couch and be completely miserable. Paul missed school for that whole week(!) and I luckily didn't start yet so I didn't feel as guilty, but man, were we feeling crappy! This sickness included: fevers everyday, nausea (for me), head congestion, runny/stuffy nose, cough, sore throat, aches EVERYWHERE, dizziness, and ear aches! To give you another idea of just how bad it was, in the last 2 years, we have gone through 2 boxes of tissues. This includes times during those 2 years when we were sick. This past week alone, we have gone through FOUR boxes of tissues and I am still sick right now and using up another one! It was insane. Paul has now mainly recovered and is back in action. The only lingering things for him is a bit of a runny nose and a sore throat. I, however, just cannot seem to beat this thing. I am on week 2 and I am still pretty miserable. Blegh. I am doing better enough now that I can finally post things, so here I am. I really hope that the next time we go home, we do not get THIS sick again. This has been a horrible start to our new year!
Anyway, Christmas break itself was wonderful. We spent the first five days of break seeing family on both sides. We got to spend as much time as possible with our three nephews and one niece. This made me pretty happy. :) Included in the activities was: making cookies with Quentin, playing hide and seek with Wes, snuggling with my newest nephew (who we got to see for the first time!), and having my niece Izzy fall asleep in my arms as well as sing with me. Life is grand for a while now that I got to fill up on lovin' my kiddos. :) We also saw some siblings, though Michael, Kt, Jim, and Becky were all out of state. I did some baking with my mom and we got plenty of hot-tubbing time in with Paul's parents. Good times! I also got to see my dearest friend Julie. Also, we got together with Rae, Dan, Rusty, and Staci, which hasn't happened in forever, so that was lots of fun as well. Overall, it was a wonderful holiday break with lots and lots of family time and some friend time as well (though one party with Kevin, Kyle, and Rick failed, which was a bummer). We ate lots of goodies and not enough water (always a problem for us when we visit home!). Oh, we got to see my grandparents (the Sjoerdsma side) for dinner one night as well, which was wonderful, since we haven't seen them in so long!
The only bummer (besides returning with the worst sickness ever) is that we don't know when we will be returning to see everyone again. In the past, we could always say "in the summer" and we could look forward to that. However, this summer, we are moving to South Carolina, and we currently do not think we will be visiting home due to the business connected with moving to a new state. We shall see how it goes. Even though SC is farther away from home, there is no big city in the way, which makes travelling seem nicer (I told Paul that when we move, I am never, ever driving through Chicago again!). Still, leaving home without the knowledge of knowing our next return made it extra hard to leave...
Here are some pictures of my darlings:
Not the best picture, but this is my eldest nephew Quentin. 3 years old, he likes to talk to me and Paul about his favorite toys and he likes to play toys with us. He is quite the extrovert and goes up to everyone and introduces himself! He is also a little smarty-pants. Example: we were making cookies and he picked his nose. I told him that he couldn't make more cookies until he washed his hands. "Why?" he asked me. I explained that his nose was full of germs that made his hands dirty and that would make the cookies dirty. "I will use this hand only then. I didn't put THAT one in my nose!" he explained. I had a hard time not laughing at that one. :)
This is my darling niece, Izzy. I think she is 9 months old. Though Izzy's mom doesn't like to hear it, Izzy looks A LOT like I did when I was her age. It creeps me out a bit. She is a really good baby. She doesn't cry unless she hurts herself, and even then, only rarely. She is inquisitive and tries to get into everything to figure it out (she gets that from my brother/her dad!). She loves smiling at people and she does this adorable thing where if you hum a song in her ear, she will hum it right back and does it almost perfectly! I was impressed. :)
Here is me and Paul and these two adorable kiddos. I love them to bits!
Here is me and Paul and our newest nephew Will. We were SO excited to finally meet him! He is 1 month old in this picture, so he is steadier than a newborn, which means I could hold him somewhat confidently. Newborns terrify me with their delicateness. Anyway, Will is a good baby and doesn't fuss much unless he is hungry. I held him a lot on Christmas, and he slept the entire time! He is snuggly and sweet, and I cannot wait to see what kind of personality he develops as he ages.
Wes is 1.5 years old and seemed to be going through a camera-shy stage while we were home, so I had to get a picture of him from Christy's camera. The amazing thing about Wes is that he communicates creepily well for such a young age! He can make 4-5 word long sentences and tells you exactly what he needs/is thinking/likes/etc. It made me shocked every single time he told me something. He loves books and letters, and goes around pointing at letters and saying not only the letter correctly, but the sound the letter makes! Ex: 'B! Buh!' He is very intelligent and FULL of energy. It's exhausting but fun. We played a fun game where he would "hide" a toy and have me go find it. Good times. :)
I love these kids so much, and I look forward to the next time I get to see them and discover how they are growing and changing. Being an Aunt ROCKS! :)
Anyway, Christmas break itself was wonderful. We spent the first five days of break seeing family on both sides. We got to spend as much time as possible with our three nephews and one niece. This made me pretty happy. :) Included in the activities was: making cookies with Quentin, playing hide and seek with Wes, snuggling with my newest nephew (who we got to see for the first time!), and having my niece Izzy fall asleep in my arms as well as sing with me. Life is grand for a while now that I got to fill up on lovin' my kiddos. :) We also saw some siblings, though Michael, Kt, Jim, and Becky were all out of state. I did some baking with my mom and we got plenty of hot-tubbing time in with Paul's parents. Good times! I also got to see my dearest friend Julie. Also, we got together with Rae, Dan, Rusty, and Staci, which hasn't happened in forever, so that was lots of fun as well. Overall, it was a wonderful holiday break with lots and lots of family time and some friend time as well (though one party with Kevin, Kyle, and Rick failed, which was a bummer). We ate lots of goodies and not enough water (always a problem for us when we visit home!). Oh, we got to see my grandparents (the Sjoerdsma side) for dinner one night as well, which was wonderful, since we haven't seen them in so long!
The only bummer (besides returning with the worst sickness ever) is that we don't know when we will be returning to see everyone again. In the past, we could always say "in the summer" and we could look forward to that. However, this summer, we are moving to South Carolina, and we currently do not think we will be visiting home due to the business connected with moving to a new state. We shall see how it goes. Even though SC is farther away from home, there is no big city in the way, which makes travelling seem nicer (I told Paul that when we move, I am never, ever driving through Chicago again!). Still, leaving home without the knowledge of knowing our next return made it extra hard to leave...
Here are some pictures of my darlings:
I love these kids so much, and I look forward to the next time I get to see them and discover how they are growing and changing. Being an Aunt ROCKS! :)
Monday, December 12, 2011
Dreaming about our Dream House
Paul and I are WAY too excited about moving to South Carolina...or rather, moving anywhere as long as it is AWAY from crappy Milwaukee. :) We are so excited about moving, in fact, that we are having a difficult time motivating ourselves to focus on the present and try to get everything ready for our big move. It's hard to think about packing when you can snuggle on the couch together and look at pictures of our future dream home instead... :)
Anyway, we have been constantly changing our minds about what IS our dream house. It will really be interesting to see what we end up with, though that seems clearer as time goes on. The more we think about future houses, the more it becomes clear that we will be happiest in a small house that is good for the environment. We also would strongly prefer designing it ourselves and we would like to have a nice chunk of land for my super ambitiously huge garden dream... :)
So without further ado, here is the evolution of our thought process on what we want for our dream home. It ends with the dream home that currently seems like it will become reality (we've been researching it thoroughly!), though any of these would probably make me happy for life. :)
1) A small cottage on a beautiful lake:
**Who cares if your house is small and dumpy and old if you live on a lake?!? We planned on spending most of the day/night either working or on the lake anyway. The problem? Some houses are a bit TOO old and dumpy and lake lots are expensive. Also, everyone wants to live on a lake, so lots are small and cramped. I hesitate about living in a suburb-type environment...I really am a country girl at heart. 
Anyway, we have been constantly changing our minds about what IS our dream house. It will really be interesting to see what we end up with, though that seems clearer as time goes on. The more we think about future houses, the more it becomes clear that we will be happiest in a small house that is good for the environment. We also would strongly prefer designing it ourselves and we would like to have a nice chunk of land for my super ambitiously huge garden dream... :)
So without further ado, here is the evolution of our thought process on what we want for our dream home. It ends with the dream home that currently seems like it will become reality (we've been researching it thoroughly!), though any of these would probably make me happy for life. :)
1) A small cottage on a beautiful lake:
**Who cares if your house is small and dumpy and old if you live on a lake?!? We planned on spending most of the day/night either working or on the lake anyway. The problem? Some houses are a bit TOO old and dumpy and lake lots are expensive. Also, everyone wants to live on a lake, so lots are small and cramped. I hesitate about living in a suburb-type environment...I really am a country girl at heart.2) A monolithic dome house:
**This type of home is pretty sweet. First, Paul LOVES curved walls, as will become evident in the rest of our dream houses. Second, monolithic domes are virtually indestructible. They are made with concrete, they are circular, and they are made with steel, so fire/winds/earthquakes/tornadoes/hurricanes/etc. cannot destroy them. Third, we could design it the way we want, which is always an exciting thought. One problem, however, is the price. It's pretty expensive to make because you have to hire the specific monolithic dome construction crew to come make it since it's a difficult thing to make. Also, your entire house is a circle, making floor plans a bit awkward (though Paul was excited about having that many curved walls...)
3) Making an Earthship home:
This was an intriguing design for a house: it is made almost entirely with garbage or recycled goods! You use old tires rammed with earth to make your outside walls, which produces thermal mass, which helps keep your house at a constant temperature, reducing the need for using electricity. You have solar panels help give you your electricity. You use a passive solar design (windows on the south wall of your house that help keep your home naturally warm in the winter and cool in the summer). You have an indoor hydroponic garden to not only give your herbs and veggies in your own house year round, but that same system helps you use water in an environmentally amazing way (you keep rain water in rain barrels or a cistern and have a water cycle that means you don't need to be hooked up to city water). You can design your own home, help build it, and not only that, since you are using basically garbage, it is fairly cheap! Our concerns were about the intense labor that is need to ram dirt into the tires as well as the fact that there is still no proof yet that garbage used in this way will last long time. This type of house plan, though, was really making us excited of our possibilities!
4) Making a Cob house:
Okay, this picture is not of a finished Cob house, but it gives you an idea of how it works. You mix clay, dirt, and straw together (most do this with their feet!) and build your house with it. This is the most "close to nature" and "green" concept of all of our dream house ideas. What better way to help out nature than to use nature's leftover resources? Trees take years and years to mature to the point where they can be used to make homes, which is why there is such a concern about deforestation. However, if you use the dirt and clay found on your plot of land (especially from the part already dug up for making your foundation) and use straw (nature's natural garbage), you are really helping out the planet and imagine the pride you can have from making your own house in this way! Don't worry, you plaster over the straw bits... Again, you can design your own home and build it yourself. There are a few problems though. First, Cob houses are more vulnerable in humid/moist environments. This type of housing is PERFECT for the desert, but if you don't do it exactly correct, you could have problems with mold later on. Since mold makes me barf (a nasty allergic reaction of mine), this made us hesitant. Also, this is extremely hard work: you spend days making the cob, then slowly building it up to make your house. But we were getting closer to what we wanted...
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**With Earthbag homes, you basically pour soil from your plot of land (or scoria, gravel, etc. if you want to buy stuff) into earth bags and make your walls. You can have support from other supplies if you want, or you can just build with it. You can make your own house plans; you can incorporate solar panels, passive solar heating, recycled/hydroponic water system, etc.; you can do this cheaply (it's your own soil!) and though it is still labor-intensive, you can make your house in a reasonable amount of time. It produces thick walls for insulation and thermal mass, you can make curved walls or straight (guess what Paul wants?!?). It is still made with mainly natural products (duh, dirt), it is fire proof and if you use curved walls, safe from winds/tornadoes/etc. This picture is before putting on plaster. Here's another picture of a more finished home:
So an Earthbag home is currently our idea of a Dream Home. It took a few years of looking and research to find out about it, but we are really, really excited to try to make our own home! (Though if interested, we could use some volunteers when we start making the walls...) :)
I can't promise you that this is the FINAL idea for our Dream Home. After all, we still need to move to South Carolina and find jobs and a plot of land in order for this to happen. And in the meantime, we could discover an even better home-making idea. But hey, it's fun to dream, right? Time will tell if this dream becomes a reality.
What would YOUR dream home look like? What would it include? What is important to you in a home?
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Random Ramblings
Well, it's been a while,so I thought I would update on my life. Not that anything really interesting has been happening, but hey, the little things are important to remember as well:
1) This past weekend, Paul and I finished painting the outside of the house. And by Paul and I, I really mean, Paul hung out of our upstairs window in a painful position while I made sure he didn't (a) fall out of the window and (b) the chair he was standing on didn't fall out from under him.
*I must say at this point that I am incredibly grateful that Paul is super tall and has long, long, long arms. I am pretty sure any other guy would have had to give up or call the professionals, seeing that Paul was stretched as far as humanly possible and barely reached the highest tips.
*Now we only have two more minor (and indoors) painting jobs to complete and our house will be ready to sell. Now if only I would stop procrastinating and figure out what we need to actually do to try and sell our house...
2) I finished the third strand of my afghan!!!
*This means 3 down, 2 more to go (UGH). It technically took me over 5 years to do this third strip because I started it and then ignored it for a long, long time. The fact that I have to stop after every 8 rows to untangle the yarn makes it very difficult for me to continue because it makes me so grumpy. That's approx. 15 minutes of actual knitting followed by 10 minutes of untangling. UGH. Oh well, I should celebrate the fact that I am OVER HALF DONE NOW! Woo hoo...
*I am celebrating this fact by taking some time off from my afghan project to make some cool hats for me and my friends. First up, Paul wants a slug hat so that he looks like people in the show Futurama:
Then, after the slug hat, I am making a winter hat and matching scarf for myself, then a batman hat, a hat with an attachable beard, and maybe an R2D2 hat as well. Should be fun, and I will try to post pictures of the results! Hopefully these hat projects will inspire me to finish this cursed afghan...
3) I started up a new job as a substitute educational assistant!
*I have been really bored on my Wednesdays (which I have off) because I usually have nothing to do. I've been teaching the same stuff over and over so I have little planning to do anymore. So I applied as a substitute educational assistant for some districts around Milwaukee and I got the job! I started on October 7 and since then, I have had work every week. It has been lots of fun and great experience. I have no idea what life will be like when we move to South Carolina, so this way, I can have experience as an educational assistant, so maybe I can apply for those jobs when we move. Mainly, I get to play with kindergarteners and first-graders and teach them how to read. They are so cute! However, last week I worked at a high school, and UGH what little brats.
*The worst part is waking up early. My goodness, why does America wake up so stinking early? I think schools could function better if the hours were 9am-4pm. What a dream. Instead, some schools I sub at start at 7am!!! Other schools started at 10am. I certainly have a preference for the later-opening schools. :)
So that's about it. Not much going on, but enough to write a post. :) Have a great day!
1) This past weekend, Paul and I finished painting the outside of the house. And by Paul and I, I really mean, Paul hung out of our upstairs window in a painful position while I made sure he didn't (a) fall out of the window and (b) the chair he was standing on didn't fall out from under him.
*I must say at this point that I am incredibly grateful that Paul is super tall and has long, long, long arms. I am pretty sure any other guy would have had to give up or call the professionals, seeing that Paul was stretched as far as humanly possible and barely reached the highest tips.
*Now we only have two more minor (and indoors) painting jobs to complete and our house will be ready to sell. Now if only I would stop procrastinating and figure out what we need to actually do to try and sell our house...
2) I finished the third strand of my afghan!!!
*This means 3 down, 2 more to go (UGH). It technically took me over 5 years to do this third strip because I started it and then ignored it for a long, long time. The fact that I have to stop after every 8 rows to untangle the yarn makes it very difficult for me to continue because it makes me so grumpy. That's approx. 15 minutes of actual knitting followed by 10 minutes of untangling. UGH. Oh well, I should celebrate the fact that I am OVER HALF DONE NOW! Woo hoo...
*I am celebrating this fact by taking some time off from my afghan project to make some cool hats for me and my friends. First up, Paul wants a slug hat so that he looks like people in the show Futurama:
3) I started up a new job as a substitute educational assistant!
*I have been really bored on my Wednesdays (which I have off) because I usually have nothing to do. I've been teaching the same stuff over and over so I have little planning to do anymore. So I applied as a substitute educational assistant for some districts around Milwaukee and I got the job! I started on October 7 and since then, I have had work every week. It has been lots of fun and great experience. I have no idea what life will be like when we move to South Carolina, so this way, I can have experience as an educational assistant, so maybe I can apply for those jobs when we move. Mainly, I get to play with kindergarteners and first-graders and teach them how to read. They are so cute! However, last week I worked at a high school, and UGH what little brats.
*The worst part is waking up early. My goodness, why does America wake up so stinking early? I think schools could function better if the hours were 9am-4pm. What a dream. Instead, some schools I sub at start at 7am!!! Other schools started at 10am. I certainly have a preference for the later-opening schools. :)
So that's about it. Not much going on, but enough to write a post. :) Have a great day!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
My Surprise Weekend
The first thing we did early in the afternoon on friday was drive to Madison. Even though I have lived in Milwaukee (only 1.5 hours away from Madison) for a few years now, we have never been to Madison. How Crazy. It turns out that that city is WAY cooler than Milwaukee and I was envious that we couldn't have lived there instead for the last 4-ish years. Anyway, we went to our hotel and unpacked. We turned on the TV in our room and it just so happened that a commercial came on almost right away about an "Electronic Liquidation Sale" at the Madison Aliant Energy Center. I turned to Paul and asked jokingly: "Is this what we are doing this weekend?!" Paul laughed and said: "Oh yeah, you figured it out! Bummer." I assumed he was joking (or rather hoped) and then we got ready to leave. I was going crazy trying to figure out the surprise. I also had no idea what to wear for such a surprise occasion, so Paul caved and told me to wear "nice clothes but jeans are okay" and that it was indoors. So off we went to our mystery place.
Paul gave me the GPS and I navigated. Soon, the GPS told us that our destination was on our right, and guess what it was? That's right, the Madison Aliant Energy Center! I freaked out. "Paul," I said as calmly as I could, "are we REALLY here for the liquidation sale??!" I was trying not to sound disappointed, but really, if that was the surprise, I was pretty bummed. Paul just chuckled. The sign at the front of the building flashed different events going on in the same building, so I started reading closely as we waited in a long line of cars to enter the parking lot. The first sign was about the liquidation sale. The second sign flashed about a Clydesdale Horse show. I looked up at Paul and again asked as nicely as I could if this was the surprise. Again, I was trying not to sound disappointed because really, Paul should know by now that I don't really care about horses. Paul just chuckled again. I was really starting to go crazy. Then the next, blessed sign came up: "Food and Wine show" and I shrieked in delight. I KNEW that it was the surprise. Paul knows how much I love food and wine. :) Paul grinned then and I was actually wonderfully surprised and excited.
On Friday night and Saturday and Sunday afternoon, we spent all of our time in this gigantic room tasting tons of different wines and spirits as well as lots and lots and lots of cheese, sausage, crackers, pastas, etc. It was mainly cheese, though. It's crazy, I always told Paul that my version of heaven was one where I could drink all the wine I wanted and eat cheese nonstop. This was heaven on earth! Except it will be better in heaven: I am lactose intolerant and since Paul didn't warn me, I did not have my pills along. Every night was a bit of agony on my stomach, but it was still worth it. There was this cool demonstration kitchen where chefs showed us how to make fancy meals and then let us sample them. We got to try a cool bruschetta with figs on it (weird combo but tasted great!), some fancy chicken dish whose name I have already forgotten, some fancy meatballs with fennel sauce, some delicious Pakistani food, and some shrimp and pork dumplings. Yum! We also watched a bit of "dueling chefs" which was a competition. It was fun to watch but it kept making us hungry and we weren't allowed to sample the foods they made, which was a bummer.
All in all, the weekend went by way too quickly, and we ate WAY too much food. It was the best romantic surprise weekend ever! I am so happy that Paul decided to plan this for us to do. We bought a few things but for the most part, we ate so much of the foods at the 3 day food show that we did not see the need to buy more, even though it was all so delicious. Like I said earlier: It was heaven on earth...I just could have done with the lactose intolerance problem! :)
Friday, October 14, 2011
Seasonal Fall Fun
1) Me, Paul, and Rick went to an apple orchard.
*First thing we did was go in the corn maze. Before stepping inside the maze, we noticed that the entry and the exit were about 5 feet apart. We immediately assumed that this corn maze would be as easy as others we have done in the past. And sure enough, the "true path" was wide while the fake paths were unkept and tiny. We started joking about the "difficulty" of the maze, when suddenly, we realized that we had been walking the maze for a long time. The corn was so high that we could not tell directions, which is odd for me since I have a compass in my head. I hesitantly told the guys that I was pretty sure we were heading in the wrong direction of the exit. But we kept on trudging. A long while later, we found an alternate exit which was on the opposite side of the apple orchard. Our cart for the apples was by the entrance, so we had to walk all the way through the apple orchard to get our cart and then turn around and go through the orchard again. I still don't know how we were supposed to get out that shorter-distance exit...
*Anyway, we got plenty of apples. However, I was disappointed that the orchard did not have my new favorite apple, the honeycrisp apple. But they did have my second favorite, the Empire apple. So I made do with empires. I went home and made apple crisp, which was fantastic. Then, a few days later, I made apple cheesecake, and it was so, so good. We still have another large bag of apples and I can't decide whether to make apple crisp again or the cheesecake. Decisions, decisions...
2) My parents came for a visit and we went for a long hike in the kettle moraine forest.
*This pretty forest is located on the hilly indents left over from the glaciers of past times. I don't know how it all works, but I DO know that the forests are really pretty. You can climb towers located throughout the park to see far, far off into the distance. It was so pretty. The sun was shining and you could see different colored trees everywhere! It was a lot of hard work on my poor knees to go up and down such steep hills, but it was still my favorite way to do exercise. I could walk in the woods every day for the rest of my life and be incredibly happy. :)
3) We also went canoeing while my parents were in town.
*It was a bit disappointing because we WANTED to go upriver to the pretty nature areas. However, we couldn't fit the kayak (for my parents) and the canoe (for us) on the top of our vehicle. So we had to stick in Milwaukee. That was kind of a bummer because the part of the river we were on was sandwiched between two rapids that we couldn't navigate around. So we went upriver, turned around, went down river, turned around, went back up river, etc. Oh well, at least we were spending time outdoors in the golden sunshine! It was fun to see the salmon running as well.
4) Paul and I found a paved path through nature somewhat near our house!
*We have always been frustrated in the past because I want to go on plenty of walks, but if we want to walk somewhere pretty, we need to drive at least 30 minutes to get to pretty areas. UGH. But I accidentally found a new path closer to our house and now we go on walks on the path at least 2 times a week. I wish people told you about those kind of things. But as far as I can tell, there is no way to know about this particular path unless you get curious about it, look it up on the google satellite map, and then decide to risk it and just go. How lame. But anyway, it's nice enough. It has woods all around it, so I get to enjoy some nature and feel safe while walking with my dog and my hubby. We have spent way more time outdoors this fall than in the past!
I hope the good weather continues to last. If it does, perhaps I can write another post on the awesomeness of fall... :)
~Raven
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