“I love the Tiny House Era!” – Casiana, My Dear Friend.
Hi There!
I’ve been struggling to pick this back up again…again. Asking myself if I should go through all the details of what led me here… well, again. But then, while going through old footage and trying to put together a plan, I realized I’d come full circle.
Over the last almost ten years, I’ve tried to follow the signs that the Universe or God put in front of me and trust that they have a bigger plan for me. To follow my joy. But like everything in life, it has its positives and negatives. I have had many different experiences and lived in many different places, but living your life moving from place to place and jumping from one adventure to the next makes it difficult to put down roots.
But a few years ago, I followed my intuition back to the “big city” because I thought I needed to experience more. I went to work for the most prominent hospitality company in town, and you know what I found… I was miserable and killing myself, working 70 hours a week at multiple jobs just to pay for my crappy apartment and to not have the time to do anything that brought me joy.
I was in the typical American mindset that if I keep grinding, keep my head down, and work hard, then one day, it will pay off. One day, I will get the dream homestead. Then, after one too many meltdowns, I asked myself, “What the hell am I doing? I know better than this. I’ve done the work and don’t want to spend my life feeling like this!”
I realized that I could continue down this path and probably give myself a disease from all the stress, or I could follow my joy and build my dream alongside my family.
Even though I knew this was the best decision for me, it still was tough. I would be leaving so many people and a town that I love.
Another mental aspect that kept popping up for me that made this decision difficult was that we are expected to succeed individually in our society (America). We are expected to leave home, go to college, get a good job, make lots of money, and build a “successful” life separate from anyone except maybe a spouse. But not go back home. Not live in a multigenerational household, even though the evidence shows it’s better for everyone. Doing so makes you a freeloader and, well, a failure. Or, as some people have told me, “Daddy’s just taking care of you,” or it’s easy when it’s “Daddy’s Money.” But my family wants to live a more sustainable and self-reliant lifestyle, so isn’t it wiser to pool our resources and strengths together to make that dream happen?
So, you see, I have come full circle! I am back in Northeast Oregon, building a tiny (well, maybe a medium) space and dream holistic homestead alongside my family! And I’m not going anywhere! (Which might be hard for me 😬 maybe we’ll add more travel idk)
I have found that living in my tiny cottage on my family’s property was the most fulfilling and, more importantly, the most authentic time of my life. And I think you can see that in some of the content I have tried to put out over the last few years. It was forced because I knew I wanted this life and was trying to create it, but I felt stuck just waiting for when I could return and start doing what I wanted.
So here we are…. in Northeastern Oregon, building our 160 Acre Ranch!
My parents bought this property in 2019. It only had a partially built house and a 40 ft by 60 ft shop. Since then, they have been slowly updating it. Here in Northeast Oregon, we are in Hardiness Zone 6a, so we have a very short growing or project season. The first project after the initial clean-up (the previous owner had a lot of stuff all over the property) was spent fixing the road, so we had access. The next priority was water, for which my dad installed a well and a rainwater catchment system off the existing shop. Then, we built a woodshop area where we set up the Wood-Mizer Sawmill so we could mill our own wood. We are currently working on power, finishing the house, and building an apartment in the shop where I will live.
As much as I want to dive into all the animals and gardens, I guess shelter is more important! 🙄
And that’s where we are at! I want to share this journey of building our off-grid (currently) ranch and holistic homestead with you. We have big plans! I am particularly excited to share the apartment build with you just like we did with the tiny cottage. Stay Tuned!
This wandering soul has finally decided where she wants to settle down and put down some roots!
Cheers!
If you want to see a ranch tour, please click the link below…