My Story

If you were to ask me why I am excited about living in a Tiny House, I would tell you that the list is so long we’ll have to sit, and chat for a bit, for you to understand how perfectly perfect the idea is, to me.  You see, the answer isn’t simple. 

The answer is…my life’s story……

I have worked since I was 15 years old.  Most of those years have been spent in front of a desk, and a computer, and working for someone else.  Problem solving and resource management has always been my strong suit and I enjoy my work but I have no intention of sitting in a cubicle till I’m 70 years old.  (or even 60!) I want to explore more creative, active, and social career endeavors.  Having a paid-for Tiny House will give me the flexibility to do just that.  It’s finally time that I put my problem solving skills to use for myself.  

And I can’t wait to get started!

I have been married and divorced twice.  Each time, I designed and then supervised the construction of “our” home.   I landscaped, and painted, and stenciled, and mowed, and put all of my emotional and financial self into our new space.   With each divorce, the house was left behind, in the pile of carnage, that was once (twice) the plan for my life.  I have, since then, vowed to never let the success or failure of a relationship dictate my domestic security.  I’ve been on my own, dependent on nobody but myself, for over ten years now.  My Tiny House will finally fill that void, the hole in my soul, it will be my emotional security blanket.  It will be the end result of my creative and financial efforts.  

I’ll finally have my own space in this world that nobody can take from me.

Words can hardly express how excited I am to be moving on to the Empty Next phase of my life. I am a single mom and sole provider and have devoted my life to raising responsible, respectful, children.  My youngest is going off to college next year and, as such, there will no longer be a need to maintain an expensive, suburban, three bedroom, two bathroom, yard and garage lifestyle.   So far, however, this transition hasn’t exactly been easy for me.   Redefining my role with my children (my oldest is already 18 and in college) and redefining my role to the world has been harder than I thought it would be.  Who am I?  What do I do?  “Mom” has always been the answer.  Granted, I will always be “Mom” but to a much lesser extent than before.  They won’t need me.  My job is done.

It’s time for me to find, me, again.

If there is one thing I have learned, it is that nothing in life goes according to plan.  My ability to roll with the punches, and get up after being knocked down, is one of my best attributes.  I don’t even think about where I want to live when I retire because I know that no matter how I see my future now, reality will be very different.  I don’t know if I’ll live in a bustling city where strolls to the coffee shop or farmers’ market will be a part of my everyday life.  I don’t know if I’ll live on a farm, and raise animals again, or next to a lake where I can greet the sunrise over the water with my pen and paper in hand.  My Tiny House can go where I go, it can be where I need and want to be. 

Whether I am alone, or with my love, I will be where I want to be.

My love is one of my biggest fans.  While he occasionally feels the need to inject reality into my Tiny House Fantasy (“You have over 50 pairs of shoes!  Even they won’t fit in a Tiny House) he also understands that once I get something in my head I won’t be talked out of it.   And although the exact logistical details of our future together remain a mystery, the Tiny House will provide us both with options we had not yet considered.  Maybe we’ll rent out his houses and pull the Tiny House to another state where we’ll live for 6 months, then move again.  Maybe I’ll live with him and we’ll park my Tiny House on his lakefront land for use as my personal escape space or a place where the kids can stay when they come to visit. 

Life is full of maybes, but with my Tiny House, I’m not afraid of them anymore.

It has been a few months since the idea of building my own Tiny House struck me, and although I am still in the planning stages, I can already smell the cookies baking in my vintage oven, in my tiny house, in a quiet lot, where ever I land.