tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72452910183552168192011-12-21T19:50:28.598-08:00The story of a couple and two cats living together in a tiny structure on wheels.Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-54324720163451819342010-06-04T10:26:00.000-07:002010-06-04T10:49:19.215-07:002010-06-04T10:49:19.215-07:00

Well, we've arrived back in MA about 2 weeks ago. We've been getting settled in at Jim's mom's house. The journey north was FAR LESS EVENTFUL than the trip down. Honestly, there isn't much to say about it.We took some time planning our route. On the trip down, there were so many bumps along Rt 40 and 30 through Tennessee and Arkansas that we decided there was absolutely no way we'd ever drive on

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.com5http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2010/06/journey.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-76391028028943028232010-05-15T06:44:00.000-07:002010-05-15T07:11:10.820-07:002010-05-15T07:11:10.820-07:00

Well, it's time to be moving again. James and I decided to head back to MA to be with our family for a little while. This has been our first time living away from home and we miss everyone a lot more than we thought we would.Plus, they all know how to work on houses, and we're clueless. We're hoping with their motivating us, and their knowledge, that we'll be able to get the li'l house finished

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.com3http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2010/05/movin-again.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-76662656970232600592010-02-26T07:55:00.000-08:002010-02-26T07:56:48.372-08:002010-02-26T07:56:48.372-08:00

Tiny for Two.2 is now also on facebook.

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.com0http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2010/02/facebook.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-81703551164486673852010-02-24T07:54:00.001-08:002010-02-24T08:06:07.122-08:002010-02-24T08:06:07.122-08:00

I spent a little time last night condensing boxes and organizing our box pile into a more usable living space.Since we don't yet have any built-in furniture, we've been improvising with the things we currently have in the little house.I used a few banana boxes filled with books to make a sort-of couch… For a little while now, I've been wanting to have another place to sit, other than my office.

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.com5http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2010/02/living-space.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-77717501113386872352010-02-19T17:41:00.000-08:002010-02-19T17:56:58.326-08:002010-02-19T17:56:58.326-08:00

We've moved our house from the flat-lands of the DFW area to the lovely hill-country west of Austin. The difference is astounding. I will have to take some pictures the next time we go out biking... the views from the hills are just amazing at times. Doesn't even feel like Texas anymore.We were lucky enough to find the rare sort of RV park that actually has some trees and privacy, instead of just

Jacques Cousteau!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02135970776344790340noreply@blogger.com4http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2010/02/relocation-time-austin-tx.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-15069728967246661672010-02-12T06:29:00.000-08:002010-02-12T06:34:17.834-08:002010-02-12T06:34:17.834-08:00

I can't help but see the irony in this—there is about a foot of snow outside. The Dallas area got hammered with snow yesterday. It snowed all day, those big hefty size flakes—the ones that come in sideways.It is rather beautiful, but I hope it doesn't put a damper on the move to Austin we had planned for this weekend. There's a lot of yard to drive over to get our little house out of the pasture

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.com1http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2010/02/snow-real-snow-this-time.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-10547527231999030312010-02-06T04:18:00.000-08:002010-02-06T04:24:58.060-08:002010-02-06T04:24:58.060-08:00

Looks like we are packing up next week and heading down to Austin, where we found a sweet campground RV park with lots of trees. The air is fresh, the rolling hills of the area offer magnificient views, and the people are supposed to be a lot friendlier in Austin. Overall, I believe this will be a good change for us.We even got the biggest lot on the site (presumably they mean other than the

Jacques Cousteau!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02135970776344790340noreply@blogger.com6http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2010/02/moving-to-austin.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-43763731577558013342010-01-04T19:55:00.000-08:002010-01-04T20:02:37.790-08:002010-01-04T20:02:37.790-08:00

Hey all-I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has made wonderful suggestions for seating. I have had a handful of responses here, a handful on facebook, and a handful via the Small House Society.Out of the responses I've gotten, most have still seemed too big to apply now, in the limited space we have due to our lack of furniture otherwise... but I think the best suggestion I've heard has

Jacques Cousteau!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02135970776344790340noreply@blogger.com2http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2010/01/seating-continued.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-62240023456068837222010-01-01T09:28:00.000-08:002010-01-01T09:29:01.017-08:002010-01-01T09:29:01.017-08:00

I've been wrestling with how to get comfortable seating into our tiny house for a while now. The original plan was to have a monitor arm mounted in such a way that would allow us to move the monitor up into the loft with ease and just watch DVDs while lying in bed.What I've realized is that this was a limited solution... it doesn't really address the need for casual-yet-comfortable seating, and

Jacques Cousteau!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02135970776344790340noreply@blogger.com3http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2010/01/comfortable-seating-in-tiny-house.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-16047446178774346682009-12-31T05:42:00.000-08:002009-12-31T05:59:06.685-08:002009-12-31T05:59:06.685-08:00

It was pretty nice outside yesterday—in the 50's. So during my lunch break from work, James, Kevin and I went for a walk around the neighborhood and over to an old cemetery. Here are some pictures I took along the way.This is why people don't run around the grass barefoot in Texas… ow.

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.com0http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/12/photos-of-neighborhood.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-52091399232257413362009-12-25T09:01:00.001-08:002009-12-25T09:05:16.814-08:002009-12-25T09:05:16.814-08:00

The snow followed us to Texas & we have a white Christmas… well, white for Texas :)

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.com3http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/12/white-christmas.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-81688551903804645962009-12-19T20:58:00.000-08:002009-12-19T21:01:44.418-08:002009-12-19T21:01:44.418-08:00

I also want to just say, much thanks goes out to Michael Janzen of Tiny House Design for giving us some serious "post-support" on this project. He has been following along with our project, and has been posting regular updates on his site about us. I greatly appreciate his support, even if he doesn't get the site name right. ;) We should probably switch it up, as our current name seems to confuse

Jacques Cousteau!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02135970776344790340noreply@blogger.com2http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/12/tiny-house-design.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-41989312969108320622009-12-19T20:19:00.000-08:002009-12-19T20:52:26.630-08:002009-12-19T20:52:26.630-08:00

Hey, what's up friends?I haven't posted much here lately, because I have been utterly stressed from traveling 1800 miles while fighting a nasty head cold. Last night I managed to turn over a leaf or two in the healing process, and I thought it would be only fair that I make my presence known to you internet folk. ;)I can't help but wonder who reads this thing... if you're out there reading, feel

Jacques Cousteau!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02135970776344790340noreply@blogger.com3http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/12/healing-and-path-ahead.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-4694252833040874962009-12-15T08:05:00.000-08:002010-06-04T10:36:06.578-07:002010-06-04T10:36:06.578-07:00

It began Thursday morning, after a day of cold, wet snowfall. The air was warming and the sun shining—an ideal day to begin a long journey across the country. We rose early and began preparing—little things kept popping up, that took some time to resolve. After hooking up the truck to the trailer, we noticed the tongue end of the trailer was higher than the rear end, so we removed the weight

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.com5http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/12/journey.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-22143146028316224072009-12-08T15:30:00.000-08:002009-12-08T15:47:58.808-08:002009-12-08T15:47:58.808-08:00

I brought the truck up to have the steering repaired on Saturday and then my dad helped install the sway control system onto the trailer on Sunday. Those two things alone really help me feel confident in being ready for departure, and that the truck and trailer will both be safe and secure.On Monday we renewed the registration on the truck. It turns out that a dual rear wheel truck needs to be

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.com1http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/12/brakes-and-weather.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-32029182563790394712009-12-04T08:53:00.000-08:002009-12-04T09:33:46.231-08:002009-12-04T09:33:46.231-08:00

We finally have our truck! However, the steering is still loose. When I first test drove it, it was something we were all aware of, and the dealer said that he would have it repaired by the time we picked it up. He did replace the bearings and the ball joints and tie rod ends are nice and tight. On the ride home last night I felt like a ping pong ball, and was VERY unnerved about the idea of

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.com0http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/12/truck.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-46945604849020699722009-12-03T07:24:00.000-08:002009-12-03T07:34:03.715-08:002009-12-03T07:34:03.715-08:00

We don't have our truck yet. We found one about 2 weeks ago—a Ford F350, Dually, Diesel 7.3 engine. I've been trying to pick it up since we found it, and I keep being told by the person/dealer? selling it to us that it will be ready "tomorrow"—but each time I call "tomorrow" to check on it, it's not ready for some reason or another. The truck is physically *ready* for us to pick up now—all the

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.com2http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/12/delays.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-33052534200898782972009-11-29T07:18:00.000-08:002009-11-29T07:32:48.817-08:002009-11-29T07:32:48.817-08:00

Not sure if I spelled that word right. Anyway.We've been doing our best to make do living in rather crowded conditions in our half-finished house in a self-storage facility. It has been very difficult to get much of anything done, due to the limitations on storage space. Not to mention the overwhelming amount of anxiety that set down upon me in light of the idea of moving into the house so

Jacques Cousteau!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02135970776344790340noreply@blogger.com1http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/11/tourniquet-journey.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-55401989689812830042009-11-17T06:45:00.000-08:002009-11-17T07:02:25.585-08:002009-11-17T07:02:25.585-08:00

Isn't it funny how when we make a big deal out of something, the universe will sometimes show us that it was not such a big deal after all. Sometimes in rather round-about ways that allow you compare to much worse scenarios.So, let's say the silicone nightmare really wasn't so bad.Here is the update:After talking with Bub about the situation, he informed me of a temperature mix valve in the

Jacques Cousteau!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02135970776344790340noreply@blogger.com1http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/11/isnt-it-funny.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-4771720813206405392009-11-16T06:53:00.000-08:002009-11-16T07:01:31.458-08:002009-11-16T07:01:31.458-08:00

Sooo... i finally broke down and sealed the shower yesterday, even though we haven't finished the ceiling paneling in the bathroom.I siliconed in every nook and cranny around the shower... made the mistake of starting near the bottom, so by the time I was trying to do the top the fumes were near unbearable. I was nearly suffocating trying to finish the top.So... I finished the whole thing, then

Jacques Cousteau!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02135970776344790340noreply@blogger.com1http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/11/silicone-nightmares.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-77379064986284398922009-11-10T07:41:00.000-08:002009-11-10T08:09:08.340-08:002009-11-10T08:09:08.340-08:00

Before James and I moved in, we put 2 coats of polyurethane on the interior. Here are some photos of James, Kevin and Mike working on that process.After the first coat of polyurethane was dry, they sanded. Here Mike is vaccuming up some dust from the sanding process.Here's Kevin, doing the same.James is wiping off any sanding residue that might have been missed, so we can put on the second

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.com2http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/11/photos.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-52544190490460173942009-11-09T09:08:00.000-08:002009-11-09T09:12:07.842-08:002009-11-09T09:12:07.842-08:00

We moved all of our crap from the hotel into the little house yesterday, and brought the cats there before work this morning.Woohoo.The place is still a disaster area... there's no space to do anything, much less unpack... and there's no furniture whatsoever, so we can't unpack anything really. We're supposed to just live in it like this, I guess. Wonderful.I wonder if the water heater works.

Jacques Cousteau!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02135970776344790340noreply@blogger.com1http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/11/moved-in.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-23258166579985309852009-11-01T15:37:00.000-08:002009-11-02T10:55:01.966-08:002009-11-02T10:55:01.966-08:00

Today my dad helped us bring our little house on its maiden voyage to its temporary living place until we head south for the winter.The total height is 13' 4" at the tongue end and 13' 3" at the back end. I admit, I was nervous about the bridges, and held my breath as we would go under each one.My dad said that there is a bit of weight falling on the tongue of the trailer, and suggests when we're

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06715525229745123981noreply@blogger.com4http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/11/maiden-voyage.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-79081286830896690322009-10-29T07:09:00.000-07:002009-10-29T07:11:51.500-07:002009-10-29T07:11:51.500-07:00

Just spoke with Bub for a status update.He said he put the cabinets bases in, and the counter top. The plumber is coming today to finish.He also said our light came in, and that will be installed as well when electric is done, tomorrow.He said we can touch base after his vacation to get the rest of our cabinets installed. (He's calling them again now to find out what's up with the delivery on

Jacques Cousteau!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02135970776344790340noreply@blogger.com0http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/10/uncle-bub.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7245291018355216819.post-19927074965491257842009-10-29T06:58:00.000-07:002009-10-29T07:02:37.780-07:002009-10-29T07:02:37.780-07:00

Lining up our first month's occupancy with the little house... spoke to Joe at the Self Storage Center we're going to be "storing" our "Camper" at... heh. He said we've got a green light for move in on Sunday.As far as power is concerned, he told me he has a separate outdoor outlet we can plug into, but he does not know if it shares a circuit with the other outdoor outlet. He suggested we trip

Jacques Cousteau!http://www.blogger.com/profile/02135970776344790340noreply@blogger.com0http://escape-from-density.blogspot.com/2009/10/self-storage-center.html