Of Gypsies and Cowboys

Wow. We're really here and we're really doing this thing! Holy cow. And yikes!
Funny story: Last night I spent 10 minutes scraping a gorgeous mediteranean pizza off a pan and onto some foil. Apparently our teeny camper oven doesn't fit a full sized pan, so I had to try to slop it off onto something that would fit. Nice. But, it turned out tasty anyways!

So things are moving ahead. Somedays it feels like everything's flying and we can barely keep up, other days we feel like we're the ones flying...straight off a cliff!! To be entirely honest, we've had some fairly challenging moments. J has been especially discouraged, trying to figure out how to 'break through' and how to get from idea to reality. I've been exhausted as Jem continues to fight sleep. In the midst of all that, here are some of the tough things we have learned:
- Starting a home-based business is tough. It requires a ton of energy, continual optimism, extreme organization, and strong connections.
- Starting a home-based business without an income while setting up house in a camper and working around a 9 month old, well, that's a whole another story! Hahahaha....
- This kind of step demands a whole new approach to marriage and communication. We're life-partners, but we're also business partners. If one of those partnerships is in conflict we have to deal with the crap before it merges into the other one.
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And some of the not-so-tough things we're learning:
- Creating a home in the camper, while somewhat ridiculous, isn't cute so awful as it may sound. Actually, there are some pretty neat things involved. We're cozy, what we see is what we've got, and you can clean the whole thing in under 15 minutes! (granted, it's next to impossible to keep clean or tidy, and the baby does look a little wierd sleeping in the bathtub...)
- We're discovering some of our stregths and gifts. It turns out I'm kind of awasome when it comes to marketing ideas! Ha, I must admit toying with the idea of going into advertising (that lasted about 7 seconds but hey?). Honestly though, J is so organized, focused, and able to follow things through to thefinish. Me on the other hand, I can get things rolling and go nuts with the front-line ideas, then die at the end. So yeah, we're working to our strengths and getting to know each other in a new way.
- Watching J's folks interact with Jem is AWESOME. He's getting to know them and they obviously love him. That whole deal just makes me happy.

Well, time to move on into the day and shower the trailer off for awhile. One last thought....
While these days have been intense, we've embraced one special thing in this beautiful land: The view is free! The wealthy folks up on the hill and the little family in the camper, they all get to gaze at the same mountains cuz creation was painted for us all, and that's part of the beauty of God.

Good morning.
It's dark and rainy on this first day of Spring. The flowers are blooming though, and we look forward to warmth and growth and sunshine in the weeks ahead. Actually, it's impressive to consider just how much has progressed and being accomplished in this first week, despite the cold and wet. We've moved our life (and family and belongings and...), we've begun setting up house in a new home, we've created and brainstormed and processed all kinds of ideas and issues, and we've done all this with very little sleep in a fairly new territory (for me at least) with incredibly limited resources. So, yay to us on almost surviving week one!

As for the details....
While we thought the first week or two would be quite laid back and spent catching up with family and then moving onto GreenHomes work, we've plunged right into stuff and are actually focusing more on the GreenValley aspect of the business plan. (Note: GreenValley is the coffee roasting/sales. Originally just an addon to the online store, but now [potentially] a whole thing in itself). Jeremy is working hard, roasting a great product, and setting up a good foundation. It looks like we're going to push to get this part fully set up and functioning before going nuts with GreenHomes. This (hopefully) will allow him to be working at hom and caring for Jem while I take time to set things up with GreenHomes details and market some stuff outside of the house.

To be honest though, following some honest conversations this week and some reflection and introspection, I'm alright with GreenHomes taking an extra month or two before launching. If I'm entirely honest, I just want to be home with my baby, write books, create healthy products, cook solid meals, and enable my home to be a home. That isn't likely going to be our reality this year, but it is what I'm looking to in the future. So, if GreenHomes can fly and set us up for a greater future-- yay! But more than that, if GreenValley can do well and grow and be the longer termed plan, that's cool too. Really, who knows how this is all going to pan out or what we'll actually end up doing with it all. I just keep looking towards a year from now.....

Within all the above is the difficulty of starting a business and a whole new life with an 8 month old. Honestly, if it were just the two of us, things would be a whole lot easier. There'd be more sleep, less crying ;) , and two full-time people available. When you add a baby into it, everything becomes much more complicated. Having a home business is not simply putting the kiddo down with some toys and getting all kinds of things accomplished. Instead, it involves a fine balancing act between work, family, rest, fun, expenses, chores, and those once-in-awhile things like a shower or sleep. It's tough. No, it's more than tough. It's really really tough. We're living in a vertical learning curve and walking a fine line. But...we're still alright, so yay on that.

Well, time to go. J just called and it turns out the brakes and shocks are shot on the Aztec. Ha! Ah well, that makes sense given the trip we put that sweet machine through. Today will involve considering car stuff, figuring out water for the trailer, working on coffee, and perhaps planning the garden.
Until next time.....

Hmm....

Hello friends. Today has been incredibly tipsy-turvey; an eclectic mix akin to the bizarre weather through the window. We awoke early (the new norm as Jem has taken to ridiculously early starts), and were about the day's tasks before 8:00am. The focus of the day? Get settled!

It turns out that setting up house in a camper is somewhat tricky. This endeavor is made all the more difficult when the weather flucuates between pouring rain, heavy snow, wind, and abnormally cold temperatures. My balmy visions of a west coast Eden are being revised!
While J roasted coffee, dug out a small storage corner in the yard shed, and worked on electical components, I bundled up Jem in the carrier and set about creating a home of sorts in the camper. By 11:00am we were all chilled, wet, hungry, and cranky :(
Some issues have been presented: 1) The camper overloads the electrical circuits in the house. So, J is out purchasing an overpriced exterior cord so we can connect to another circuit. 2) We've never worked with, let alone lived in, an RV. There are several things to learn, like how to turn on the furnace and where to put (and how to take away) the water and other liquidy things. 3) Jem is learning to flow with it; strapped on a back or a chest, chewing on flax bread, skeptical at best. And we're trying to learn to flow with him as well, in the midst of very little sleep.

So, in the midst of these things I went from:
"WOW! We're doing it! Aww...look at me setting up our little home :) Aww...this is so neat! What's ahead? Hm, as if we actually took this step. How cool!"
To...
"WOW. We're actually doing this thing...umm...God? Umm...we really are below the poverty line. Um...we seriously are about to move into a camper and call it home :( Does anyone believe in us out here? How terrifying!"
To sum it up: I am so incredibly excited and SO ridiculously hopeful. But my hope of a beautiful future may not playout in day-to-day reality, and it's in that space where I feel my throat tighten and my heart clench. I'm happy. I'm hopeful. I'm learning. And I'm so deeply hoping that a year from now we'll look back and see how utterly wonderful it was, and is.

Here's a little tour of our new place. We haven't officially moved in yet as we need to stabilise/balance it, clean the whole thing, and get our stuff here first. We'll likely be settled in there within the next two weeks. It's a dorky video, but it gives a basic idea of what we're workin' with :)

EDIT
Umm...I have tried FIVE times and this video won't load... Tips? :(

The time is near; the moment of stepping into our new life will soon be upon us. One week from tomorrow, my husband will drop me at the airport with the baby and we will fly west while he travels through the mountains with our vehicle.

I am terrified.
I am ecstatic.
I am wondering just what we are thinking.

As I write, I am sitting in a newly barren livingroom. While away visiting a dear friend, J held a moving sale. The furniture, extra clothes, books, movies, pictures, shelves, and so many things I was yet clinging to, are now adorning the homes of others. What didn't sell was given to friends or the thrift store. When I walked into the 'renovated' house this week for the first time, I had to stop, swallow, and hold my tongue for several minutes as I processed. Sadly, I did not hold my tongue for quite long enough and was soon berating my partner for the thoroughness of his actions. (however, he DID give away items which I had thought we were keeping; my dishtowels, my cherished kitchen clock, the bookshelf.... But, well, read on.).
While I thought I was prepared for the visible reality of what we are doing, 'losing' some of my things, even just simple things like towels, struck me deeply. I was so sad, and then allowed myself to be so angry! I wanted my things! I want my things! If we're going to get rid of them then let's at least get a pretty penny in return, right? We could have made more, we could still own more, we could look a little more 'settled' or 'successful'.
After a few minutes. Nope. After several hours, I was able to appreciate, truly, this next step we had taken. I began to consider the meaning of 'value' and 'importance' and how quickly I say, "But this is important!" and "I need this!" I began to embrace the fact that I have much to learn and much to understand within this new lifestyle. I confessed that I had chosen tea towels over peace in my household. (and, unknown to me, J trucked over to the thrift store to reclaim my clock [apparently sold already], and grab a little table for the livingroom for the next few days :) )

So now, the livingroom literally echoes, but at the moment it is echoing with the babbling of my son and the smile of my husband. The kitchen smells like peppermint and lavender, there is wine decanting for later this evening, and fresh coffee is airing in the other room. We are relaxing this evening, hoping to find a point of rest and perhaps some energy before pressing on through the weekend.
This time next week we'll be tarping the trailer and sharing our last meal in this special little house. This time next week I'll have said good bye to my sweet girlfriends. One week and one day marks the end and the beginning and the realization to the conversation.

So, a wee bit scared and a whole lot hopeful, a tinge of skeptical and a whole lot of maybe.