April showers are upon us!

April is halfway gone! How can it be? This means school for the kids will be over in just a handful of weeks! I'm not ready!!! We have one that will be graduating from High School and off to college. The last few months have been bitter sweet thinking about this new adventure for her. However, it is exciting and will be a new exciting adventure for her.

We have completed some more trim work and shelves behind our master shower/tub. It has been a task! Once we moved into our tiny house and the weather soon changed... our daily lives got busy with other tasks.. the barn, the yard, the garden, the kids, our new puppy that isn't a puppy anymore, and more that I cannot even think of! Completely a certain room started to feel impossible because we were already moved in and living in the room. It was hard. But..... we did it!!!

 Master bathtub/shower we placed it in the corner so that we could use the hidden space behind it for storage and shelves.












I found an old wash tub that would be perfect size for our bathroom sink. Bought the drain assembly and drilled the hole. Works perfect and SAVED us money!!

               

 We also need some storage by our sink for simple things like deo, makeup, lotion, etc....

We cut the top off of this old tool box and cleaned it up a bit. The drawers are small but perfect for holding our stuff.... we do live in a tiny house so I can't have a ton of makeup. :)

 After our sink and counter is finished! Looks amazing and is perfect for us. We also used an old oil can to hide the "ugly" plumbing under the sink!




TJ built shelves behind our corner shower/tub! The shelves are perfect for storing extra shampoo, toilet paper, travel bag, and linen. Also the bottom shelf comes out completely to store away items that I do not need on a regular basis.

I hope you all have enjoyed! It has been a journey within itself but I love the ride. The best ideas do not come over night. Also, when you are hunting and re-purposing items.... it takes awhile to find the perfect piece! So remember... take your time and don't rush the beauty!!!!

Barn project is no easy project!

So.... we have taken a little break from the tiny house. We have some trim left, our bathroom not complete and our kitchen isn't complete. Our bathroom and kitchen are function able just not complete yet. It is mid December here in the Ozarks. We have had some really strangely nice days but it is getting pretty chilly. Our other BIG project is our barn.

The barn needed a lot of LOVE and work. We cleaned the old hay out, trimmed the trees and branches, nailed down the wind blown damaged tin, replaced a beam, tore out old stalls and rotten wood. The barn hasn't been used in years... except to store old hay.

We even did a little decorating on the old barn :)

None of this could have happened if it wasn't for the man of dreams!! TJ has been such an anchor in my life! He was right by my side when I was sick. He was next to me through the surgery and recovery. I know this is crazy but he has had my blood on his hands... my spinal fluids on his hands.... ugh!!! :) My point is this... even while our house is on a break.... TJ doesn't stop making my dreams come true. He doesn't stop. The barn was in pretty bad shape and now it housing 6 chickens, 21 rabbits, and 2 peacocks. :) Yep... he is pretty amazing!

About the barn again: We have 26 New Zealand rabbits that will be raising. The primary reason for getting them is for meat. This will provide our family with a lot of meat that is nutritious and delicious. We are eager to have meat from the rabbits and honestly... I am excited to try a new recipe. I'll post all about the recipe too! I'm also looking into their pelts and tanning the hides. Not sure what to do with them or what I can make but I'm sure I'll come up with something! :) Message me if you have any recommendations. 

If you haven't found us on Facebook... we are here > https://www.facebook.com/poordevilcreations

or 

Find us on Google+ under "House of Atlas"

Thanks for reading our blog and sharing our story!!

Stephanie Thompson

THE BUILDING HAS ARRIVED!!! 


Today at 11:30am we welcomed a new bundle of joy into this world! He is 16x40 with 2 lofts. Weighing about 11,000-12,000 lbs. His name is "House of Atlas"

Atlas was a Greek mythology Titan who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.....but if you want to be technical "celestial sphere" on his shoulders. We don't know what that is... so we are going to go with the weight of the "world"on his shoulders :) We feel as if we can relate to him in his battles and stress. We have been faced with so much yet we still carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. Life doesn't stop. Bills do not stop. Hungry kids do not stop. ;) So... we present you the "House of Atlas" (storage building...LOL)

We woke up this morning to rain! It is raining and storming! Our house should have been here August 27th but the delivery dude had truck trouble... it was moved to Thursday and then Friday and now September 3rd! Everyone keep your fingers crossed!!! This has been the hardest thing... waiting. We have been ready since last week and we are in a bit of a stand still waiting for the building. Once it arrives, we have the deck to finish on it, plumbing, electrical, insulation, etc.

We are overwhelmed by the positive feedback and the kindness that you guys have shown us! We really appreciate all the support and good vibes! We have the wonderful folks at TinyHouseBuild.com that featured our story. If you haven't checked out their website... I ask that you do. They have a website full of GREAT information and resources. Lots of ideas, floor plans, videos, and a link to their facebook as well!

Here is a link to their website with our story:
http://tinyhousebuild.com/tiny-houses-for-large-families/

Also, here is the link to their facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/tinyhousebuilddotcom

We hope to have another post tomorrow about the arrival of our home!!! Keep those fingers crossed!

To the wind of change

To the wind of change

It has been just a week but a lot of change has taken place! The old chicken house is gone and a load of dirty base has been laid. We have the land prepped and ready for our home.





To see the old chicken house come down was really hard. Paw Paw (Jimmie Adams) poured the concrete for the chicken house in 1977 and built the chicken house that year. This is the very spot that he held my hand out and had me catch my very first fresh egg. I remember the egg being so huge in my little ol’ hand and the warmth and wetness from the egg. It was an experience that I will never forget and thankful for memories like those. The chicken house had old barn tin for the roof which we were able to save and will use in our house. This is something that Paw Paw would love to see. :)

Our Journey

We want to share our adventure! :) We are sure you have heard of the tiny house movement and the mass movement of fine folks wanting to share their stories of how they are becoming one with nature and simplifying their lifestyle…. but please listen to ours. We do not fit in this category.

We are in our mid 30’s and have been faced with a lot of negativity but we are taking it all positive!!! I will start with this: We are a family of 7!! :) We have 5 children from the ages 10 to 16. (4 girls and 1 boy) With saying that… we are DOWN SIZING to a TINY HOUSE ;) A tiny house that we can afford and make sure everyone is happy. For us to make certain everyone has their own space is going to be a 16x40. We are selling everything that we own to gather enough money to purchase this building. The barn/cabin that we have looked at has two lofts. The two lofts will be what the kids will occupy…. all 5 of them. :)
We have talked to all the children about the journey and how this may or may not be for each of them but for our family…. this is the best decision. As I had mentioned, we are in our 30’s and we have been faced with a lot of stress. My husband, TJ, 3 years ago had back surgery. This set us back quite a bit and put a strain on our family as he was our main bread winner. He has been slowly recovering from the surgery.  I was working 2 jobs and going to school full time as well as taking care of all of the kids while he was recovering. However, 7 months ago in October I turned 31. I turn 31 on the 25th of October and we discovered I had a Brain Tumor in my 4th Ventricle on the 28th of October. :( I had emergency Brain Surgery on November 4th to remove the Tumor. I have been off of work since and I am still having complications with balance and vision. We have always been able to provide for our children with a fairly large home with plenty of space to call their own……. but now… we are down to one income and the stress is not worth it!

TJ and I are too young to be too stressed and too worried about the future and our health.

It is impossible to improve if we continue to dwell on the negative. We have to look at the positive side and with saying that….we are very blessed that this has happened to us at such a young age and we have realized what we want in life before it is too late to change it!!!

We are on one income right now and have sold everything in our current home (rental) to save up enough for the down payment and first month’s rent on the 16x40 barn/cabin. Our children are taking everything very well and have been open to the change. We are currently using camping chairs in our living room as furniture and boxes for our dressers. We are scared! We are happy! This is one adventure that is bitter sweet!!
Overall, we just wanted to share with you that this “building” is going to be our family’s home! Some may call it a shed, a barn, a building, a small cabin….. But for us this will be our home. The one place we call home.




Thanks for following our blog!
-Stephanie