Our House in the Bush

"Do you live in an igloo?" This, and other questions pertaining to housing, is one of the most common questions I encounter when people find out where I live. They always seem a bit disappointed when I tell them that I do not, in fact, live in an igloo. We actually live in a fairly normal house, although it does look a bit like a Morton farm building from the outside.

The house itself is very large, with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  It is, without a doubt, the largest place that Cody and I have rented, and while we don't really need the space it is nice to have. Our rental rate, which is decided by our landlord - the school district - is quite low.  We only pay $625/month, and that includes all utilities. 

In traditional Alaskan-style, when you enter our home you walk into our arctic entryway (similar to a mudroom in the lower 48). This is where our standing deep freeze is, as well as where we keep all of our shoes and outdoor gear.  It's actually a very large room, which is nice for storage purposes.

When you enter the actual living portion of our house you walk into an open foyer area, with the living room on one side and the kitchen/dining room on the other. The house actually used to be two separate apartments, but a previous teacher knocked down a wall to make space for his growing family, which is why it's so large and open.

To the left of the foyer is our dining room.  The dining room is one of my favorite spaces in the whole house.  We've got a huge window that looks over Loon Lake and the tundra.  It's so beautiful and peaceful.  I often sit here and read, drink coffee, or do art projects.

From there, you walk into the kitchen, and while the kitchen is large and has great storage, I really miss having a dishwasher. Doing dishes is my absolute least favorite chore, so this has been probably my biggest struggle with living in this particular house. Plus, there are no restaurants here, so we cook every single meal we eat. SO. MANY. DISHES.

Two of the bedrooms are off of the kitchen, including the one that we have claimed as ours.  The smaller bedroom is serving as our storage room. We have excessive amounts of totes and boxes from the move and this little bedroom has been nice for keeping them all stored away from our living space. Plus, this house had way too much furniture when we moved in (three kitchen tables, an extra dresser, assorted end tables, and tons of lamps). The spare bedroom is also housing all of the furniture odds and ends.  The larger bedroom on this end is the master bedroom. It's a decent sized room with good closet space, plus it has the best view of all of the bedrooms because it also looks out over the lake.

Also on this end of the house is the biggest bathroom, which I've claimed as my own.  Cody and I are really digging not having to share a bathroom.  Seriously, it's marital bliss.

On the other side of the house we've got the living room, two bedrooms, and Cody's bathroom (I'll spare you the picture of Cody's bathroom - haha).  The living room has great space and came with pretty nice furniture.  We spend a lot of time curled up on the couch watching movies and hanging out, mostly because there isn't a whole lot to do out here in the bush, so I'm glad we have such nice living space in our home.

Off of the living room there are two bedrooms. One is serving as our guest bedroom, even though we never have guests.  It's also being used for our brewery (we are brewing our own beer because they don't sell alcohol in our village, even though it's not illegal to possess). The other room we've converted into a great little office.  Cody uses the office a ton for writing, reading, and playing video games.

As you can see, the house is still in need of some home decor accents, but those are the kind of things that tend to happen slowly. In terms of the bones of the house though, we are enjoying it.  It's been especially nice to have so much extra space.  Cody and I work in the same classroom for 40hrs/week and then we come home and hang out together.  Plus, there are very few opportunities for us to socialize separately here, so having our own space is important. I'm glad that we live in a place that allows us so much room to grow, expand, and live peacefully. 

Your turn...What is your favorite room in your house? 

Currently listening to...A Punk - Vampire Weekend 

Our Home on Beaver Island

Our moving date is looming ever closer. All of our belongings that we chose not to sell are leaving on a Uhaul trailer in seven days, and we will be following on a ferry boat barely a week later.  Moving is always a crazy and emotional experience, yet we seem to be fantastic at it since we've done it every two years since 2012.  This will be our third cross country move in six years. I assume we will eventually find somewhere that we want to "settle" and put down roots, but we haven't found it yet so we keep just keep exploring.

One thing that always makes me a little sad when we leave is disassembling our house.  As usual, our house was just finally shaping up into my ideal little space. We had acquired some nice furniture, the décor was (for the most part) hung in perfect little spots, and it looked the way I wanted it to. Less than  month ago, the house looked nice, quaint, and put together. Today it is in boxes.

Our home in October 2015.

Our home in January 2016.

I'll miss our giant sky lights that make the kitchen and living room so bright.  I'll miss our house being a scorching temperature all winter long due to the amazing wood stove.  I'll miss hauling wood through deep snow to fill up that stove.  I'll miss letting the dogs run wild in the yard, without fear of predator animals.  I'll miss sitting in our living room and sipping coffee with the numerous windows thrown open in the early morning. I'll miss the seemingly perfect summer weather in Northern MI that allows us to live for months on end without closing those windows.

The living room and sun room.

The kitchen/dining area.

With all of those things I'll miss, I am also excited.  Excited to purge my belongings, again. Excited to have a new adventure.  Excited to immerse myself in a new culture and lifestyle. Excited to do some traveling with my little family. Excited to shed some of the material "stuff" that has come to bog us down over time.

The bathroom.

The master bedroom.

Never the less, emptying a house that you've grown fond of is always a little sad.  Watching all of your belongings fall into boxes, knowing some of those items will undoubtedly get broken in the move. We will miss our little cabin the big woods, but now we are moving on to a little house in the big, wild tundra.

Your turn...What are some of your favorite things about your home?
Currently listening to...Wild World - Cat Stevens

**Note: Our house is for sale! Cody and I were renting it from a good friend, but it is now on the market.  If you know anyone looking for a little slice of island living, send them my way!**

Stacking Firewood

This is our first year heating our home with wood, and I've got to tell you, it's quite the adventure. Before this year, I'd always romanticized the idea of heating a home with only wood.  The thought of cutting our own wood and providing our own heat seemed very idyllic and homestead-y, which is sort of my goal in life.

To be fair, I do love snuggling up by the fire and reading a good book, or cuddling with Cody and the dogs. It is romantic and ideal in many ways.  It is also a huge amount of work though.  Aside from cutting the wood, which we did only a minimal amount of this year because of how late we moved in, there are many other chores. We clean the inside of the stove each morning before starting a new fire and this requires venturing out into the brisk morning air to dump the ashes into our designated ash bucket, which never sounds fun at 5 o'clock in the morning. 

The biggest chore that we are focusing on now is stacking the wood.  It took us quite some time to stack all of the wood that we had acquired for the winter.  Many, many hours of serious manual labor were put into this endeavor.  We have stacked about seven face chords of wood total (I think).  We don't fully know how much wood we will need for the winter, but we are crossing our fingers that we don't need to find more mid-winter.

Half of our wood went into our hut, which is an insulated building that sits next to our house. It actually has electricity and heat, so it has been used as a "tiny" house before, but we needed a designated wood shed. It's the perfect place to keep the wood dry.

The other half of the wood is stacked on top of pallets on the opposite side of our house.  The stacks that are outside are covered with tarps to help keep the rain and snow off of the logs.  We plan to gradually move more logs into the hut as winter progresses.  We may start moving them sooner though.  Wet wood is a big worry.

We also keep about 40 logs in the house at one time. These logs sit in a small wood closet next to our front door. Typically, we have been hauling these in on Sunday, but I assume this will get more frequent now that the temperatures are dropping drastically. I anticipate that we will have to fill it 2-3 times per week, but at this point it is all guesswork for us.  Lots of guesswork is going into keeping the house heated right now.  I've heard from others who heat exclusively with wood that it takes a while to figure out what is right for your house.  Here's to hoping that we figure it out soon! 

Your turn...Have you ever heated your home with wood?
Currently listening to...American Heartache - The Wood Brothers

Little House in the Big Woods

We moved into a new house! It's been very quiet around the blog lately.  The move is the main reason why that's been happening.  Our new rental house was only about 1000ft from our old rental house (it's literally right around the corner), but it still took a ton of work.  We are finally all moved in though!

Our main reason for moving was because our old house was totally furnished, which is nice, except that you are constantly tip-toeing around other people's stuff.  And when I say furnished, I mean furnished down to the last dish, blanket, towel, and even cleaning supplies.  It was a great house, but we've outgrown having other people's stuff around.

One HUGE bonus to our new house is the wood burning stove! We paid roughly $300/month for heat last winter, which we weren't super keen to do again. This year we are lucky to have an (almost) brand-new stove to heat the house.  We've already started using it, which is awesome because we got our first snowfall this weekend.  Yikes!

Things are still in the "unpacking" phase at our house.  As soon as we get things a little more settled I will post pics of the inside.  It's a very cute house and we are excited to be living in it!

Your turn...What is your favorite thing about your house?

Currently listening to...Hold On - Alabama Shakes

Pumpkin Spice Latte

It's no secret that I am in love with Fall.  In fact, I did an entire blog entry about my favorite season (you can read it here).  One of my favorite things is eating/drinking pumpkin-flavored goodies.  This weekend Cody and I enjoyed a lazy Sunday morning and I decided to tryout a recipe I saw for homemade pumpkin spice lattes.  There was no choice…I had to do it.

Ingredients:

1cup milk

1tbs sugar

1tbs pumpkin puree 

 1/2tsp vanilla

brewed coffee

cinnamon

nutmeg

Directions:  Heat 1/2cup of milk, pumpkin puree, sugar, vanilla, and spices on medium heat. Bring to a simmer and hold at this temperature for 5minutes while occasionally whisking.  Then, whisk in remaining 1/2cup of milk.

I used this as more of a creamer for my coffee.  The website that the original recipe came from included a few more steps (but, hey, I'm a little lazy).  My coffee was amazing! I definitely recommend it.  Plop a little whipped cream on top and enjoy!

Questions:
How do you feel about pumpkin-flavored goodies? 
Do you make coffee at home or get it to-go?

Things To Do In Juneau: Sandy Beach

Well, I have not been blogging much lately…whoops!! In an effort to re-immerse myself in blogging and the blog-community I am hoping to tackle this weekly (or bi-weekly) series.  I want to take some time over the next few months to give a little insight into some of Juneau's best places to visit/things to do in the community.  To start off I want to introduce all of you to…

Sandy Beach! This lovely beach is also known as Savikko Park.  It is located on Douglas Island and is owned by the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ).  You can look at more of the "technical" stuff about the beach/park on the CBJ website.

We love Sandy Beach for a variety of reasons.  It is a huge, lovely, all-sand beach for starters (perfection in my book).  But, the beach is also incredibly dog-friendly.  In fact, it is the closest thing to a dog park that Juneau has to offer.  Saturdays and Sundays the beach is filled with dog-owners strolling along the sandy shores while all the pups play together in the Gastineau Channel.  Our pup, Specks, is quite the fan :)

We also love to visit the historic trails located at the beach. The trails are very easy to hike and you will get the opportunity to traverse through the ruins of Treadwell Mine (a once successful mining operation in Juneau).  Signs can be found on portions of the trail describing different aspects of the mine. There is an incredible amount of history to be found on the trails (as well as the beach).

This site is accessible during all seasons! We have definitely enjoyed it at all points of the year, we even swam in the channel here during the summer!  However, when the Taku Winds blow through town, I'd steer clear.  Gusts can be pretty steady at 60mph, and on a chilly winter day…well, it isn't super pleasant.  All in all, this is a great place to go for a leisurely stroll or hike.  If you are new to town (or just visiting) you can come to Sandy Beach for free (just ask a cabbie to drop you off if you aren't sure of the locale).  Hope to see you there :)

Questions:
Are you interested in any of Juneau's attractions?
Where do you take your doggy to play?

I Love Fall

Things I LOVE about Fall: Halloween, oversized sweaters, long walks, cool nights, rainy days, bonfires, pumpkin-flavored everything, changing leaves, soups, warm beverages, apple cider, decorations….The list goes on and on.

Fall is my favorite season.  And, while Alaska doesn't boast the same amazing Fall colors that the Midwest is famous for, there is still beauty to be found everywhere.  The leaves are changing, the fields are turning brown, and the snow is creeping down the mountains.

There is much to be thankful for during my favorite season.  It is spectacular to see how Fall progresses here, in the 49th state.  I can't help but compare the changes to those that I experienced growing up in the heart of the Midwest.  I am not sure which place is better for celebrating this season but I do know that I love them both :)

Questions: 
What is your favorite season? Why?
What do you LOVE about Fall? 

How To: Freeze Wild Alaskan Blueberries

Our freezer is becoming more and more stuffed with delicious berries.  While we are eating some of them fresh, others are bound for canning and the freezer.  Even in a city like Juneau there is a serious lack of fresh (and decent) produce throughout the year.  What better way to combat this than freezing our own fresh fruit?! So, here is how we did it…

Picking blueberries at the ski area. 

1.) Soak blueberries in water for 10-15 minutes. This will soak out any worms while bringing leaves and other debris to the surface. 

2.) Place berries in a strainer for another 10-15 minutes to allow them to dry/remove excess water. 

3.) Place the berries on a non-stick pan.  Make sure that they are not piled on top of one another.

4.) Place pan and berries in the freezer (quick-freeze area) until they are completely frozen.  

5.) Remove berries from the pan and place in either vacuum-sealable bags or ziploc freezer bags. If using ziploc bags: use a straw to suck remaining air out of the bag to lessen the chances of freezer burn.  

6.) Store in the freezer.

7.) Un-freeze and add to delicious pancakes on a rainy day :)

Questions:

What is your favorite type of berry?

Not a berry-lover? What is your favorite fruit?

Fireweed Jelly: The Intro

It's that time of the year! Time to start collecting berries, plants, and other goodies so that we can store some food for the winter.  Now, this is my first year doing any storing/canning/harvesting myself.  I've always been interested in gardening and the homesteading lifestyle, but I haven't ever done anything about it.  So, the move to Alaska seemed like the perfect time to start.  I grew a garden (a pathetic one as it was still snowing in May), collected berries, and began making as much of my own stuff (shampoo, detergent, etc) that I could.  Now, I hope to do a longer post about this lifestyle in the future but today's is going to focus on making... Fireweed Jelly!

Fireweed is a purple, flowering plant that grows in Alaska and many other places in the United States.  It is an incredibly durable plant and typically will be the first plant to return to an area after a forest fire (namesake).  If you are more interested in learning about the plant itself, you can check out this link.

 I haven't made my own batch of jelly yet, but I am hoping to this weekend.  However, I have been doing plenty of fireweed picking and snacking on the jelly that I have been gifted (my neighbors are the best).  The awesome-ness of the batch that the neighbors gave me has inspired me to make TONS.  We will never buy store-bought jelly again! (Well, maybe once in awhile :))

My students helped collect the plants for me too! They heard I was making jelly and decided to pick me a few giant bags to contribute to the collection. Their only condition was that I give their families each a jar.  Obviously, I've taught them well :)

When I do finally make my own jelly I plan to use a combination of this recipe and this recipe. For my vegan friends, I am trying to find a good substitute for pectin, any suggestions? It seems impossible to find a fireweed jelly recipe without it, but here's to hoping!

Questions:
Do you grow/harvest/can any of your own food?
What beauty or food products do you make yourself?

Our Journey in Minimalist Living

Q: Why be a minimalist?

A: It’s a way to escape the excesses of the world around us — the excesses of consumerism, material possessions, clutter, having too much to do, too much debt, too many distractions, too much noise. But too little meaning. Minimalism is a way of eschewing the non-essential in order to focus on what’s truly important, what gives our lives meaning, what gives us joy and value.

Minimalism is something that I posted about here a few weeks ago.  It is a lifestyle that Cody and I became very interested in, specifically after moving to Alaska.  We had WAY too many things in our lives and not enough adventure.  As all things in life though, it is a work in progress.

We are still in the process of de-cluttering our lives and it has been difficult at times. There are books, furniture, movies, and frankly just lots of stuff that we have accumulated. Personally, getting rid of clothes has been a difficulty.  I gave away three entire trash-bags of summer clothes when we moved to Alaska (seriously).  This was super difficult for me because I have always loved clothes and enjoyed an interest in fashion.  Even after giving away those bags I still had an incredible amount of clothing to take with on our move...and what I would consider a bit of a shopping habit.  So, quitting the shopping and cutting back to the basics has been tough.  I am doing fairly well (and haven't bought ANY clothes lately) but it is still a struggle every time I see someone with a new pair of Tom's or a new shirt from UO. But….

There are still LOTS of clothes to go through! 

Guess what?? It feels so good once you finally do it! I struggled to give away certain items (books, clothes, etc) but none of them were items that held any sentimental value! Anything that is "special" I have kept and held onto dearly.  But, a shirt I bought three years ago at the mall (and have worn maybe 10x) is NOT important.  This has been difficult to grasp but I honestly don't feel like I am missing out one bit.  I feel more free and less dependent on my things every day.

Enjoying the "little things" in life. 

Cody and I want to focus more on human experiences.  We want to find more things that we enjoy doing together as a couple.  This weekend we are doing yoga together for the first time and we hope to find many more activities to do together that we love.  It is still something that we are striving for and occasionally struggling to enforce in our daily lives, but when we follow-through with it we feel so accomplished! It is so important just to focus on our experiences and our lives without stuff.

Waking up to see the sunrise, a beautiful experience. 

I hope to focus more on this topic in the future and expand as we expand it into our lifestyles more and more. If this is a lifestyle you are interested in pursuing check out the links in my original post (listed above) or feel free to ask me any questions about our own personal journey!

Questions: 
Would you ever consider a minimalist lifestyle?
What are three things you could easily give up? 

Becoming A Minimalist

Recently, Cody approached me with the idea of living a more minimalist lifestyle.  It intrigued me to say the least.  We already do many things to lower out "footprint" such as recycling, eating vegetarian, carpooling, etc. But, we are creatures of habits and "things."

When we first moved to Alaska (almost) a year ago we only brought one carload of belongings.  What didn't fit in our car simply didn't make the cut.  There were a few boxes of keepsakes and important things (like my record player) that my parents stored for me.  Overall though, we packed the car and that was it.

Packing our car for the move from Illinois to Alaska. 

Some time (not-so) later we managed to accumulate a ton of STUFF.  It is a little sad and a lot silly.  So, we decided to condense many of our belongings.  We took a load of books and clothes to the thrift shop this weekend.  And, we intend to continue to downsize.  We cancelled our cable (except for basic channels) and downgraded various other "plans" that we had going on in our lives.  We started a garden and began to really think about saving long-term and downsizing long-term.  It has been a freeing experience! It is still all new to us but we are liking it so far.

We are also looking into EarthShips quite a bit.  We probably won't be able to build/buy our own home for another 8-10years.  But, long-term we would love to build a sustainable "green" home. Check out the links and let me know what you think!

Here are some cool links about the topics:
Minimalist FAQ's from mnmlist.com 
The Everyday Minimalist
Project 333
10 Reasons Why EarthShips Are Awesome

Questions
How do you feel about living a minimalist lifestyle? 
Would you ever consider this lifestyle? 
How awesome are EarthShips???? 

My First Pinterest Craft

I am one of those people.  The kind that pin 10,000 DIY projects on Pinterest.  So, I decided to finally commit to a project and test it out.  I always see people completing these awesome home projects, homemade gifts, stylish clothing designs, etc.  I can be one of those people, right?? Right!

So, I figured that there was no better craft to start with than some end of the year homemade gifts for my fellow teachers! I made pots of Brown Sugar &Vanilla Hand Scrub.  You can check out where I got the initial idea from here (the website linked with my original pin).  But, below is the recipe that I used.  Just mix everything together, scoop it into sealable pots, and voila! It turned out awesome and my fellow teachers love it!

Ingredients
2cups Brown Sugar
1cup Sugar
4tbs Olive Oil
Dash of Vanilla (adjust to your desired scent)
Hint of Lemon Juice (literally like three drops)

Step 1: Mixing all of the ingredients together. 

Step 2: Pour into jars (and take cute pictures). 

Step 3: Add a pretty bow and enjoy :) 

Questions
Do you use Pinterest? 
If so, do you ever make crafts from Pinterest? 

Pretty Pictures

We are enjoying another snowy weekend in Juneau.  Last night I walked around at the Juneau Gallery Walk (aka First Friday).  This happens on the first Friday of every month.  They open all the shops downtown and feature local artists.  All of the shops have yummy free food and adult beverages as well.  Tonight we went to my company Christmas party.  Cody and I dined on some tasty treats and then headed home.  So far, it has been a fun weekend but pretty low-key.

 I haven't done much picture-taking this week.  But, I did snap a few good ones of the view from our new place.  Enjoy :)

Oceanfront views from casa de Thompson-Middleton. 

Our house-This is the distance from the ocean to our front door. 

Another beautiful view.  

Side view of our little blue home. 

Front of our cute, little home. 

I hope everyone has a happy weekend!