We Moved In!

And then we didn’t.

I think I’ve mentioned before… I love my mom. She’s a dork, and I’m a dork. And we’re both introverts. Except at Pacers games. I picked out one guy from the opposing team and kept telling him he has stinky feet. I’m ruthless.

So we moved into our house right at the end of 2021. We finally lived in our “dream home” after 27 months of living with my parents.

We made it 5 days.

We knew it was dicey. Our solar set up, which was supposed to take care of our basic energy needs and allow us to be off-grid, was clearly not enough. We live in central Indiana, and there just isn’t enough consistent sunshine, or affordable enough storage batteries, for our package to work on its own. We tried. We used our wood-burning stove as much as we could, and our indoor house temperature was in the 50’s. Jeremiah is tough and had no problem staying there, but I was struggling, and our short-haired dog Bella doesn’t do well with the cold either. So we made the very disheartening decision to return to my parents home while we waited for our house to be connected to the grid for consistent power. That was hard. Jeremiah felt like he had failed, which broke my heart. So much of this was out of our control, and after such a long and difficult journey building this house, it still isn’t ready. So here’s another moment of me being open and transparent with you: mental and emotional well-being is often brushed under the rug, and I can share from this experience that that’s not sustainable. Different people are going to face challenges differently, and we need to be honest with ourselves and vulnerable with those who love us to help navigate those really rough waters. I’m still a work in progress here. Hopefully, I can provide some encouragement to others when they’re facing wave after wave of defeat. It’s been a good time of reflection for me, poking me in the ribs, realizing that if I’m battling hard circumstances, my coworker or neighbor or the cashier at the grocery store may be battling, too. Extending kindness to the person who’s fighting silently may be the brightest light they have that day.

I’ll share a few images here of our short experience in our home.

Here’s our living area; the wood stove is just outside the shot and makes this spot incredibly lovely.
I love this photo. Our old lady, Bella, in a sun spot (that’s kind of her thing).
Firewood staged in the porch for quick access. And crazy brush piles outside.
The subtitle for this system is misleading, let me tell ya. Do you see the red alarm light that’s on? I hate that light. I want to punch that light in the face.
Here’s Jeremiah doing a test run of our solar-panel-friendly roof rake to clear off snow that would otherwise significantly reduce our energy capture. Word of advice for anyone else needing to do this: get very warm gloves.

Back at my parents…

So now that we’re hanging out with my folks again, which may be for a bit, here’s how we’re trying to enjoy our time until we can truly plant ourselves at our homestead.

Clearly, Bella will gladly plant herself wherever it’s soft and comfy.
Jeremiah captured this; I like having this moment of serenity to look back on as I remind myself that God is working all of these things for our good.

Last thing to share for now – this is a SUPER CUTE video (just a few seconds) that Jeremiah was able to get while doing some birding nearby. Make sure you have the volume turned up 🙂

This guy showed up right after I called it quits and went back to my car. Jeremiah stayed and reaped the benefits!

Until next time,

Holly

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