Spring Break with the Ter Bear

Happy Easter everyone! I wanted to share that we found time from our busy schedules to meet up with the Ter Bear. We had a delicious (as always) home cooked Easter/Spring dinner after a long day of working, a long drive, and touring another property. It was just what we needed. Unfortunately I was too consumed and intrigued with the feast, I forgot to take pictures! The desert you must hear about though! We had vanilla bean ice cream in martini glasses with a dash of cream de menthe liqueur drizzled on top! It was lime green and vibrant, and perfect for our Easter dinner desert! The man sure knows how to entertain. I am taking notes. hehe
On to the DAMN property search... (haha) We found THE dream house, but I am losing faith, and every hopeful bone in my body. I can't wait any longer. We need to start this next chapter, and fast! This weather sure isn't helping either! I am hoping to have good news in my next post about the property search, but the way things have been going... We could be doing this forever.

Send good vibes, prayers, anything you've got. I beggith! :) Thank you! Now get out there and enjoy this spring (more like summer) weather!

DIY Wedding Day Survival Kit

My sister just had a bridal shower. I have been in the wedding industry since last June, and I was completely stumped as to what you get a girl for a bridal shower! I even 'googled' what to get someone for a bridal shower as compared to a wedding gift. Is it supposed to be expensive? Is it for the couple? Is it a naughty girl party? I talked with my coworker about ideas.. She said bridal shower gifts are not a big deal, I wouldn't stress it. My first thought, and response was, "It is called a shower! It is completely focused around her sitting down and opening gifts!" I am working two jobs.. I am very tight on time. I am spinning around in circles! My imagination goes wild but what do I have time for? I knew I had to incorporate my shop somehow.. I started with the Bridal bag, and it instantly hit me that I should make her a wedding day survival bag! This is fun for her party! Lots of goodies to ensure that nothing goes wrong on her big day.
I hope I can give you confused folk an idea to work off of! This project can be as cheap, or expensive as you want. It can be elaborate or very simple.

Here is some suggestions of supplies to get you started, and you can find them just about anywhere!

Unsuccessful Once Again

We were very interested in the most recent property that I shared with you, the first chance we got we set up a time to be walked around all 4 corners with the agent who is selling it. My mom came along for the ride. We wanted her to see it too, and get her opinion on things. It just happened to be the day with the worst weather EVER. We ended up getting soaked but knew we would just hop in the heated car and grab a coffee somewhere nearby afterwords.
Well things didn't go as planned.. Our agent drove off after the tour, and the neighbor popped his head in to say hello, and give us his 2 cents on the property. He wanted us to hear his opinion on things. We finally pieced it together. The neighbors on the other side is working on selling a property in California and they plan to purchase this one! They have 30 acres, and are looking for another home site. This guy named Dick gave up a lot of information, and well he started to live up to his name! He is protecting it, and driving every interested person away with his 'opinions'. Funny thing is when he drove up we just happened to be on the phone again with the agent. We told her he had just pulled up and she came back (We saw him drive up and down the road while she was there- He waited till she left to come talk with us). They went back and forth arguing in front of us for maybe 10-15 minutes. The entire thing was embarrassing for the agent, and us! We stood there awkwardly going, "Okayyyyy. Let's go eat! We gotta go now! Thanks for your time!"
We hopped in the car, and all go, "What the hell just happened?!"

Lesson of the day: We do not want psycho neighbors! Thanks for being a dick before we purchased the land- Dick! (hehe)

We stumbled upon this little slice of heaven while driving around. Perfect location for a Tiny Home! Umpqua River front property.. ahhh

Also almost ran over quite a few flocks of wild turkeys! That is something this city girl does not remember from the old country days..

Property Hunt 2013 Update

As the property hunt continues we are feeling more and more frustrated.. Nothing seems to be going our way. Twice in the last two weeks we have driven to almost the California border looking at listings all through the state (spending money we are trying to save). We have been doing this in hopes to see the properties in their worst state. We want to see where water flows if any at all and how much, where the water accumulates, if there is pipes already built into the ground. Those sorts of questions are coming up when ever we look at a place. Most people would take someones word for it, but we want to see it for ourselves. A spectacular view is always a plus! Horses next door are a plus! Water rights are wonderful. Utilities already on site is almost a selling point though. I hope we figure out something very soon. Last week felt very unsuccessful, but yesterday was exhilarating! We felt accomplished. The zoning was right, utilities are on site, a home site has been approved, farm land is all around, it's in a valley, the area was beautiful.. So I will keep you posted. Things have been interesting. The original property we looked into was zoned as 'forest'. It's the perfect property, but we would have to purchase it to apply to have it changed as residential. It is a 4 month process with a price tag of almost $3000. There is no guarantee that we can even have it switched to residential. If we can't- then we can't build. That is just not acceptable for us. The whole thing was a bummer, but we have moved on. Our homestead will fit in next to all of the farm land so much better :)