First Week in our Off-Grid Cabins
What a journey 2021 has been so far. We decided to move to Indiana in early January and have since been going; non-stop. It’s been difficult to balance soul nourishment, work, caring for Lila, and setting ourselves up in our new life. We came to Indiana at the coldest time of the year and we are heating our small cabins with wood stoves. One cabin is our living/kitchen space and the other cabin is our bedroom space. I will show pictures, below, of how they have come along so far. The wood stove in our bedroom cabin works well and so we spend most of our time in there, when we aren’t needing to cook in the community center or cleaning the other cabin. The living/kitchen cabin is cold! The woodstove does not work very well and so we are holding off on using that space until it becomes warmer.
We also do not have bathrooms in our cabin and so we use an outhouse or, in the night, I just go outside. As I mentioned above, we cook in the community center. There is a building on the property that acts as the communal space and has a little living area, a full kitchen, tables, a little yoga room, shower and washing machine. We use this space for the kitchen, until we can use our own little cabin. We are able to take a warm shower, but share it with everyone else who works/lives on the property. We are also able to use a washing machine and then dry our clothes by the wood stove. I just feel so much more grateful for everything in life. This lifestyle isn’t “easier” but I move and think in a completely new way. Everything takes a little bit more time to do since we don’t just have all the electricity, appliances, and sustained heat that we had before. But I don’t mind because I am moving slower and enjoying more of the moment.
What’s truly important is coming into focus
RJ and I are living at this farm long-term and are now beginning the process of building our tiny home! We are able to build our tiny home on the property here since there are much less zoning and restrictions than there were in New Jersey. Michael, the owner of living roots, gave us these two cabins to live in until we build our own home.
Many of the people who live and work at Living Roots come as apprentices. They are able to receive housing and food in exchange for 3 days of work. Most stay for a few months or a full season. There are also a few full-time staff positions. RJ is a full-time staff member and therefore he receives pay and we are able to live in the cabins for free and feed our whole family with the food from the farm. In a month, many more apprentices will be coming to live on the farm as they will be helping out with the start of the farming season! Everyone we have met is so kind. We have had beautiful conversations and deep connection. It’s amazing to be in community again. In New Jersey, I was just living in a house with Lila on Long Beach Island. I was away from the community I had created once I had to move more south. I am so grateful to be here, where I am outside often, in the fresh air, and around physical community. It is really important to me and I believe, really good for Lila.
Lila is thriving here! She is so happy, curious, and joyful. My heart is so full seeing her grow. She is learning new words and ways of expressing herself. She is almost fully confident in her walking abilities and a tooth is just poking through! She has been sleeping wonderful and interacting with so many new, loving, individuals. I know that we made that right decision coming here. She is going to have so much fun living on this land and meeting so many new and unique people, every year.
Last Week’s Departure!
Last Thursday, February 4th, I shared about my Authentic Alignment Program. I sent the email and then was busy with last minute cleaning before Lila and I went to the airport to fly to Indiana that day! RJ had left the day before and drove out to Indiana with the Uhual. The weeks leading up to our move were busy! We had to share the news with our family and friends and transition our whole life to a new place.
Flying with Lila was definitely exhausting! I had her attached to my back and wore my backpack on my chest. I must of looked like a pack mule. The flight was only 2 hours but trying to get my boarding pass took over an hour. We were able to move through security quickly and when I arrived at my gate, it was time to board! It was a very small plane. Each row only had 2 seats. I got the last seat on the plane so that there would be no one behind me if Lila got fussy. The entire flight was full and I had a man sitting next to me, closest to the window. I felt so bad because he just looked like he needed some sleep. Lila was very active at the beginning of the flight and I had to basically wrestle with her so that she wasn’t touching our neighbor or kicking the seat in front. When the lights finally went out I pressed her into my chest. She was overtired and needed to sleep but it was the last thing she wanted to do. She cried for 5-10 minutes until she finally fell asleep on my chest. Everyone was, thankfully, very kind. I am so grateful. We finally arrived in Indianapolis and RJ picked us up at the airport.
We entered our sleeping cabin around midnight on Thursday night. We had our bed on the ground and there was mud and dirt everywhere. The cabin also had all old furniture from when it was used last, over a year ago. I wanted to shower off my day, but that wasn’t going to happen until the next day. We had a lot of work ahead of us, so RJ put more wood in the stove and we feel asleep.
The next day we cooked and ate breakfast in the community center. We were able to meet the staff and apprentices and introduce ourselves to the community. It was a warm welcome. We then got to work! Thankfully those first few days were warmer and sunny so that we could move our items out of the Uhual and leave them outside. We had to clean the cabins, a lot. There was dirt, dust, mud and cobwebs, everywhere. We first moved everything into our living/kitchen cabin and then cleaned our bedroom. Once the bedroom was somewhat cleaned, we moved, what we could, into that space and then started cleaning and organizing the other cabin.
The whole process took about 6 days. Around Wednesday of this week we started to slow down and take care of more personal stuff like our finances, emails, taxes, etc. There is a lot we need to catch up on! Yesterday, RJ and just needed to rest. The whole month of moving finally hit us and we took it slow, did some yoga, and napped. It was much needed. Today we feel much better!
We have surendered our expected outcome of the cabins, for now. We are going to wait until it is warmer and we can open the windows and scrub the cabins down. For now, we are staying cozy and warm in our sleeping cabin.
RJ starts work on Monday and will be working part-time for two weeks and then he will start working full-time, come March. He is the field manager and will be managing the whole crop operation here. He will also be teaching and guiding the apprentices that come to work on the farm each season. We are also beginning to put the plans together for our tiny home! RJ has been researching small frames built by the Amish and we are exploring our solar energy options. This is going to be an abundant year of so much learning, growing and creativity! I look forward to sharing more with you, along the way.
Sleeping Cabin
Living/Kitchen Cabin
Work in Progress….
These cabins are a work in progress! I forgot to take pictures of what they looked like when we first arrived! But it is already a transformation. We are excited to make these spaces cozy and beautiful while we continue to plan and build our own tiny home. Each cabins also has a loft area. In our sleeping cabin, we have Lila’s crib and a spare bed that can’t be taken down. It would need to be sawed in half and the stairs removed. So we are making due with a small space in that loft area. Then, in our kitchen/living space, we are using the loft area as storage for all the extra furniture that was in the cabins and some of our own stuff.
Moments of Joy
Would love to hear what your questions are so far! Let me know what you’re curious about.
Lot’s of love,
Ashley
