After A Week Long Send Off, My Round the World Trip kicked off with eight days in Maui visiting my sister Sarah who has split her time between Hawaii and Alaska for many years. What an epic way to start this adventure! There was mist falling when my sister greeted me at the Kahului airport on Maui a week ago, so she teased me about bringing the rain from the mainland. We headed straight for Paia where she presented me with a young coconut and a lei, accompanied by the chant for the gifting-of-a-lei.
A number of circumstances collided recently to compel me to move the Lucky Penny to my property in Walla Walla where I have a ground bound small house called Valencia Cottage. So on Tuesday trusted tiny house movers Linh and Stephanie Pham helped me move the Lucky Penny safely from Portland to my place in Walla Walla.
As I packed up recently in preparation to travel cross country in my Honda Fit, I did some downsizing… It was harder than it had been during my last couple of moves because this time I had more stuff. I’d been living in a bigger space…My apartment was a studio, but it was still about 6 times bigger than the Lucky Penny! I talked with several people about the experience and a handful of them said “oh my goodness, I need to do more of that!” So I’ve decided to offer a 6-week Downsizing Tune Up…
A number of circumstances collided recently to compel me to move the Lucky Penny to my property in Walla Walla where I have a ground bound small house called Valencia Cottage. So on Tuesday trusted tiny house movers Linh and Stephanie Pham helped me move the Lucky Penny safely from Portland to my place in Walla Walla.
I haven’t known how to start this update…
And yet, they say, that the place to begin is where you are.
Right now, at this moment, I’m in Walla Walla, WA at Valencia Cottage, the ground-bound small house that I purchased in my 20s, the house that taught me how to make home… And I have big adventures ahead of me. Last night I booked the plane ticket to my first international destination (Japan!) for my upcoming Round the World Trip!
Tonight I’m so excited I’m afraid I won’t be able to sleep. My Tiny House Build Began last Friday and tomorrow is My SIPs Wall Raising! Eep! By this time tomorrow I should have four walls up!
I am already thoroughly impressed by the way my community has rallied around me and my little house, The Lucky Penny. You have been cheering me on, sending me encouraging notes, making trips to the ReBuilding Center to boneyard materials, assisting with tiny house prep, listening while I noodle through design conundrums, oohing and ahhing over pictures of my door and sink, and offering to pitch in when the time comes to make it happen.
The time has come.
I’m ready to ask for your support. That may be moral support or financial support or it may be literally holding up my rafters while we get them in place. Any which way, I’ll take it!
It’s Memorial Day weekend and my build buddy Laura and I will be hosting work parties all four days. I’ve got a great line-up of Tiny House Helpers for this weekend. Here’s my grand plan:
Next weekend I’ll be leading a guided tour for Portland’s ADU Tour (and the following weekend I’ll be at a family reunion), but I plan to host tiny house work parties the weekends of June 14-15, June 21-22, and June 28-29. If you’re in Portland and would like to help, please contact me so we can arrange a time for you to come on out and pitch in!
If you’d like to contribute but you can’t make it out here to assist in person, please consider supporting The Lucky Penny in one of these ways:
Thank you, everyone! I am grateful for your support!
Check out Lina's Tiny House: The Lucky Penny for a profile of my completed gypsy wagon!
I believe there is great power in naming and it's recently occurred to me that I haven't introduced my tiny house to you yet by name. Now, I recognize that sometimes it's best to wait until after a baby is born, a house is built, etc. to determine whether the name fits before announcing it, but in this case, it seems so right I'll take the chance. After all, I was telling everyone at the Tiny House Conference this past weekend! So I won't keep you wondering any longer. My tiny house is The Lucky Penny!
Here's why: My Tiny House Started with a Window I found for free four years ago, which inspired me to make the house a gypsy wagon with a curved vardo roof. A couple years later I picked up My Beautiful Arched Door at the ReBuilding Center. Then, since I'm a little superstitious, I quickly acquired A Sink for Good Measure. From there on out, it's been a Tiny House Treasure Hunt.
My tiny house's name came to me, as so many of my good ideas do, at three in the morning. As I thought about the curvy shape of the roof and the delightful coppery goodness of the sink, I realized that these character pieces were giving me a theme. My house is all about round and copper, so it seemed fitting to name it The Lucky Penny. (Anita wrote about my tiny house's naming earlier this week on TinyHomes.com in her post What's in a Tiny House Name?)
I've found all sorts of confirmation that The Lucky Penny is the right name for my tiny house. Such as the fact that I've been the lucky recipient of several deals, donations, and discounts. And finding these charming copper canisters at an antique store after years of not finding any countertop containers that seemed just right. And a friend randomly sending me 25 DIY design ideas that use pennies. And then finding pennies all over the place since learning about penny tiling. (When I was a kid my little sister was forever finding pennies and I wasn't nearly as good at spotting them, so now every time I do I get a little thrill. And I stop to pick them up. I don't believe in unlucky pennies. I just believe the heads-up pennies are twice as lucky! Did I mention I'm strangely superstitious?!)
As I've been Budgeting for My Tiny House, I've realized that, like so many other wee abodes, my house will be quite expensive per square foot. I may well end up nicknaming my tiny house The Pretty Penny because chances are it will cost one! But for now I'll remain optimistic that my community will around my little house and the serendipity will continue so that The Lucky Penny continues to be the best name for my gypsy wagon.
