Less Is More 2016 Wrap Up

It was great fun Kicking Off 2016 with Small Home Design by teaching Less Is More at Yestermorrow. Monday and Tuesday we went on field trips to small houses in the Mad River Valley and Montpelier. We got to see five little houses this year, ranging in size from about 120 square feet to 1700 square feet. All five of these houses were owner-built, which was neat because we had the opportunity to talk to the homeowners about their challenges and successes. I had been to each of these small homes before, but I learn something new each time I visit, so that was great!

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday Dave and I presented slideshows to share building basics and design tricks for small spaces. We asked the students what else they wanted to learn and ended up doing a crash course in building science, a presentation on toilet options, considerations for construction and finish materials, and sharing net zero energy information. We also introduced design exercises and drafting techniques.

One of our activities was designing a tiny house together by taping it out on the floor. I was impressed by how many different considerations came up as the students deliberated the merits of putting the door in one location or another and selecting a roof style. They were excellent at weighing their options and thinking things through. It was fun to see students design exercises morph into their individual projects as their understanding and design skills evolved. (Photos forthcoming.)

On Thursday the students worked away the day designing their own small home projects, ranging in scale from a 200 SF tiny house on wheels to a 1800 ski house that can sleep 12. They presented their work on Friday to the class and our jurors, Paul Hanke and Kathy Meyer.

Other projects included:

• a small home with a movement studio for dance and aikido
• a little house inspired by medieval timber frame construction
• a Texan live-work space with a double roof for shading
• a small lakehouse to retire to
• a cabin in the woods with an impressive roof
• a round house with pop-outs
• a multi-generational home with a turret suite

It was fun to see students design exercises morph into their individual projects as their understanding and design skills evolved. And, of course, it was great to be back in Vermont and at Yestermorrow. This was my eleventh trip out there and it looks like I may have good reason to go back again this summer to help out with a Build Blitz. One of the students in the class is excited to build a tiny house on wheels and several other students are eager to help out. Stay tuned for more about that possibility!

Meanwhile, I’m scheming my next tiny house design workshop, which will be in Asheville, NC right after the Tiny House Conference. If you’re noodling through your tiny house design, mark your calendar for April 3-8^th and Contact Me to be added to the list for more information!

The Triple Whammy of ADU Financials (And Why It Might Make Sense to Create an ADU Anyway)

As you can see from the ADU Case Studies, many homeowners recognize the social, environmental, and financial value of creating an ADU on their property. However, our financial system hasn’t quite caught up with the trend. As I talked with more than 80 ADU owners and professionals for the ADU Case Studies Project, I came to learn that there’s a triple whammy when it comes to ADU financials.

Here’s how it works:

#1 – You try to get a loan to build an ADU but the bank is wary, so you have to scrounge up at least part of the money some other way.

#2 – You build your ADU and it does indeed add value to your property (yay!) which means your taxes go up (maybe a lot!)

#3 – You are ready to sell your house with an ADU and you’ve accepted an offer but the appraiser isn’t familiar with ADUs and values your property at way less than the market rate.

Let’s break it down. Here’s what the worst case scenario might look like:

You’ve read up on How to Buy or Sell a Property with An ADU (or ADU Potential). You’ve found a great property and you’ve built your team of ADU Professionals. You’re ready to start building that ADU of your dreams, so you go to the bank.

#1 – Getting Financing

“Everyone agreed ADUs were a great idea, but none of the banking industries got on board for years. We were abandoned by financing. Banks are always fair-weather friends.” –Sam Hagerman

The bank is wary to loan on a project that doesn’t have good collateral. They might say ‘You’re just talking about finishing out the basement, right? Why is it going to cost $100,000?’ So it’s tricky for you to get a construction loan. After all, you’re not a known quantity. Sure, you’re good about paying your bills each month, but you’re not a developer. You’ve never built a house before so you don’t have a track record. How are they to know that you’ll be able to pull it off and that this ADU will really add value to your house? If you’re not able to get a loan for the full amount you need to construct your ADU, you’ll need to scrounge it up from somewhere else.

You might try one of these options:

• Draw down your savings as most ADU owners do
• Take out a personal loan from friends or family as Susan Eliot and Wally & Lara Jones did
• Invest your inheritance as Nan Haemer, Carolyn Matthews & Bruce Nelson, and Lisa Florentino & Patrick Kernan did
• Use your divorce settlement
• Save or borrow enough to get dried in and then build as you go to finish it out, using current income as Lisa Lonstron, Billy Hines, and Ray Chirgwin did

Before you get too far along in your ADU dream, be sure you have a good plan to fund it! Before you buy a property with an ADU (or ADU potential), be sure the appraiser and loan officer have A Practitioner’s Guide to Appraising ADUs. Also make sure you and your realtor have reviewed How to Buy or Sell a Property with an ADU.

#2 – Paying Property Taxes

Even though the bank wasn’t sure your garage conversion would add value to your property, now you’ve added a new dwelling to your property and the value has indeed gone up. You might be able to have your property reappraised. And when you do you might find that it’s gone up quite a bit as Caleb & Tori Bruce and Bob & Adrienne Stacey did. At this point you might want to turn to your bank and say, “See, toldja so!” You might decide to refinance.

But then the tax assessors come by and it turns out they like what you’ve done with the place, too. So your property taxes go up. Even before Multonomah County’s Re-MAV, ADU owners such as Jane Doe were shocked by the increase in their property tax bills.

Before you build an ADU, be sure you understand the tax implications of creating a dwelling on your property, particularly if it’s detached and you live in Multnomah County where we have a wacky property tax system and a recent regulatory change that has tripled some people's taxes overnight.

#3 – Selling Your Home with An ADU

You wrestled with the bank to get money to build your ADU and you paid the tax collector for all the years you owned your ADU. But you also made decent money renting your place out for the past 10 years. (After all, there are Options for ADU Owners: Rent One, Both, or Neither). Or maybe it was where your dad lived for his last decade. (And you've learned that ADUs Work for Multigenerational Families and discovered the hidden value of ADUs.) So it penciled out after all.

Now you’ve got a great opportunity somewhere else and you’ve decided you’re not going to Own Two, Rent Both or Own Two, Rent One. So it’s time to sell your place. You’ve got a great sellers agent and you've accepted a great market-rate offer.

The trouble is that the appraisal just came in and it’s way lower than you expected. It may be that the buyer's appraiser doesn’t recognize the value of your ADU. Since ADUs are illegal in many places, appraisers (especially from the big banks) may turn a blind eye and pretend they’re not there at all. Or she may still be using the comps method of evaluating the property. She might have evaluated your 2 bedroom, 1 bath house and 1 bedroom, 1 bath ADU and considered it a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house rather than 2 separate units. She compared that to other 3 bedroom houses in the neighborhood instead of calculating the rental income potential using the valuation method. (The valuation method is used for apartment buildings and other income-generating properties and it’s preferred over the comp method for evaluating ADUs.) So now you're having trouble selling your place because your buyers aren't able to get their bank to finance your property with an ADU. You don't want to take the appraised value, but your buyers can't afford to pay cash.

What a mess! So THAT is what I have come to call the Triple Whammy of ADU Financials.

So why in the world might it make sense to build an ADU anyway?

The triple whammy described above is the worst-case scenario. If that was everyone’s experience there would probably be a lot fewer ADUs. However:

The financial industry is catching up with the trend, so it’s getting easier to get financing through a home equity line of credit, particularly with credit unions and community banks. So you may be able to finance your ADU with a home equity line of credit (HELOC) as Don Golden & Edith Casterline, Heidi Rose, Lesa Dixon-Gray, Joan Grimm & Rita Haberman, Kathleen Pequeno, Dennis & Stephanie Martin, John Baker, Michael Klepinger, Stephen Williams, Susan Moray did. However, you’ll learn as Susan Eliot did, that you need to live in your home for a while before you’ve built up enough equity to take some out for the ADU.

“ADU financing has only really become a reality because of economic change. Land prices have gone back up. There’s the advent of Airbnb. The writing on the wall is finally defined enough for the bankers to pay attention. If you build an ADU you can potentially raise the value by far more than the mortgage. When they know it will make sense, they’ll pour money into it.” –Sam Hagerman

In Portland you can take advantage of the waiver of System Development Charges. Additionally, Portland’s Accessory Structures Zoning Code Update Passed, which will potentially reduce costs associated with making your detached structure match the primary dwelling (such as matching the cedar shingles!)

More appraisers are becoming familiar with appraisal methods that take income potential into account. Before you buy or sell a property with an ADU, be sure the appraiser has A Practitioner’s Guide to Appraising ADUs. Also make sure you and your realtor have reviewed How to Buy or Sell a Property with an ADU.

Meanwhile, in many cities market rate rents continue to hold strong and in some cities they’re increasing, so there are Options for ADU Owners: Rent One, Both, or Neither. Furthermore, ADUs Work for Multigenerational Families by providing both economic and emotional returns on investment.

So the best way to avoid the triple whammy of ADU financials is to do your due diligence and be well-educated about the financial implications of your decisions. Make a wise and informed decision that fits your lifestyle and current situation as well as your future plans.

Good luck!

Kicking Off 2016 with Small Home Design

 

Happy New Year!

They say that what you do on the first day of the year is indicative of what the year will bring. If that's true, 2016 is going to bring me fun adventures! I started out the new year by hoping on a plane on New Year's day, bound for Vermont. I'm teaching the Less is More class at Yestermorrow, which is a 1-week design intensive focused on small homes. (You can also learn about past Less is More classes.)

We kicked off tonight with introductions and a design exercise to get the creative juices flowing. It was fun to hear about all the tiny house dreams and schemes that our students have. It seems this week on the drafting boards we're going to be seeing tiny houses on wheels, small cabins in the woods, and a smallish vacation home for 12. It should be fascinating!

Tomorrow we'll start out with field trips and then we'll jump right back into the design process.

It's nice to be starting class having already adjusted to the timezone. But really I planned an extra day onto the front end of my trip for two other reasons. First, I was traveling through Chicago. In January. So, you know, contingency. The second is that I've made some good friends here and one of them was celebrating a birthday. We had a fabulous day of... well, mostly eating, really... but other good fun, too! Yay for homemade waffles, fresh oysters, winter wanders, and the ridiculousness that is bowling! I've long liked the idea of secular sabbath but the past couple years I've been rather lousy at unplugging! Saturday was good practice and I plan to continue that throughout the year.

Why Does Portland Have ALL the ADUs?

As you read through the ADU Case Studies on AccessoryDwellings.org, it may seem like ALL the ADUs in America are centered in the immediate vicinity of Voodoo Donuts. I’m here to assure you that’s not true. It’s really not about the donuts. It’s about the food carts, the craft beer, and the dream of the 1890s.

But in seriousness, there are indeed lots of ADUs in Portland, OR and several good reasons that Portland has become the epicenter of the small housing universe. There are also a couple reasons that Portland is over-represented on AccessoryDwellings.org. I’ll explain these in a moment.

But first, I want to make sure you know the ADUs are NOT all in Portland. Really. There are legal, permitted ADUs in cities all over the country. (And lots more practical ADUs that aren’t permitted, but that’s a different story.) Even within the ADU Case Studies Project, which is focused on ADUs in Oregon, there are several ADUs in Eugene, OR (see Bob & Jenny Harris, Robert Albano, Dennis & Stephanie Martin, and Caleb & Tori Bruce) and Ashland, OR (see Cheryl & Jim Levie and Dan Gray. We will continue to add information about ADUs to AccessoryDwellings.org so that over time it will be clear that the ADUs are not all in Portland.

So here’s why it seems like ALL the ADUs are in Portland:

1. First, the creators of AccessoryDwellings.org - Kol Peterson, Eli Spevak, and Martin Brown - are Portland residents. They are also policy wonks and, of course, ADU owners, developers, consultants, and dwellers. These small space geeks write about what they know and love: ADUs and Portland. But, please be assured there’s a keen interest in continuing to include information about ADUs from across the country (and around the world). We Want Your Contributions to make the website representative of all the exciting projects happening everywhere!
2. Second, the ADU Case Studies Project was funded by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to support building small as the best green building strategy. So the case studies written in 2014-2015 were all from Oregon. Now that the ADU Case Studies Project has wrapped up, you can contribute your own case study. If you’d like to submit your project, please contact us for the template and send it back to us with 5-10 high-quality photos of your ADU. Don’t be shy! Show off your ADU. We bet it’s awesome…
3. Third, Portland is probably the best place in the country to build ADUs. Check out How Portland Became ADU-Friendly (And How Your City Can, Too). By reading through the posts on AccessoryDwellings.org, you can learn how Portland made it possible to create Discrete Density and learn Tangible Ways to Support Space-Efficient Housing, too.

Meanwhile, please look at the ADU Case Studies as a set of examples for how you, too, could create an awesome ADU. Even if the ADU regulations are different where you live, and even if it's not practical to bring a Portland-based ADU Professional on board for your project, there are great ideas here you can borrow. The ADU Case Studies Project includes all sorts of interesting information from how people created clever storage solutions to how to buy or sell a property with an ADU. So please enjoy exploring and share your ADU with us once it's built!

Early Bird Special for Downsizing E-Course

In 2011, I radically downsized my possessions for a short stint in a 15’ travel trailer. A year later I took on My 200 Things Challenge. I’ve now lived in a 12’ diameter yurt and three tiny houses on wheels with fewer possessions than most people keep in their kitchens! Now I’m offering an exciting e-course to help other people through their downsizing process, too. Early Bird Special (20% off!) available through December 31st. Also, sign up with an accountability buddy and you both get $10 off when you sign up and additional incentives for completing your Challenges. (These two discounts CAN be combined until the Early Bird Special expires on December 31^st!) Register here: http://www.nichedesignbuild.com/store/p22/Downsizing_E-Course.html.

Here’s the e-course description: What if were surrounded only by the things and people you love best? What if you had just the right amount of stuff and liked it all? What if you were cheered on throughout your downsizing process? If you're ready to take a good look at your stuff, this e-course is for you. We'll address our relationship with stuff, discuss needs and wants to figure out what really matters, set priorities, and evaluate our possessions. We'll identify old habits and clutter magnets and tackle problem areas in our homes. Then we'll develop organizational systems and new habits to reduce clutter. And the best part is you'll get to do this with the encouragement of other people who are embarking on a similar journey.

In this seven-week series, we'll cover everything from keeping track of our keys to developing a wardrobe of clothes we love. This seven-week e-course will include a weekly lesson, a weekly challenge, and a weekly check-in with your fellow downsizers. The January course begins on January 17 and runs through February 28. Check-ins are Sunday evenings at 5pm PST (8PM EST).

Please note, the reading materials for this course's lessons will cost approximately $30 if you purchase them. They're great books and I still have them on my e-reader. Of course, you're encouraged to check them out from your local library to save money and space. (See, less stuff!)

Visiting Orlando Lakefront RV & Tiny House Park

After living at Simply Home Community for a year and a half, this past weekend I had a unique opportunity to visit another tiny house community. My friend James Taylor, whom I met at the Tiny House Jamboree 2015, invited me and a few of the other folks we connected with there to come visit and check out what they’re up to. (Did someone say “Orlando in December?” Sign me up!)

And it’s so freakin’ cool! You can learn about it by exploring the Orlando Lakefront RV & Tiny House Park website. The story goes like this. A couple years ago a fellow named Adam purchased the existing RV park and a bit later a woman named Emily helped get the first tiny houses on wheels (THOWs) there. Once it became a tiny-house-friendly RV park other tiny house dwellers have decided to make Orlando Lakefront home. And James Taylor has been driving the welcome wagon since he moved there this spring. With their 12^th THOW moving in in just a couple weeks, the park is about ¼ tiny houses and ¾ RVs!

Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. James’ next door neighbor, who lives in an RV, visited with us and took photos. People who live in the park or are considering moving there gathered up for a little party. We also had the chance to tour four of the little houses. The tiniest one in the park is Christina’s awesome minimalist U-haul truck to house conversion. The biggest is Mary Kay’s 24’ long house with two full sleeping lofts, a bathroom, lounge, a kitchen, and a dining spot at the stairs. (This house really got me thinking about the two loft option. I just loved the way the stairs lead up to a sleeping loft with the bed platform over the bathroom. I’ve never seen anyone do it quite like this before and it made we want to smack my forehead in that “Hellooo! Of course!” sort of way. Simply brilliant!)

Meanwhile, Lee, BA, and Alek stayed in the Little Lake Nest. None of us brought a tape measure (so unlike us!) but I’m guessing this one was 18’ long. It’s a neat design with a catwalk connecting two sleeping lofts. I thought it was really clever how they took two sets of stair stringers, turned them the tall way, and sistered them together to make a steep set of stairs! This little house also has a small couch, a flip up table, two chairs hung on the wall behind the door, a micro and toaster oven that sit on top of the fridge, a closet under the stairs, and a dish rack is over the sink. The huge (by tiny house standards) bathroom has a trough tub, a handwashing sink, and a flush toilet. I’ve gotta say, after living in tiny houses for four years, that was probably the strangest thing about staying in tiny houses in an RV park: there were flush toilets! How bizzare, how bizarre!

But, I was the lucky one. I got to stay two nights in James’s awesome little house, The Company Store on Wheels. His house was built by Tennessee Tiny Homes with lots of his special design requests. It has a fabulous front porch so that it feels like a miner cabin. (James is a Coloradan so his house had to follow his heart!) It has a fabulous multi-functional couch that converts to a chaise or a guest bed (and has storage and the cat box underneath), a ladder at the same slope as the navy ladders (which James is used to so he can fly up and down it – even when half-asleep), an L-shaped kitchen with a sink, mini fridge with freezer, microwave, toaster oven, and a washer/dryer combo. His sleeping loft is asymmetrical with a dormer on one side, just as he requested it. It’s a lovely little home and it was extra special this time of year because James had decorated for the holidays and it was super festive.

It’s so exciting to see another community that welcomes tiny houses! I keep hearing about others in formation, too. I hope that by this time next year the number has increased exponentially.

Are you involved with the tiny house community? Where’s yours and what’s happening?

Less Is More: A 1-Week Small Home Design Intensive

Five years ago I created my first tiny house design in a Yestermorrow Design-Build School course called Less is More. Less is More is a 1-week-long design intensive that includes field trips, presentations, and design time. For the past three years, I've been teaching Less is More at Yestermorrow and thoroughly loving it! I hope you can join us this January!

Less Is More: Designing the Small or Tiny House

• Yestermorrow Design Build School (Waitsfield, VT)
• January 3 - 8, 2016
• Registration: https://yestermorrow.org/learn/courses/less-more-designing-small-or-tiny-house

Reese, who took the course two winters ago, is deep into the design phase for his tiny house on wheels, the Shred Shed. Reese looooves snowboarding, so he's designing his little house so that it can not only accommodate his lifestyle but so that the house itself can become a surface on which to perform snowboarding tricks. (You can check it out at Shred Shed.) It was great fun watching Reese go through his initial design process. In Less is More, Reese taped out the footprint of his little house on the floor and then borrowed furniture from the library so that he could rearrange the furniture until he figured out the ideal layout for his tiny house at a life-size scale!

Genevieve took Less is More last winter and she's now building her tiny house on wheels. She has lived in some truly amazing places (including spending winters in Antarctica!) and her tiny house is shaping up to be a pretty amazing place, too.

Here's what Genevieve said about the course:

"I can strongly recommend this course. Lina & David are very helpful. This course truly confirmed my design decisions before building my TH." - Genevieve

If you're serious about designing your tiny house so that you can start building this year, join us in January in Vermont for Less is More!

Here are some posts I've written about the course so you can get a better feel for it:

• Welcome to Less is More
• Less Time, More Drafting
• Less Is More Presentations
• Hello Again Less is More
• Less is More Tours & Programming
• Less is More Presentation Day

A Year Living in the Lucky Penny

It's my one year anniversary of living in The Lucky Penny! November 15th last year was my Move in Day & Housewarming. But Raffi and I officially moved out of the basement of The Big House and began living in my 100 square foot gypsy wagon, The Lucky Penny, on December 1^st of last year. So I’ve now lived in my little house for a full year. And what a full year it’s been!

I celebrated A Year of Little Living in September of 2012 and I commemorated Another Year of Little Living in 2013, but a year of Living in the Lucky Penny seems extra special because this is the house I designed and built for myself (with lots of Tiny House Helpers, of course!) After Offering Gratitudes this week, I’m especially thankful to have another year of Tiny Home for the Holidays!

I woke up to moonlight on my face this morning. It was shining right on me through my domed skylight, which someone recently referred to as my “moon roof.” I love that description! It totally is a moon roof! Of course, it also lets me see the stars, the clouds, the rain, the sun, the birds, and the mighty oak tree I’m parked under.

Here are a few things I’ve discovered after a year of living in this this little house:

• The Lucky Penny works really well for me. I don’t have any major regrets with the design or the construction though there are few things I’d do smarter now that I’ve done them once the hard way. (For instance, you’ll see in Musings on my Vardo Roof Box that I would do the roof differently next time!)
• I love that whatever activity I’m doing is what the house becomes. When I’m sleeping it’s a comfy bedroom. When I’m working the whole space becomes an office. When I’m cooking, it’s all kitchen.
• I have plenty of storage space in my little house. More, actually, than I know what to do with. The top half of my tansu is empty right now as are some of the upper cabinets and I don’t have much in the storage loft.
• When I’m here with just Raffi it’s very easy to do whatever I need or want to do in my house. Once I add another person to the mix we have to navigate around each other more. It gets to be a tango. The dance is fun when it’s my sweetie or a friend, but I can already see that it could get old over time if I shared this space. (Isha and I have talked about trying it just to see what it’s like, but we're happily scheming our Tiny House for Two.)
• I was afraid I would get annoyed by converting my multi-functional spaces, but I’ve found I actually like it as long as I’m not already stressed and in a hurry. For instance, putting My Pull Out Bed away in the morning is a nice part of my morning routine. Getting my drawer top table ready is just the first step of Setting the Table to have breakfast or tea. Isha likes this idea enough that we’d talking about designing it into our Tiny House for two.
• I find I sleep comfortably on My Pull Out Bed in either its closed up or pulled-out versions. The pulled-out version is especially nice because I’m under the moon roof, but it is also quite cozy when Raffi and I sleep on the bed when it’s in window seat mode. And no, I’ve never fallen off!
• Cooking and baking in My Plug & Play Kitchen is wonderful. Although I usually make big meals for our Community Dinners at the Big House, I make my own breakfasts and lunches in my little house. Sometimes that’s as simple as making tea and having a piece of fruit. Other times I get on a baking kick and make cardamom twists in my little house, rolling out the dough on top of My Tiny Chest Freezer and baking them in My Fabulous Toaster Oven.

There are some things still not done. I never have finished out the shower since I’ve been showering at The Big House. (This is one of the many advantages of living at Simply Home Community, a tiny cohousing community.) And still I have a punch list that’s 40 items long that includes little tasks like washing the windows and doing paint touch ups. I’ll get to those eventually. Say, this spring when it warms up again! But for now, I’m enjoying being hunkered down for the winter in my little house!

Now, to go hang my advent calendar and count down the days till I get to go visit my sisters and introduce them to my sweetie, Isha, The Guy Next Door!

Offering Gratitudes

This time last year I was Giving Thanks for the Little Life. The year before I was planning ways to Unstuff Your Holidays. (By the way, I’m teaching a Downsizing E-Course in January, so if you’re interested, you can join us!) The year before that I was thinking about how most of my stuff is Just Stuff. And the year before that, when I had first moved into a tiny house on wheels, it was just a simple Thanksgiving!

Gratitude has become more of a habit for me over the past year. It’s becoming easier to count my gratitudes.

I’m keeping a 5 Minute Journal. And although I like a paper journal for my morning sip, sit, and jot, I like the electronic version of the 5 Minute Journal because it has a little notification that reminds me to complete it in the morning to record gratitudes and set intentions and in the evening to reflect on gratitudes, accomplishments, and serendipities and think about how I could make the day better.

On the nights that I cook Community Dinner at Simply Home Community, I ask everyone to say something they’re grateful for to kick off the meal. Mind you, we don’t let the food get cold while we say thanks. We dig right into our dinner and go around the table to hear what everyone is thankful for. Usually it sparks other conversation as people have follow up questions.

This year I spent Thanksgiving at my fairy godparents house with my sweetie, The Guy Next Door. It was a fabulous visit with people near and dear. Between carbo-loading with a Bread Bake-Off on Wednesday night and our Thanksgiving day feast on Thursday it was a very rich and delicious couple of days! Fortunately, we also enjoyed a hot sauna, a chilly run, several mugs of tea, catch up conversations, and a hilarious party game.

To add to all that goodness, Isha and I also spent time on our drive to and from Corvallis comparing notes from our Tiny House Considerations Challenges as we scheme our tiny house for two. As we rolled back into Portland we were wrapping up a conversation about the objects we own and looking forward to the Downsizing E-Course I’ll be teaching this January and February.

While we were making breakfast this morning, Isha said “We have soooo much to be grateful for!” I completely agree. We really do.