Philosophy Breakdown
Minimalism
Own little, experience much.
Follow Nature
Passive solar house, permaculture principles, working with nature not against nature, mimic nature's designs in structures and landscapes
Save Resources
Debt-free, conserve ecosystems,
Enjoy the Adventure
Positive attitude. Life is a journey, not a destination. If we're not enjoying the journey, we're not enjoying life. Choose journeys that you are passionate about, revel in successes, learn from failures, and let negativity slide off you like water off a duck's back.
We Can Learn It
Can-do, positive attitude, amazing resources - internet, youtube, books, workshops, etc
One Life, Limited Time, Do What You Love
We have one life to live. We can earn more income, but we cannot earn more time. Therefore, we're going to spend our limited time doing what we love.
Who We Are
Emily: Horse-crazy girl. Loves riding horses, training horses, grooming horses, teaching others about horses, and painting (pictures of) horses. Artistic. Appreciates dancers. Related to Daniel Boone (and believes she inherited the explorer gene). Loves to travel and explore new places off the beaten path.
Occupations:
Dressage Trainer - teaches horses to move more dance-like with nearly invisible aids/cues
Horseback Riding Instructor - teaches riders of all skill levels - www.serendipitystablessite.com
Artist - www.dressageimpressions.com
Nate: Adventure boy. Loves hang-gliding, caving, rappelling, and almost any outdoor adventure. Computer-Savy (Sketch-Up King). Research-aholic. An outlier and proud of it - always looking for better ways to do things than the norm.
Occupations:
Design Engineer
Occupations:
Dressage Trainer - teaches horses to move more dance-like with nearly invisible aids/cues
Horseback Riding Instructor - teaches riders of all skill levels - www.serendipitystablessite.com
Artist - www.dressageimpressions.com
Nate: Adventure boy. Loves hang-gliding, caving, rappelling, and almost any outdoor adventure. Computer-Savy (Sketch-Up King). Research-aholic. An outlier and proud of it - always looking for better ways to do things than the norm.
Occupations:
Design Engineer
How we got Hooked on Natural Building
Nate found a picture of a cob house online. I thought it was adorable. Then a year later we found another picture, and then more pictures, and then learned that this was something people actually do and that there are workshops available.
Nate already achieved the American dream of buying a big house (in an up market). He got to experience the joy of paying the mortgage, paying large heating and cooling bills, maintaining it, and then selling it in a down market at a huge loss.
We knew we didn't want to repeat that again. Further research into cob house, convinced us that this was the way to go.
1) Very Affordable
2) Environmentally-friendly
3) Artistic
4) Healthy living space
5) Relatively easy to learn
The only drawback was the labor involved. We decided it'd be better to take some time off from work in order the build a house, than to work extra hard for 30 years to pay off a mortgage for a house that is wasteful, pollutes the environment, and may not be a healthy living space.
Olympic National Park (in Washington) was on our bucket list, so we decided to make a trip out to Oregon to take a couple workshops with Ianto Evans and Linda Smiley - the originators of cob houses in America.
Nate already achieved the American dream of buying a big house (in an up market). He got to experience the joy of paying the mortgage, paying large heating and cooling bills, maintaining it, and then selling it in a down market at a huge loss.
We knew we didn't want to repeat that again. Further research into cob house, convinced us that this was the way to go.
1) Very Affordable
2) Environmentally-friendly
3) Artistic
4) Healthy living space
5) Relatively easy to learn
The only drawback was the labor involved. We decided it'd be better to take some time off from work in order the build a house, than to work extra hard for 30 years to pay off a mortgage for a house that is wasteful, pollutes the environment, and may not be a healthy living space.
Olympic National Park (in Washington) was on our bucket list, so we decided to make a trip out to Oregon to take a couple workshops with Ianto Evans and Linda Smiley - the originators of cob houses in America.
How we got Hooked on Permanent Agriculture
The Short Version: We learned about permanent agriculture through the natural building community and so much of it made sense we couldn't resist.