You don't fully appreciate what you have, until it's gone.

This past weekend, we made a last-minute trip to middle Tennessee to put a final load of our stuff in storage at Daniel's dad's house. The Subaru was tightly packed... As in we had to cram our laundry in the cracks and crevices around all of the stuff. As in Sophie had to ride in my lap, in the front seat, for the entire two-ish hour drive.

Daniel dropped me and Sophie at his Grandmother's house {to do laundry} while he went to unload the car and run some errands. While he was out, several family members dropped by. Then we went over to Josh and Emily's for dinner. After dinner, we headed to Daniel's mom's place to spend the night.

The thing we realized that we missed so much was... the shower. Ok, we have missed our family and friends as well, but a good shower seems like such luxury at this point in our lives. It was quite shocking to shower in a bathroom that was a fourth of the size of our ENTIRE camper. To shower with hot water that did not run out. To shower with decent water pressure. That is what we miss.

I need to take a moment to clarify the size of our camper...

For some bizarre reason, I had it in my head that our camper was 300 square feet. To put this in context, our first apartment was about 600 sf. Then our second apartment was around 1000 sf. And the house we just moved out of was approximately 1800 sf. In my mind, moving into a 300 sf camper seemed fairly tiny, but doable. 

Well on Saturday morning, Daniel decided to actually MEASURE the camper. He came to the conclusion that we have 170 sf of space and some of that is actually storage space. For more context: our bedroom in our 1800 sf house was 130 sf. 170 square feet is {less than} one-tenth of the size of the house we just moved out of.

Living in this tiny camper is really not that bad. Almost all of our possessions {like 9/10 of them} are in storage. However, when we visit somewhere and remember what it was like to take a real shower or what it was like to cook in a real kitchen, or to have a garage, well, that is when we might miss having a house. Just a bit. But simplicity of life {for now} is nice too.

the good. the bad. the random. (Camper Living: First Week, August 2010)

The Good.

We have survived our first week at the camper.

The Bad.

When it storms and there are 60mph winds, it is scarier than if you are in a house. Daniel says if there are ever tornado warnings, we can go hide in the caverns that are a part of Raccoon Mountain.

The Random.

There are a lot of stray cats at the campground. Sophie thinks it is her job to chase them. The cats are not fond of this. I am not fond of chasing Sophie. 

The Good.

My brother-in-law landed a job in Nashville.

The Bad.

My brother is still job hunting, but he actually has an interview on Monday with the same company that hired our brother-in-law.

The Random.

I am considering some alternate options for jobs: opening a bakery {or at least finding one to work at}, opening our dream bed-and-breakfast {huge commitment}, becoming a tattoo artist {there appears to be more of a need for these than for graphic artists}. 

The Good.

My Grandpa is starting chemo treatments for his cancer.

The Bad.

My brother told me that the month of July was the most stressful and anxiety-ridden month of his life. For a variety of reasons {some the same, some different}, I can echo my brother's sentiments {as can many in my family}.

The Random.

Daniel and I are picking up our bikes this weekend - I can't wait to start hitting the mountain biking trails in the Chattanooga area {this will be a great way to relieve stress}. 

First up: Raccoon Mountain.

Cooking: Camper Style

Technically speaking, you could say that I have a "full" kitchen in the camper. There is a microwave, a stove top, an oven, a fridge and a sink. Realistically, it is more like a kitchenette, but I am making do. The tabletop serves as additional counter space and there is a fitted cutting board that covers the sink that allows me to work. I can also grill outside. We grilled salmon and corn earlier this week, but the humidity is driving me indoors.

Last night I made a sauteed veggie and chicken dish that I piled on top of spaghetti and we topped with grated mozzarella cheese. Cooking in a small space isn't too hard, the key is to purchase and cook small portions {which should be good for our waistlines}.

Sauteed Veggies and Chicken over Spaghetti {serves 2}

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped

1/2 bunch of asparagus, cut into thirds

1/2 zucchini, sliced thinly

3/4 package of baby portabello mushrooms, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil {evoo}

1/8 cup white wine {you can substitute chicken broth}

salt and pepper to taste

whole wheat spaghetti, one hand full per person

• Chop the chicken breast into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper.
• Cut up vegetables and set aside.
• Start boiling your water for the spaghetti - this can be working while you prepare the main dish.
• Heat up skillet, then add EVOO to coat bottom of pan. When oil is heated, add chicken.
• Once chicken is cooked, remove and deglaze the pan with white wine {or chicken broth}. Use as much liquid as you need to deglaze the pan.
• Add vegetables to pan {I add them all at once}.
• Once veggies are sauteed, add the chicken back to the pan to reheat.
• Plate your spaghetti with the veggie, chicken mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese {I usually use Parmesan, but I only had mozzarella}.

This dish takes me about 20 minutes to whip up. This recipe serves 2, but you can easily change it to serve more people. I have also made this sans the chicken {just for me... Daniel has made it clear that, generally speaking, a meal is not a meal without some kind of meat}.

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Book 28

I just finished A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery, author of one of my favorite childhood stories, Anne of Green Gables.

Initially the book was a bit confusing to follow. It begins with Aunt Becky calling her family together to discuss her will and impending death. The family is actually composed of two families, the Darks and the Penhallows. On the small island of Prince Edward Island, the two clans have intermarried to create one massive clan with plenty of drama. 

At the reading of her will, Aunt Becky makes it clear that a valued family jug will be in the care of Dandy for an entire year. During that time, the Darks and Penhallows must be on their best behavior if they want a chance to get the jug. The ensuing story is a tangled web of romance, feuds and long-standing secrets, with a twist at the end {regarding the jug}. 

Some of my favorite passages from the book: 

It must be admitted frankly that Aunt Becky was not particularly loved by her clan. She was too fond of telling them what she called the plain truth... while the truth was all right, in its place, there was no sense in pouring great gobs of it around where it wasn't wanted. To Aunt Becky, however, tact and diplomacy and discretion, never to mention any consideration for anyone's feelings, were things unknown.

"Giving God information isn't praying, David. It's just as well to leave something to his imagination, you know." - Aunt Becky

"As for the sense of it, there's no sense in heaps of things that we do. Life would be tedious without a vendetta or two."

"Let Gay marry him if she wants to and learn the ups and downs of life for herself, the same as the rest of us did. None of us have had perfect men."

Joseph Dark had a beautiful voice and there was something in the faint, unworded rhythm of his prayer that soothed Joscelyn... One could fit one's own words, one's own needs, one's own desires to it.

All in all, they did not talk or think about her nearly as much as sensitive little Gay thought they were doing. They had their own lives to live and their own loves and ambitions to suffer and scheme and plan for.

He told her thing about the clan she had never known before... noble things and kindly thing and simple, wholesome things that made her feel like she came of a pretty decent stock after all, and must live up to the traditions of it. It was amazing how good people really were.

Sleeping Arrangements

Daniel and I have a strict policy for sleeping: no dogs allowed in bed. If we had children, I am sure this policy would extend to them as well.

While Daniel and I lived in separate states, I started to allow Sophie to sleep with me. I slept better having a warm body in the bed next to me. Whenever Daniel came home on the weekends {or when I went to visit him}, we would boot Sophie to her doggy bed. This was fairly easy to implement because our bed is actually too tall for her to climb onto by herself.

Fast forward to now. We live in a camper. Quarters are small. The bed is not as high as our bed. The first two nights Sophie had no problems. She slept on the couch and didn't complain.

The third night, we went to bed and she started whining. Concerned that she might need to use the bathroom, I took her on a quick midnight walk. We came back and she proceeded to jump on the bed with us. We made her get down off of the bed. Then she proceeded to pace and occasionally put her paws up on the foot of the bed and I would tell her to get down.

This may be a losing battle for us - I caught her on the bed. Asleep.
 

Last night we had a repeat of the night before. She just wants to get in bed with us. I am through with midnight walks. Since I wasn't ready to go to sleep at the same time as Daniel last night, we closed the divider curtain and I laid on the couch with Sophie and watched TV for half an hour. That seemed to help her and she only tried once to get on the bed. Hopefully we won't have to keep going through this every night.

Overall, Sophie has been doing really well with the whole "living in a camper" thing. I take her on morning hikes and we have a big field next to us to play in. She can sit and look out the window from the couch and from the banquet. She knows when I say "Go inside" that means to go to the camper door. We are going to have to be more diligent with giving her baths on a regular basis. In an 1800 sf house, it isn't as big of a deal to periodically miss a bath, but in a 300 sf camper, a smelly dog is not so pleasant...

View from our bed.

Project 52 Date Nights: Way Behind

With everything that has been going on in our lives, Daniel and I have been unable to go on a date in the last two weeks. Now that we are living in the same place again we will work at getting back on track. I am excited to be in a new city with lots of new places to explore.

Monday night was my first attempt to cook in our camper {our new home}. We are enjoying eating together again {on a more regular basis}. I can't wait until the temps cool down a little and we can enjoy our meals outside.

A Friendly Wager...

Yesterday one of Daniel's co-workers pulled him aside. Daniel thought that they were going to discuss something work related. As it turns out, this co-worker wanted to know how I was doing living in a camper. Evidently Daniel's co-workers have started a bet regarding how long I will last in the camper.

The funny thing is that the whole idea to live in a camper was originally my idea. Daniel told his co-worker that I was not your typical woman. That I had lived in a third-world country as a child and my standards were not necessarily typical.

So far, so good. I am not ready to throw in the towel (by a long shot). Yesterday I went grocery shopping - I planned meals for three days because I wasn't sure how all of the groceries would fit in our fridge. I think I could have actually fit 4-5 days of groceries fairly easily - I am trying to plan meals that would overlap ingredients.

Monday Dinner: Chicken and Asparagus in a Marsala Reduction {excellent recipe, though I substituted a white wine for the Marsala}

Tuesday Dinner: Grilled Salmon with Grilled Corn-on-the-Cob {I will marinate the Salmon in white wine and lemon juice and the corn will be rolled in olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper}

Wednesday Dinner: Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with sauteed Asparagus, Mushrooms, Zucchini and Chicken.