Hooker "Habitat" 2.0

Let's be real ... We get some interesting comments when we tell them we "live in a trailer, parked inside my parents barn."

They can range from "Oooh, I'm so sorry!" to "That's the smartest way to go." So honestly, you just never know, and we always love to see which reaction we're going to get. 

But we're back! The move from Indiana was hard because of who we were leaving behind. We met some of the most wonderful people and made some lifelong friendships. The world is a cool place with incredible people in every nook and cranny. .. Bedford, Indiana being one of those crannies. 

We brought back the horses, our dog (Coda), another puppy we got for Christmas the following year (Julie), and we tried to bring our 3 cats, but that's a story for another time. (Let's just say it was made perfectly clear they preferred the humidity in Indiana to their unknown climate of Utah.)

But there is a special kind of silence that exists in a barn just before the sun rises. I'll be honest, stepping back into the "barn-side" trailer and hearing the familiar shuffle of horse hooves on the ground and in the manger was the best "welcome home" I could have asked for.

The million dollar question: How was going from a trailer, to a house, and then back to a trailer?

Honestly, you get used to what you've got and you fill the space you have, right? When we first moved to our house in Indiana, we had ROOMS that were bare and had nothing in them. 

An entire garage that we filled with hay (so grateful for the shelter!) because we had nothing else to go in it. Until we got more stuff and more stuff and eventually upon leaving had to consolidate it all back down to fit in the trailer. Those months of Goodwill trips (MULTIPLE Goodwill trips) will be a chaos I look back on with (slight) fondness.  

And now we're back in a trailer and I don't even remember what we filled all the rooms with before. I couldn't tell you. 

I do know that I'm grateful for the PEOPLE that fill the walls of the trailer. 

And it's my favorite to be minimalistic. (Truly, start the Marie Kondo method in just one of your rooms and you'll feel a freedom you hadn't realized was in chains before.)

It's not in my nature, as I'm the type of person that keeps scraps of paper from 3rd grade that I found on a day when someone complimented my shirt (teehee, not kidding). There's a time and place for keeping sentimentals, but there's also lots of energy that is held with every little scrap of paper. Letting it go can be so freeing and rejuvenating. 

So, yes, not in my nature, but I've loved who I have become through the process of forced minimalism. 

And come on ... How can you complain when these are the views??

"But where will your kids play??"

As I've found is the answer to every problem in life: GET OUTSIDE. 

I feel so blessed to have animals that pull us outside to care for, feed, water, and play with them. But I also believe that the world is our playground! Mud? It's the coolest! The sensory of being able to slip and slide and feel it between your toes?! Indescribable. Not to mention how it changes from a liquid to a solid when caked on your face. Yep, that's fun. 

Rocks? The cheapest and most skill-building games ever can come from an old bucket and a bunch of rocks, varied sizes even better. (See, you thought of some already!)

Water? Oh, don't get me started! Not only the sound of water, but the million other amazing properties it has that benefit our body. 

Short story long ... We LOVE the outdoors.

"There's no such thing as bad weather, only poor clothing" is the motto we live by.

We're in the thick of colder weather and is it a challenge keeping our trailer from looking like a mud hole? With coats, hats and gloves thrown by the door? For sure!

But chances are, it would be that way anyway for anyone! No matter how big your house is. 

Smaller spaces just need more strategy to see how you're gonna fit it all in! ;)

Grateful for the chance to be back, living the dream. Being able to carry on conversations with my kids as they're in the bathroom and I'm making dinner ... at the same time.

Or to have Josh laying in bed telling me about his day while I wash my face.

Or even putting in a load of laundry and helping my kids brush their teeth in the same space. The ultimate multi-task!