One of the things we have to consider when choosing paint for our new home is the "warmth" of the paint (more cold months than warm months) and light reflective value and ease of cleaning. So we are looking at high LRV colors in warm shades in high gloss.

So much to paint... not just walls but floors too... We will be busy!

I sat in the house yesterday thinking about all there is to do and all I want to do and realized we are going to be busy indoors and out for a very long time... A good thing since this is an investment not only in our future but the future of our children. I will be posting some pictures a little later today along with ideas that I have to brighten things up (I am a light addict... need lots of vitamin D therapy!)

Facebook!

Beilin-Rhoads Family connect with our family Facebook Page!!!!

Satellite Internet

This morning I went in search of an internet provider.  I almost cried when the guy from the satellite provider said he couldn't find us on the map of locations they served. So off the phone and some more searching () and I found wirelesssateliteinternet.org



The very nice man, Bill was able to find us on his map and get us a decent deal and now we will have internet at the new house for a reasonable fee and no connect fees.

I wish I could have seen his face when I told him we were 5 miles off a paved road with no power or telephone lines anywhere near the place and yes this really was IN California.

Because I can live in the middle of nowhere with out electricity but no internet???? Oh the horrors! So it was awesome that we were able to get this done.

This all came about when I was thinking about the whole Thanks Giving thing... my internet is important to me. Although I may only get 3 hours a day at the new house it will still be a major link to the outside world and to friends and family and to information. Oh I could learn to survive without it, but I really like the internet and would be sad if I didn't have it!

Technology has really changed our world (some of it better, some of it worse)

Thanks Giving

I was musing this morning... usually rather high on my list of thankful for is electricity. There is a power in knowing you have lights at the flip of a switch or you can bring some device to life by pushing a button. I am pretty reliant on electricity. My husband and I were talking about this... from the moment I wake up- I turn on the light in our room, the automatic coffee maker has been hard at work making my coffee so it is ready when I crawl out of bed, as I pass my computer headed for the coffee maker I turn it on, shortly after I am awake the children wake up and they are turning on lights and the television. How different things will be when we move...

 With the move, we will be stumbling in the dark to the kitchen, where we can light the propane light before we are yet awake, stir up the wood stove, then set the percolator on the wood stove to get our coffee going. When the kids wake up there will be no Sesame Street to turn on. Instead we will be doing what needs to be done to get the day moving. A bit different start to the day than what we do now. We do have electricity there, but it is supplied by a generator and at 4+ dollars a gallon to run the generator I will be stingy with when we run it. The plan is for about 3 hours a day, in the evening. The shorter days of winter may affect that and then the long days of summer may flip things around too. We will have to see how it all works out.

I will still be thankful for electricity, it is a nice little thing to have available. I do see how our reliance on it as a nation is really over the top and I am looking forward to taking myself off the grid and really reducing my carbon footstep not to mention making our family even less reliant on the world around us and reliant on God and each other...

May the Lords Blessings be on each of you!

Days like today... waiting to be able to move, to begin this new phase of our lives and I just have no choice but to be patient and wait... and wait... and wait... 

*sigh*

It seems like time is moving in extra slow motion as we wait for the move to happen. I wish it could be NOW! 

Part of this is because I have been ready to move out of this house forever (ok not forever but.... the plan had been 6 months in this horrible place and we just hit 3 years) I really dislike it and really want out and now that we have found such a delightful home in a delightful place and being such an opportunity for us! I am so ready and just not handling the wait all that well...

Wood Stove Cooking

Wood Stove Cooking

One of the things about living off grid in snow country is the winter woodstove and being able to cook on it...     Right off the top is your favorite crockpot recipes... if you can make it in the crockpot you can make it in your cast iron dutch oven on the wood stove. Soups and Stews and Beans are amazing on the woodstove (not to mention it makes the house smell delicious)

There are some things that have to be taken into consideration when cooking on the woodstove... like the temperature isn't controlled like with a traditional propane or electric oven or stove top. So you have to make some adjustments when cooking mostly things like checking it more often if your fire is hot or letting it simmer longer if your fire is banked.

I will be posting some woodstove recipes soon and once we move I'll actually have some pictures to share of the meals we make and perhaps I'll even have the kids write a review of the meal.

Bible Promises

Jeremiah 32:22 

You gave them this land you had sworn to give their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

It may not look like it right now... but this desert place is going to flow with milk and honey! It is going to be an oasis in the desert. A place where manna and all good things of the Lord flourishes.

2 Samuel 7:29 

Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever

The Lord is blessing our home, blessing it beyond our wildest imagination, making it a safe place for His people. All that we need, all that we could ever need will be provided to our home.

Deuteronomy 28:5

Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

We are so excited that we are able to stand on the promises of God and our home and land will be blessed. We give the Lord praise for giving us this home, this land, this place where we will teach our children about Him and open our doors to others to be wrapped in the arms of the Lord.