A year ago, we decided that presents were no longer going to be the primary focus of Christmas. We opted to only have an experience with each other: a trip, excursion near home, or a really great "date night" to take the place of buying stuff for each other, in hopes of pleasing the other.… Continue reading A Minimalist Christmas
The holidays are upon us, which means, there are a lot more cooking opportunities for us here, in the Arner Abode. In the spring and summer, especially living near the coast, we dine on a lot of salads, and grilling veggies and pizzas, so not a lot of indoor cooking. We do a great job… Continue reading Tiny House Toaster Oven Cooking
As we embark upon our second Thanksgiving in our tiny house in Beaufort, and our second Thanksgiving being able to celebrate gratitude without the craziness of running our business, we are grateful for the opportunity having been business owners, but we are very thankful to not be doing it anymore. Gratitude is definitely richer, now… Continue reading Gratitude
This week, we celebrated my birthday (Shannon). These days, celebrations are every day - we are mindful of how fortunate we are that we have made it through loss, hurricanes, struggles, and eventually ended up in our dream situation- a tiny home on the coast. We did make a specific celebration night of getting pizza… Continue reading Another Trip Around The Sun
We are now on day five of being evacuated from our home in Beaufort, NC, due to Hurricane Florence. Fortunately, we have family who live in the NC Triangle area, so we were more fortunate than others who had to go to shelters under the mandatory evacuation. It has been a scary few days as… Continue reading Evacuation Fatigue- Hurricane Florence
When we first started contemplating tiny living, we knew we wanted to live on the coast, beside the ocean. Sounds like Heaven, am I right?! It is, until a Hurricane is threatening your little coastal town. Last week, there were some rumblings about a hurricane maybe hitting the NC coast, but remaining positive, I kept… Continue reading Tiny Living and Hurricane Prep
We have had our share of the outer banks as kids, and here and there as adults, but neither of us had actually, intentionally, driven and visited the entire outer banks. Now that we live on the NC Coast, we are so close to the ferry to Ocracoke, that our goal has now become more… Continue reading NC Outer Banks- First Half
Traditionally, summer reading lists have included fun, trashy, and quick reads that are easy to digest in the middle of naps by the water, or on the porch. This summer, I had some of that, but I have also found myself inhaling books that come from the "self-help" area of the library- that's right, the… Continue reading Summer Reading List
I (Shannon) have been a Jimmy Buffett fan since high school. I didn't go full-fledged "Parrothead" until college. Once I went to my first Margaritaville (in Key West), I knew that the Parrothead lifestyle was for me. I spent the next few years listening to his music, going to his concerts, reading his books (there… Continue reading When Jimmy Buffett Songs Take On A New Meaning
When we moved to the NC Coast last year, we had a quick realization that one cannot depend too greatly on the weather forecast. The locals tell us that the unexpected rain that occurs a lot of days comes from the ocean, and is often unpredictable by radar and weather forecasters. It is not uncommon… Continue reading Appreciation for the Rain
