Reality Homes for Crazycritters fantastic, new, better than custom home.

(below post are links to Linda,our reality homes sales rep,the truth project and restoring America, and swedish chef, the yolks on you! )

We did it, we have been working so hard to figure out how to best build our new replacement home. Wow, what a process, I have drawn so many designs over the years looking towards the the day we could replace our present home, I should have become an architect .

This home has served us well over the past 34 years, may she rest in peace.

This poor old home built in the early 30's is way past her prime, and very deserving of her eternal rest. It has been so tempting , at times,to be so angry at her.

Then I would remember ...we are to be thankful in ALL things, even trials, even what appears tragic, even if ...well you get the drift.

#1 Things such as ,the times we endured leaky roofs battles waged upon us (not just one spot of course).

We learned to laugh about what those times "gave" us. Bonding times for sure.

How many times we've laughed over when our eldest daughter woke up to a face full of ice cold water.

In the middle of the night her room had started leaking right over her pillow, half asleep she taped a plastic cup to the ceiling to catch the rain....

Or the time when I had about 5 various pots and pans throughout the living area, each about half filled with water, when a wild race between dogs and kids broke out. I actually broke out laughing as it occured to me I had "running" water everywhere but in my kitchen sink, which had decided to take time off for "good?" behaviour.

My grateful heart for safety as farmfunnies hubby who would once again climb to the roof in miserable weather after a long day of work to put one more temporary patch on it.

#2Like a surefooted mule, I learned to step carefully in only certain places in my tiny kitchen

where I can't even figure out how I ever canned, and fed a crowd of hungry teens in it, while praying the "gang" wouldn't come home to find me stuck hanging between home and ground with a pot in hand. (our house was built high off the ground, due to flooding )

During one rare getaway for hubby and I when our teens "took over" for us, we came home to a newly remodeled kitchen . It was a surprise planned by our farmfunnies guys for all my hard work in there over the years.

Our son did all the work it was an amazing job, new subfloor,tile,and cabinets and counter (only if it was bigger could it have been improved better)

Guys I never really let you know how grateful I was, or how many times I have thanked God for not fearing a new "breakthrough" experience, of the wrong kind.

Sadly, I admit you too often heard me mumbling ,about where this or that was.

#3 Learning to look at the half full glass rather than focus on than the half empty one.

I still don't know where some of my "stuff' is, it doesn't bother me much anymore.

One of the blessings of aging is letting the small stuff (like where things are) not be such a biggie.

Those of us "there" know :nearly every day this can be a "challenge"

NOT going into the kitchen and making toast when we started into the bedroom to find our glasses ,WHICH were left in the living room , wonder what we were eating (since we couldn't see it)and then why we were eating breakfast at noon.

Double thanks again guys, better late than never?

#4 COLD, brrr... After spending two weeks w/o heat or lights,in the middle of winter storm with snow,flooding and down power lines in our mostly uninsulated drafty home (as "spurs" on the power line, we wait for main lines to be repaired first), we learned to empathize with those w/o a home.

We'd already learned how to draw on our Indian and pioneer heritage's. I figured if Indian ancestors could keep warm in a tepee, then we could blanket off one room , in our make shift "tepee"and huddle in our imagined pile of animal skins (sleeping bag)

That year we didn't even have a fire , having switched from a wood to a pellet stove.( it needs electricity). For a good year later I said thank you again and a gain for warmth ( well, after our bones thawed, about 6 months later)

#5 the stories and lessons could continue forever(yep we had LOTS)

I'll end with how in an old farm home, one often has surprise invasions.

They can come embodied either furry ,slithery or hoppy.

There was the little green frog "attacks" while showering.

Fantastic front row "seating" to watch the mouse version of "jumping" in to swim the English channel albiet a warm "channel" perhaps even filled with "humongous bubbles ( a bubble bath for a mouse could be rather formidable don't you think?), sadly that part escapes me(I wonder why) . Imagine, you are in your birthday suit and just after you lean back with closed eyes to relish rare moment of quiet, eager to relax without "interruptions".

I've learned to expect the unexpected, sometimes heart in hand, to be as one dear pastor often challenged RFA (readyforanything, at anytime I may add).

Why I've learned to spook with the best of 'em. I do believe every one of our horses had exray vision as well as sonar,radar and wonka vision. Why they could a "bear" hiding in everything imaginable ,during the early training process (me on board, of course).

"shudder"....I still can feel the little paws "stroke, stroke, stroking" against my face, as the brave furry "soul" fought the formidable tidal wave,in the narrow channel just created as my head "drifted" to rest on the back of the tub.

Does our new home design have windows to view our critters ,river and woods..you betcha. Room for traffic to move around, check. A mud room for those boots and dripping coats, better believe it.

A place to settle in a cozy chair to read one of those books that have served us well by holding up our current walls, storage and closets, why of course.

A place for kids to play without creating a hazardous mine field for grandma and a haven for company, why naturally.

We are zoned for bed and breakfast. Wouldn't being a guest waking up to a tray with homemade country biscuits, wild blackberry jelly,fresh farm eggs,a fluffy home ground whole wheat waffle with fresh strawberries and Jersey butter and syrup, a warm popover filled with the best whipped Jersey cream imaginable, in my longed for guest grandma room, be a real treat?

Oh and that breakfast could include a nearly melt in your mouth tender steak from a pampered grass fed beef.

Later you could get a couple of home made cookies , or a heavenly looking donut, as soon as I take time to study my new donut course from EXPERT DONUT MAKING , filling a tall glass of ice cold fresh whole milk from Taffy,Toffee,Daphne,Daffodil or Caramel ,one of the cows you petted the night before(well each of these cows are gone now) and I may have to purchase the milk for you, but it could be there. Then you could snuggle down under a goose down comforter, with a fluffy alpaca shawl over your shoulders and pretend to be a kid again as you melted into a different era with your book from an almost endless supply from our private library over the years. You might just want to gaze at they horses rolling on green grass, or see the wild ducks swim in th front yard during high water.

Well, sorry, we are not opening g a bed and breakfast, though hubby still wonders what we will do with all of our new space, we are going from under 900 sq ft and three kids to over 3.200 and kids gone. ( I know some of you will say WHAT are we thinking..."at our age" we should be scaling down. .

Please humor us, we've lived scaled so long I have felt like an eel, not a fish out of water.

Perhaps you could let us enjoy space, light, warmth a bit of comfort, for a while, before we too rest in true blessed peace.

I will add, coming from Indian and Pioneer"stock" we've learned to save,work hard, do without, use it up, wear it out, make it last, make it do, make it into something else. T

we've learned not to go into debt ,just because it would help,be fun,or the "neighbors" have it..

We learned to salvage, harvest , put up ,put by . We've either grown our own "stuff" if possible, or harvested from u-pick fields.

Yes ,you city slickers can do it too, there are "ways" and also co-ops etc..ask me for ideas. ask how in a comment to this post.

We've worked hard getting out of debt as fast as possible, for the times we happened to fall into that trap . There are so many ways to save when one begins to be creative.

We at farm funnies encourage you to do the same.

Oh one last but most important thing...one of our biggest discoveries.

We decided several years ago, to tithe on our gross income.

Putting God first, became a high priority. Thankfully returning a part to Him for what he has given or allowed us to receive.

We did this BEFORE what I consider unfair taxes from uncle Sam. I personally believe in a flat across the board tax of no more than 10% why should our government get more than God?

No loop holes, exemption etc. for anyone.

No one gets a "free" lunch (when it's "free" look at who is paying for it, not the large corps etc, it's people like us who've worked very hard most of their lives crawling up (sometimes falling off) the ladder to live a more comfortable life , only to be whacked into a higher income bucket, that actually cause one to earn less.

So if you please: If you don't work you don't eat ( and every one can do something unless you are without a mind).

Also no one getting benefits unless you are vested in our country, ie legally here or a citizen.

Why you almost hear the creative buzz of industrious people who had the muzzle lifted off while they were pulling the plow in the cornfield? (scriptural)

WOW, if every one could keep everything(from our ruling entities) above 10% why look out.. we would be swimming with ideas and work.

The real fat cats are not people like us who make a little more than the average american, it's the ones who abuse power influence and OUR the money.

They take from the "rich?" and then they point fingers at saying they are "fat". while they plunder and waste what they "gobble" down.

Also those who get the "freebies" they haven't worked for, just a brief comparison of history..Jamestown v.s. the Plymouth rock, and it doesn't take much to see the truths between the differnt models.

Try, tithing first before uncle sam or yourselves. Just try retrurning 10% to God ,be it on your gross earnings, whatever the amount or not.

You will be amazed at how blessed your income will become.

God is a God of design. He has set certain laws into place.

The law of gravity, anyone can "see" how that "works" to that.

Well there are various other laws., some you have to really look for.

There are some that apply to growth,relationships government etc.

Our founding fathers knew and practiced and put these into place.

We have been blessed as a country, because of these.

Years ago I listened to a tape where defector Yuri, said America is great because she believes in a great God, when she ceases to believe in God she ceases to be great.he has a video

You can learn more about how our country was founded at American Destiny - Restoring the Heart and Soul of America.)I am not a reformed thologist, but I really think Marshall (I've met him) has terrific information and I can personally attest to what a great,rock solid guy he is.

The law of tithing, it is so powerful, many very rich who do not believe in God actually believe in the law of giving a "tithe" of at least 10% to charities etc. (they do not call it tithing of course, but the "get" the concept of giving to get.

Ok farm funnies has stepped out on faith here, with our new replacement home project.

We've needed to replace this home for quite sometime, and now seemed like the time we need to just step out.

We've looked, studied,prayed ( of course we still are praying :-) hedre is what we finally decided upon.

We met with Reality Homes' independent sales rep Linda Coburn (503-981-6200)

linda.coburn@realityhomesinc.com on Feb 28,09.

Linda did an amazing job of helping us adapt one of their home plans which was on sale until the end of Feb. to create what we believe will be a beautiful amazing custom home at about half the cost of one.

Linda listened,saw what we were trying to accomplish waded through our ideas, with us and added helpful insight and TADA, we are started on our new home journey. check out http://www.realityhomesinc.com/ if you are considering building a new home

Watch my blog for additional posts on how our home incubates and "hatches". I'll include "before,during and after" pics and updates.

Now go look at an egg, LISTEN to it, it has things to "say" if you really listen

( we learned this from one of the lessons in The Truth Project)

Just for fun here is another muppet EGG.. the yolks on you!

YouTube - The Swedish Chef vs The Chicken

Wow! It's amazing the things one thinks of when one starts on a new home adventure isn't it?