Becoming Boxcar Children-Part 1

Once upon a time, I informed my parents of a slightly unusual housing plan that I had. I told that that, since it is biblical for a woman to remain under her Father's roof until marriage, I would be doing just that. For a while, I said that I would just live in my room. Then I decided I'd move to the attic. Then I didn't really care about where I would live, but I still claimed that I would live with my folks til I married. 

I don't think they minded when I thought that there was a chance that I would be married at a relatively young age. Pretty sure they also thought it was a joke. 

Well, lately, they've started to understand that I wasn't joking. And I don't have any marriage prospects. Because of my itinerant lifestyle, it doesn't make sense for me to rent an apartment. I'd wind up spending so much on a place that I wouldn't even spend that much time in, and it would just be nonsense. 

So, in the interest of maintaining what sanity my parents have, we've been discussing alternate ideas. This whole summer, Cosette, Leaf, Marius, Scarlet and I have been sleeping in a camper out in the pasture. But campers aren't exactly meant to be lived in during the winter. So we have been trying to figure out the best course of action. 

We went through ideas of a tiny house on a trailer bed, and converting our furnace shed into a tiny home. And then we somehow settled on the idea of a shipping container home. That one sounded like it would be a fun option. You can buy shipping containers off of the internet, from several different places. Yes, I am very happy that my Dad actually sorted through loads of containers online, and chose one. I suck at that stuff. 

And then it came. At flipping 7 am. Go figure. It was supposed to come closer to 8, but I guess the driver wanted to get through Chicago early enough to miss the bad traffic, so he came earlier. And yes, I was actually awake (thanks to a phone call from Mom...) for this. I did not just give my camera to Dad. I don't do mornings as a general rule, but I am not that lazy.

Dad brought a pole to set the container down on. We would have been in trouble if he'd not thought of that. We never would have been able to move the container at all.

 Giving some direction so it actually landed where it was supposed to be. 

The view from inside 

Almost decided that it would remain in the driveway. It didn't seem to want to move for quite a while.

 Because of the tapering of the poles, the container skewed to the side. That was when we changed tactics.

 Baby tractor laughed a little bit when it saw what Dad expected it to move.

Managed to get the axle under it. Finally... 

And then it came out. 

"Give me a large enough lever, and I can move the world!"---Baby Tractor  

Turns out my new home used to belong to a bank in the Netherlands. Think I'll find any cash in it? 

Excited to be a Boxcar Children :~P 

And what project is complete without duct tape? 

So excited :~) 

We had to jack the container up when we got closer to the house, so that we could move the axle closer to the middle of the container.

Dad isn't a fan of being under something massive that could tip and crush him, no matter how unlikely it is that it will tip.

Almost to the house! 

Take a good look at the big house as you pass, baby house, and perhaps one day you will grow up to be a big house. 

Pulling into place in the woods. 

Make sure you move all gravel piles out of the way before taking a container through the area...

And in place, where it belongs. Ready for the next step.

Stay tuned for further updates on the creation of a tiny baby boxcar shipping container home :~)