Tiny House Jamboree

     I know, I know!  This post is very late.  But life gets busy when you want to start your build in two months and need to secure a bunch of sponsors.  (Also, it is school time again.)  But here it is!

     The Tiny House Jamboree was AMAZING!!!  There were Tiny Houses everywhere!  And they were all SO pretty!  Look at the wall paneling on this one!  I want to do that in my house.

    And this sink/counter is made from an natural log coffee table!  How cool is that!  I never would have thought to do something so creative.

     And there were so many vendors there displaying/demonstrating their products.  (I may have a couple of potential sponsors!)  Behr paint was there, and they are giving away a Tiny House!  You can enter the giveaway here.  Also a couple of companies that you can hire to tow your Tiny House.  

     Some of the Tiny House builders were giving away free T-Shirts, or water bottle, magnets, and other cool swag.  But the best part was the people!  So many 'Tiny' people...

     A lot of my favorite Tiny House builders were there and I got to meet a few of them!  Everyone was so kind, and they all absolutely LOVED my project!  Andrew Odom said that I am way ahead of all of everyone by building my Tiny House in high school.  Alexis Stevens offered to help me make my Tiny House legal.  Kent Griswold might be interested in doing a magazine article on my Project.  Mom and I got to meet Macy Miller and her family.  She and her daughter, Hazel, were wearing such cute matching polka-dot dresses!  Andrew and Gabriella Morrison were just awesome.

     But wait!  That's not even the best part!  The best thing that happened during the whole Jamboree was meeting Jay Shafer!  Guess what!  He already has heard of my story and knew who I was!  Jay Shafer is one of my followers!!!  Total geek out moment!

    There were lots of unforgettable moments at the Jamboree.  Like when Dee Williams officially passed her Tiny House on to her nephew, Jonathan.  (Just a side note, I started to type pad into my search engine, and seeing Pad Tiny Houses show up before Padres Baseball made me so happy.  Random thought for the day.)  Her on stage speech was very emotional and inspiring.

     Here are two more Tiny House pictures.

      This one wasn't finished yet.  Not sure why I was making this face.  Maybe there was lightning in the distance...

     We saw this one on our way out of Colorado Springs.

     And there's Dee!  Hi Dee!!!  Her Tiny House was so cute.  I liked it a lot.

     Anyway, it is time for me to sign off.  The Jamboree was so much fun, but now it is time to get serious again.  I have lots of sponsors to find before the weather cools off again (the desert is super HOT) and then maybe the build can start sometime in October.

     Stay cool everyone!

     Miss Molly Smith

P.S.  Locals, look forward to another Cookie fundraiser in November!

Homemade Olive Garden Bread-sticks!

     Everyone loves Olive Garden's buttery garlicy bread-sticks.  Today I made them!  Really.  When I took the first bite, I was like, WHOA!!!  Why haven't I done this before?!  Now I don't have to drive across town!  (Well, I don't actually drive.  Yet.)  Hehe!!!

     Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110-120 degrees F)
• 1 package Active Dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

     In your mixer bowl, fitted with the dough hook attachment, dissolve the sugar and yeast in the water.  Let it sit for 10 minutes, covered.  It should look like this after 10 minutes:

     Nice and frothy.  While you are waiting for that, mix the flour and salt together in a separate bowl.  Melt your butter.  (If using the microwave, melt it on very low heat!  It will explode if you are not careful!)  After your ten minutes is up, add in the flour mixture and the butter.  Like this:

     Then turn the mixer on low and let it mix until combined.  Mine was a bit dry, so I added a little more water and it was fine.  It will look something like this:

     Then dump the dough out onto a LIGHTLY floured surface, like a cutting board or a clean counter.  Knead it for a minute, maybe two, until it is smooth and looks like this:

     Beautiful, right?  Kneading is my favorite part, always.  Then you knead, sorry, NEED to pull pieces off of the ball of dough (shame, really) and roll them into strips, thin and long.  I made mine too thick, but next time I will make them thinner.  (I forgot that they get bigger when they proof.)  Mine looked like this:

     The recipe said that it should have made more, closer to ten, but that didn't happen.  Cover the pan and leave it in a warm place for at least 45 minutes.  Then pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (375 if you are using a convection oven) and stick the pan in for seven minutes.  Make the garlic butter while their baking.  You will need:

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons salt.

     Melt all of these together in a pot/microwave.  After the seven minutes are over, open the oven and brush each bread-stick with some butter.  Bake for another seven minutes, or until golden brown.  Then brush them again and let them cool.  You will want to eat them right away, but don't.  You will burn your fingers.  (I know, because I tried.)

    See how beautiful?  Look again. Now stop reading this and run into your kitchen and make some right now!  Why are you still here?  Shoo!

Your welcome, everyone.  Bye!

Miss Molly

Current State: Where I am & What I am planning

     Nothing is left.  It is all gone.  No wood left.  See for yourself:

     Tada!  Poof!  It's gone.  The process of it's donation and the former structure will always be a great memory though.  The new axles and tires look good. Wanna see how it happened?  It's fun to watch.

     Cool, right?  Who doesn't love demo and destruction? I actually wasn't there on that day because I had the flu, but my parents and friends went and finished taking it down for me.  Thank you so much amazing helpers!

     It will stay like this for the summer while I gather supplies.  In the fall we will Build, Build, BUILD!!!  Why not now, you ask?  Because I do not want to work in 120° Fahrenheit weather and it will stay this temperature until the end of October! Oh the joys of living in the California Desert.  I kid you not.  I do not need anyone getting heat stroke.

     Anyways.  I have lots of work to do, all behind the scenes stuff.  Most of the items on the Materials Needed list needs to be acquired before the building process starts.  Please take a look at the list and if you know someone/a company who would be willing to donate any materials, or if you are willing to donate a material off the list yourself, please contact me through email or Facebook.

     I most likely will be doing another Cookie Fundraiser in the fall, usually before Thanksgiving.  It all depends on how busy I will be, what with school starting again, getting a driving learner's permit, health work card, securing a part-time job (hopefully at a local bakery), and getting a work permit to make that job legal.  I have college to pay for, you know.  Growing up sucks, big-time.  Just more responsibilities. Ugh.

     What's first on the list is painting the trailer with a special paint that stops rust deterioration and prevents new rust, plus it will make the trailer look pretty and brand-new.  After that I will lay down some 20 or 22 gauge sheet metal as a sort of foundation for the rest of the framing.  Then I will build a frame for the floor and insulate it, then put plywood on it, and after that the walls can go up!  Yay!  So that's a little bit of a timeline, so that you all can have a general idea of what is gonna be going on for the next couple of months.

     I would like to do some baking blogs this summer as well, but I would like to make it the People's Choice.  So comment on this blog post or on my Facebook page and I will maybe do a baking blog post inspired by your comments.  Make it creative!  I hate boring, unchallenging things.  Life should never be boring if you can help it.  (I think I just said something smart.  Don't worry, I won't let it get to my head.)  Bye for now.

-Miss Molly

     

Tiny House Jamboree 2016

     News Flash!  My family has planned a summer trip to the Tiny House Jamboree in Colorado Springs, Colorado!  YAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!  This is a very new event, the first one was last year.  I am SOOO excited!  All of the famous Tiny House builders and bloggers will be there.

Macy Miller from http://minimotives.com/,

Jenna and Guillaume from http://tinyhousegiantjourney.com/,

Andrew and Gabriella Morrison from http://tinyhousebuild.com/,

Zack Giffin from Tiny House Nation (catch the new season on FYI),

Derek "Deek" Diedrickson from http://relaxshacks.blogspot.com/

I am totally geeking out about this.  These are Tiny House LEGENDS!

     The Jamboree runs for three days, and they have Tiny Houses that you can tour, Tiny House Builders showcasing their models, Keynote speakers (tiny house celebrities!), Live demonstrations, Seminars, and Food Trucks (tiny restaurants on wheels).  There is also a Tiny Chapel on wheels that they are going to do a church service from on Sunday, and a couple is actually going to get married on the deck, with all of the attendees there to witness.  So much fun!  Congrats to the happy couple; BA Norrgard and John Bareen!

There is only one teeny-tiny hiccup.  We're going on MOM's birthday.  Isn't it kinda selfish to do something for yourself on your mom's birthday?  She has assured me that it's okay, as long as she gets a cupcake.

     If anyone is planning on visiting Colorado Springs August 5-7, please, seriously consider going to the Jamboree.  At least come and say hi to me.  It would be so awesome.

     Our whole vacation is not going to be spent entirely on the Jamboree.  We are also planning to visit the Grand Canyon in Arizona (it will be my first time and one of my Dad's favorite childhood memory destinations). Hopefully we will have time to visit the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, a historic grand resort started in the late 1800's.  Apparently my great-great-grandfather, Knute Swanson (a Swedish immigrant), worked there for a time.  He was a well-known butcher in his lifetime, it will be cool to see where he worked.  The hotel that we will be staying at (not the Broadmoor, sadly) in Colorado Springs is right across the street from the Focus on the Family headquarters.  Apparently they have an amazing bookstore, we will most likely visit there as well.  Is it too early to start packing Now?!!!

-Molly

They've Built a Wall.

And I need to find a way through it.

California has recently released a bulletin stating that it is illegal to live permanently in Tiny Houses and RVs.  Washington soon followed, and after that it will be the nation.  The whole Tiny House community is at a loss.  Including me.  For now, my Project is at a standstill while Mom and I study these new laws.  I knew that it would happen eventually, but I never thought that it would be this soon.  But I thank God that it happened before I actually built anything.

In the meantime, I will do a few baking blogs, maybe videos too.

Here's the bulletin if you wish to read it for yourselves.

http://files.ctctcdn.com/4d29178d401/ddccfe12-c56f-48cf-8ed9-8bbec86bb521.pdf

Miss Molly