Is this a Good Idea???

Happy Tuesday to you all, Molly's Mom here.  So, I am posing a thoughtful question for anyone who'd like to weigh in.  

Charlie (Molly's younger brother) has always had an interest in having his own Diner, like the Luke's Diner in the Gilmore Girls TV Series.  He comes to me one day asking me what I thought about him attending Culinary College as well and living with Molly in her Tiny House as her roommate.  At first my gut reaction is "That's Fantastic, then I won't need to worry about Molly living alone in a far away land".  

As we tell my Husband, he almost has the same reaction, almost...  He then asks me if it would be like two feral cats trapped in a box???  This poses a challenge for sure, but I believe they could live together in 192 sq. ft. for two years.  Molly is completely on board with the idea and at least she is still in the early stages of building her tiny house, so there is time to plan ahead for a permanent sleeping area for him.  It will mean putting a loft over the bathroom and definitely raising the roof line to the maximum height.  

If this Plan of theirs sticks, we will putting both of our children through The Culinary Institute of America.  I think I'm okay with that!

Mindy

Axles and Demo and Water Damage, Oh My!

     Winter and Spring are very busy seasons here in the Desert.  Lots of things that are impossible to do in the summer heat need to get done.  For lots of people this includes garage cleaning, whole house cleaning, renovations, sending the kids outside to get out of Mom's hair... etc.  For me, this season means Tiny House building.  In the past few months I have done a lot.  When I got the trailer it had one very old, and very unsafe axle complete with tires that could barely hold themselves together.  My whole family was praying the entire drive home.  I do believe that the grace of God is the only reason that we made it home.

  

     After we got back, I spent the next couple of weeks calling different local trailer companies and finding out which company had the most reasonable price.  My mom and I took a day trip up to Beaumont  to ask Bob Miller's RV some advice, and the man that we talked to (very nice guy) told us that he could not do it because his company was not certified to such work, but he recommended another place that just happened to be just a few minutes down the road.  This was also a small company, not a well known place like Big Tex (I had some problems dealing with them), but the place right next door called Carson Trailers.  

     They were absolutely wonderful!  This company was delighted to replace the axle on my trailer with two brand-new, heavy-duty ones, complete with brakes, brake lights, and a new tongue jack.  I was very happy about this.  We dropped it off and the work was done in only a few short weeks.  Thank you so much, Carson Trailers!!!  The trip home was so smooth that my dad did not feel like he was having a panic attack.  I loved it!

     After that we parked it someplace new, where it will stay (hopefully) until the Project is done.  As soon as we had it in place I scheduled Demo Day.  One of my teen friends, Preston, is really good at this type of thing, so Mom and I had him come over to help and together the three of us took out all of the interior.  I was so glad for his help.  By ourselves, Mom and I might have spent all day tearing out the old wood paneling and insulation, but Preston was awesome!  Thank you so much for your help!

     We found a lot of water damage in between the walls, which most likely means that there is no vapor barrier.  I might need to take down the whole structure down to the trailer and start from scratch, which I pray is not the case.  That would add a lot more to do that I didn't plan for.

     I have yet to figure out what I need to do next, but whatever I'm going to do is definitely will have to wait until after this crazy weather passes by.  It has been raining on and off (mostly on) all day, which is uncommon for our desert area.  This is expected to continue throughout the week.  Looks like it's research time again!

     That's all for now.  Love all of you guys out there.  Thank you for your patience, and for believing in me.

     Miss Molly

My First Article!

The Wonderful Company that graciously donated the mobile office behind me wrote a very flattering article about me and my project in their monthly newsletter! Here is the content, Enjoy.

Passion for Pastries Becomes a Match Made in Modular Heaven

Bermuda Dunes, CA --- Meet Molly Smith. It may not take more than one minute before she melts your heart, or your taste buds, and convinces you too, that her passion deems worthy of your time. Just ask PMSI Vice President of Rental Division Cheryl Thompson. She sums up the 15-year-old, not quite, five-foot tall, high school sophomore quite simply, “When someone has a passion and they can find a way to translate that to another person, so they feel their passion too, those kind of people are unstoppable. And, I think Molly is going to be one of those kind of people in life.” Now find out how that desire led Molly to Pacific Mobile Structures, as she quite precisely plans her future to become a pastry chef. It all began last January, Molly realized her dream of attending a culinary college simply cost more than her family could afford. Molly says, “I’m willing to go after every scholarship I can get, because we’re just an average family.” Bound and determined, this homeschooled student also decided to find ways to save on room and board. After researching RVs and other options, she came upon the Tiny House movement. From there, her mind took off and her dream took shape. Molly says her friends don’t quite understand, “I’m a very small person, so it kind of surprises them that I try to do something that is such a big thing.” Molly’s tiny house involves the strategic plans for the ENTIRE house. She designed a beach-themed home of her very own. She will put in the electrical work, the plumbing and more. She plans to do this while getting all of the supplies donated; including the house. A first for Molly, became a first for Pacific Mobile. Molly’s mom, Mindy Smith says, “Every rejection she gets, she just says, well, who’s the next person on the list? Keep moving forward.” Lucky for her, the house itself became her first acceptance. Her letter touched Thompson and the entire PMSI team’s hearts so much so, the company donated an asset for the first time in its more than 30-year history. Thompson says she found a way, because, “For whatever reason, I was inspired by Molly, just her way of communicating, her professionalism at such a young age and her drive; her drive to do something that she is so excited about and has a plan for and has great thought behind.” It took almost six months to find the right structure, soon to be Molly’s 192 square foot, tiny house. Now, the work truly begins. Molly has less than three years to make the trailer her home; the home where her lifelong dream will come true. She will call it the Desert Pearl, and assuming all goes well, drive it up to her new residence at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, CA in the fall of 2018. Molly’s mom says her daughter has an innate gift for baking, “It’s gained us a few pounds, but we’re okay with that.” To see this gift through to completion Molly’s work must begin now; one nail at a time. When all is said and done, mom Mindy says, it’s her daughter who will have gained so much more, “It’s really a great educational project. For the future, she’s going to understand how to help anybody with their own plumbing. She’s going to know how to fix her own house when something breaks, because she did it in the first place. She built it. She installed it. She’s going to know what to do.” Molly will record her venture through photos, videos and her online blog. She hopes those who read about her might donate too. Click here to see how you can help one tiny donation at a time.

Her She is, Let's get this Party Started!!!

Yes, She is here and I have her in my very own back yard!  It's time to get dirty and get to work.  First order of business, replace the single questionable axle for 2 heavy duty axles that can handle a little bit of weight and can travel long distance. I'll need to find a Sponsor to Donate and install the axles, for this is not a task that I am comfortable learning how to do.

When we arrived to pick up the trailer, it did not have any brake lights, oops.  Luckily, the work crew found a couple old lights and wiring and hooked us up.  After we were hitched up, we hit the road.  Very carefully though, my dad did not want to heat up the tires or blow one, they even gave us an extra tire just in case.  My dad drove 45-50 mph all the way home.  

It's not super pretty, but it has loads of potential!

Molly

FINALLY!!!

Today, is the Day, I finally got a (MY) mobile construction office trailer donated to little ol' me!!! As of about 30 minutes ago, I got THE email, the email I have been agonizing over for months. I am a teenager, so naturally I am in an instant gratification season of life.  I am SOOO SUPER EXCITED!!!  I should have the trailer moved to my backyard by the end of August.  This is when the real fun , I mean work will begin.  YAAAY!!!  I also want to celebrate one other milestone, I now have 300 Miss Molly's Habitat Project followers on Facebook!  That's kinda cool.  My mom doesn't even let me on the Internet that often.  

So, what's next...  I am going to scour my local area for the best and kindest and most willing of Mentors whom are willing to teach me all about building a house.  And figure out all of my materials needed and search for the Sponsors for those as well.  Then just work my tail off for the next three years until leaving for Culinary College or unless it's done before.  

The Journey is about to begin.

Miss Molly