The Fortune Cookie Turns 1 year Old!

A view of the outside, with a peek at the newly painted cupboards! Picture by Scott Haydon.

I am so bad with dates (It’s a good thing I’m single)! I realized a little belatedly that I had not shared The Fortune Cookie’s birthday with all of you! The Fortune Cookie turned one year old on August 25th. I have been living in my tiny house for one year now!  I can say with all honesty, that I could not be happier with my living situation.

Having such a beautiful, small home has been one of the most exciting journeys I could have ever embarked on. After quitting my job over a year and a half ago my life has been a fantastic roller coaster ride. The person I am today is much different than the person I was when this particular adventure started. I am a happier, healthier, risk-taking, life loving, creative individual.

I pick the pace that I live in now. I love my house, I love the people I live with, I love my business, I love the work I do, and I love my client base. I love the fact that I can take a day off if I need it, I adore that I can call in sick and that I never get sick anymore.  I adore the fact that the only time I have to use an alarm, is because of something fun that I want to make it to earlier. For the first time in the history of my memory, I can say without pause that I love my life.

The beautiful bathroom mural by Suzi. Photo by Scott Haydon.

The Fortune Cookie being such a beautiful house has certainly helped my blog. It’s eye catching. I knew I wanted it the minute I saw the sketched drawing. I will be singing Abel’s praises until I die, he is a phenomenal builder as well as an extraordinary human being. Each day I live here, I feel a certain amount of awe. This IS my life! This IS my house! This IS my business! Now that Suzi’s beautiful art pieces are in my home, it’s even more breathtaking in here.

I started writing this blog as a way to have an outlet for all the crazy stuff going on in my life. I was in a huge amount of upheaval. I wanted to get it out of my system and write.  In part because I was afraid of tiring out my friends of listening to me blather on about my house.  I also knew many of my friends did not ‘get it’. The amount of excitement and fear I was going through in the beginning. I have come to relish this outlet. I love to write now, I write all the time. I start to feel all cooped up in my brain when I haven’t put anything to paper in days.

The Fortune Cookie has been featured in a number of news articles. It is slated to be in a documentary (possibly two), and a book. I have a lot of people say “I don’t know how you can live in such a small space!” As time passes, I have found more people are considering it more than pushing the thought aside now. So many people are becoming inspired, asking insightful questions and figuring out how they can tailor tiny living to suit them. It fills me with immense joy.

I love this picture! Impromptu pic of me going to pet Riley while Scott was snapping pictures upstairs (I thought he was done, heh). Those are Scott’s feet. Picture by Scott Haydon.

I am so happy, I want you to be happy too! I want you to feel like living in a tiny house is within your grasp. I want to impart that ‘less is more’. When you have less stuff to haul around, you have a lot more freedom.

I am also thankful to Scott Haydon for all of the fantastic pictures he has captured for me over the last few months. I have beautiful pictures of me, my house, my dog and many of my hair clients because of him.

Thank you Abel for building me such a beautiful home! I blame you for a lot of the subsequent success and happiness I have found.

Thank you Stone for your love, advice, and friendship over the years. Many of the moves we made together made the moves I made alone possible.

Thank you Kass and Eowyn for letting me live in your backyard. I view you guys as family, and I couldn’t be happier. I appreciate that you took a chance on me and offering to let me live here. I have never felt so at home somewhere before. It’s a phenomenal feeling.

Thank you Adam and Suzi for being the inspiration into my tiny lifestyle. Without that shove, I’m not really sure I would be where I am today.

Thank you Kim for being one of the people that wholeheartedly supported what I was up to. You were one of the only people that said “That’s awesome! I think you should do it” from the very beginning.

To the rest of my family and friends, thank you for your support and love. Some of you dragged your feet until you saw the finished product of the house. Some of you dragged your feet until you saw how happy I was and am. Some of you are still scratching your heads. I value the insight and enlightenment all of you have provided throughout various points of this wacky journey. I’m not done being weird yet, but I am glad to have you guys by my side.

To you my readers, thank you for being my inspiration to keep this blog alive. This has been such a creative outlet for me and I am honored that so many of you are reading now.

~Kera