Swept Up in a Rainbow LOVE Tornado

It's seems that the less we travel, the less time I take to write about life in between. It's been two months now since I took a timeout to write down all of the incredible things that we have been experiencing. 

It has been a chilly and wet 6 weeks since we retuned to Vancouver Island. The frequent rainbows and majestic eagles floating overhead make it all ok. Fine, it's more than ok. This island is a magical place! We are so grateful to call it our home base.

It's a beautiful sunny day today as I sit on the back deck typing. It's still fairly chilly. The spring flowers are all coming up with optimism. I can hear a happy tree frog chirping in the swaying cedars nearby. 

We were asked by our friend to housesit for her for 3 weeks in January. Then several other housesitting opportunities aligned themselves in front of us. So here we are now on a little organic farm. There is a fun flock of laying hens to care for and a couple of crazy cats too. It's a beautiful place to hunker down and do some writing and resting. The crackling woodstove is my good friend. 

We have noticed a big shift in the consciousness of the general public in 2016. We found it tricky at times to fill up our Cacao Ceremonies in 2015. It was also challenging to  secure a venue, often feeling like we were trying too hard to convince anyone that this was something good and useful for the people and the planet. When the calendar flipped (literally on New Year's Eve) something also flipped in the consciousness of humans.

Probably not ALL humans, but a good number of us. We are now getting such huge responses to these gatherings that we often have a waiting list. People are suggesting venues and offering us their spaces weekly. 2016 is numerologically a 9 year, which is a year of completion. It seems that many many people are ready to face their worst fears, forgive past grievances, and just start to love themselves and one another. That's what cacao promotes. Love. Inner Peace. And joy!

If you don't know about our Cacao blog it's www.cacaoconnection.blogspot.com or our Facebook page is Cacao Connection. 

Speaking of joy, I was invited to participate in a photo shoot on the weekend. It was 5 hours of fun and laughter, wild makeup and big hair. We modeled some of my Open Arise Creations headbands. I also played with some cacao and got some fun shots with a drink and some of the beans. So far this is the first image that the amazing Kim Yanick has shared with me, but I know there is more beautiful stuff coming. Check out Kim's work at www.kimyanick.com or follow her on Facebook at Kim Yanik Portraits to see her magical work unfold. 

These headbands are so powerful and so many people are scooping them up. I have been taking them to local fairs and events and it's been a ton of fun. This is what I love to do!

Photo by Gord Griffiths

Tanner entered into the British Columbia Open for pool, which is a passion of his. A lot of our acquaintances aren't aware that he's a pool player because he doesn't speak about it much. Earlier this week, he won 4th place in his division of nearly 100 players. He enjoyed a 5-day getaway with the guys and I also enjoyed some "me" time.

We sure are grateful to have each other though. We cherish each day of adventure together. Life is beautiful.

Expand your world. One page at a time.

I LOVE coming across a book that feels like it was written just for me. Below, I have listed a few books that have been fun, educational and inspirational for me in my search for greater meaning in the world. I have added amazon.com links just in case you are super excited to read these.  I must add, however, that I prefer to borrow books from friends or libraries or purchase them second hand. Saves a tree and keeps your home less cluttered!

Farmacology by Daphne Miller, MD

A wonderful librarian friend handed me this newly published book a few weeks ago. It's been so fun to read and has confirmed (again) that traveling from farm to farm, both learning and sharing ideas, is what calls to me. Great read!

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B0089LOISW

Walk Out Walk On by Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze 

This one is inspirational and reminds me of how much having a sense of community is crucial to my happiness, and to most of us, since we are a tribal species! http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/1605097314/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

You Can Buy Happiness (and it's Cheap) by Tammy Strobel

Last Christmas, a friend regifted this book to us. This is an awesome, fun read that inspired us to ditch our STUFF and live small and light in a motorhome. If you are on the fence about downsizing, she might just convince you too!

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/1608680835

Folks, This Ain't Normal by Joel Salatin

Joel is a hilarious and brilliant farmer from Virginia, whom we were fortunate to see at a lecture in Calgary last spring. We bought this book that night and I laughed  so hard reading it. It's full of thoughts and ideas that made me shake my head and say "everything is wrong with modern agriculture!!!" One more confirmation that alternative methods of food production are not an option but an extremely urgent issue. You will love it!

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/0892968206

Hope one or more of these will change your life's direction for the better like they have for us.  :)

What do you get when you follow your heart?

This blog has been created to do two things:

1. Allow me to empty my brain when it's overwhelmingly full of ideas and questions. 

2. Share our adventures in sustainable and spiritual living with other souls who are in also search of a more meaningful world. 

My fiancé and I (call us 30-ish, give or take a bit) are in the process of freeing ourselves from the entrapment of the far-too-widely accepted cycle of debt and overconsumption. When we met one year ago, we were both at our wits end with this seemingly hopeless vortex of exhaustion and lack of meaning in our lives.  At Christmas time (and forecasted apocalypse time) in 2012, a friend passed to us an excellent book called You Can Buy Happiness (and it's Cheap) by Tammy Strobel. It was exactly the inspiration we needed to start down a road less traveled. 

Our solution to our entrapment so far?

Step1.  We minimized (by selling and regifting) our personal possessions to the point where we have a mental inventory of exactly what we own. How many people can make that statement? 

Step 2: We then purchased a slightly squeaky and finicky (but oh-so-magical) motorhome, which houses pretty much everything short of our two (seasoned but lovely) vehicles (of which we plan to sell at least one).

We have thoroughly enjoyed these adjustments to our new way of life and we don't miss ANY of that useless stuff we once thought we needed to feel secure and happy. 

We originally intended to make "the moHo" our home for the 5 months (if we are lucky!) of the year where our toilet water won't freeze in  northern Alberta. Well, we are now more than half way through those months and we are firmly uninterested in paying rent or strapping ourselves to a mortgage for eternity, as so many elect to do. 

Step 3: We are working on acquiring the financial means to call the moHo home for as long as it takes for us to feel like we have gathered the wisdom and knowledge to pass on a recipe for sustainable living to our future generations (which will IDEALLY involve following the sun south) by the time toilet-freezing temperatures arrive, roughly late September to early October. *fingers crossed*

...and so this blog begins... 

Please follow along as we document our tales of all manner of things non-conventional and our minimalist life in a tiny home on wheels.