The HOLE!

So when we were told that a soil test was necessary, I started freaking out a little bit. I budgeted $2,000 for the septic system. This includes the tank + all necessary parts and piping, the permit, and the bobcat rental for digging. I started worrying about how much this would add on to our budget. We are looking at $365 for the permit and $1200 for the tank, so after that we had approx $400 left in the budget for the extra piping and the bobcat rental. I called and got a quote of $150 for the soil test. That is absolutely ridiculous. The guy is going to drive 10 miles to get to our property, fill the 8 ft hole that Riley dug with water and then time it to see how long it takes the soil to absorb the water. A freaking monkey could do this... and it wouldn't even require a Ape or a particularly smart monkey... Whatever monkey has the absolute lowest IQ, THEY could accomplish this job. $150 freaking dollars, a rip off. Thanks OBAMA (or just the local government that decided to make this completely unnecessary test a requirement.)

Wednesday we packed the kids in the car around 9 am and headed down to the property. We didn't make it down till nearly 11 after all the stops to get the equipment needed, and potty breaks, and food breaks. It was SO hot down there.

I sprayed everyone with sunscreen and laid out the picnic blanket for Mae to relax on while we dug a hole. We quickly realized that this would become Riley actually digging the hole while I tried (and failed) to keep two toddlers happy AND away from the hole that was becoming deeper by the minute. After a few hours of scorching 90 degree heat we packed up and headed home so that we could shower it time for me to head to work at 2pm. My sister watched the kids so that Riley could drive back down and make some progress on the hole when the heat was not as intense.

Last night we watched Holes... naturally. There have been quite a few "Holes" references made during this dumb hole dig.

We didn't get a chance to go back down until today (Sunday). I set my alarm for 5:45, after being up with Riley helping him finish homework by midnight. I got the kids clothes, drinks for everyone in the car, packed diapers and activities. Loaded up the car completely, then snuck back upstairs, woke Riley up and carried the sleeping kiddos down to the van to load them up.

Miles slept nearly the whole drive to the property, while Maizey is the kid that as soon as she opens her eyes she is up for the day.

I set up our little sunshade tent

 and got the kiddos dressed while Riley got out his tools and started on the hole right away. He started today around 5 ft deep. He is already exhausted from a long week of overdoing it and late nights of homework... Seriously guys, he is a champ! We should have just rented a backhoe for this ridiculously deep hole. He didn't complain about me not digging ONCE! I offered like every 40 minutes, to which he would point out 100 problems with me getting into a 6ft deep hole and trying to muscled through 2 feet of clay. So I just wrangled the kiddos. I swear this hole was magnetic. They were drawn to this thing. If I quit paying attention for less than 10 seconds to hand Riley a tool or grab something from the cooler, I would turn around and their little toes are over the edge already. Then Miles kept throwing things in the hole, well maybe not kept, he did it like 4 times in a 6 hours span, so I should cut the kid a break. But seriously, he was trying to fill the hole back in with the pile of dirt Riley had created... I knew if this happened that Riley would probably have a nervous breakdown.. and NO ONE wants that :)

With the 1 hour break we took to drive into the nearby town for a measuring tape, supplies, and a potty break. We were actually AT the property for 5 hours. Riley hit his 8 ft mark with no swear words uttered and only mild  Moderate irritation towards the fact that he was shoveling for a straight hour and only gained 2 inches at one point in the day.

The hole is complete, and at least one small part of it hits the required 8ft mark.

Hopefully in a few days we will have our permit in our hands and we can really get going!



Now to determine the next item on the list. I have a feeling it is going to be an RV... We've been looking for a while but really need to hunker down the search. We need to get one on the property so that we can start the cleaning and renovating so that it is ready for us to move into when our lease is up in November. PLUS it would have been SO incredibly nice to have an air conditioned place to put two terribly cranky toddlers down for naps today. They kept trying to find somewhere to sleep but didn't want to actually lay down. When we get the RV we will be able to put them down for naps, have quiet toys, or even start a movie for them so that we could accomplish more with our time there.

Step 1- Septic System

Our budget for the remainder of 2015 must cover the following

• Septic System
• Getting the well drilled 
• Getting the power company to install the transformer
• an ATV to help with clearing land and everything else
• An RV or some other temp housing situation. 

So Step one is the septic system. We have priced out 1250 gallon septic tanks, researched all that goes in to actually putting it in the ground, now to just fill out the permit and get started! 

EXCEPT.

The county seems to flip flop on what is and is not required. The first document I was given stated that a soil test was recommended but not a requirement. I immediately called the developer of our subdivision and asked him about this. He let me know that he had tested soil all over the subdivision and all the neighbors that have build have septics so he thought paying to have the soil tested was unnecessary. We agreed and went on with designing the system. Well then last night I get an e-mail back from someone with the county stating that they require a certified soil tester to come out to test the soil and design our system. Well what the heck! Get on the same page and give consistent information! So now I need to call some on the list for soil testing and get a quote. This is only frustrating because we were expecting to come in UNDER budget for the septic system which would have been nice since I have a feeling some of the other things may go OVER budget. 

It is amazing the things that they certify people for these days. The soil test is something that we were actually going to conduct ourselves. You simply dig a few holes, keep them filled for 4 hours, wait 18 hours and then refill the hole and time how long it takes for the ground to absorb the liquid. What part of this requires special certification. I feel like this is a scam to take my money, I'm not very happy about it. 

Clearing land

This morning we drove down to the lot to begin the process of clearing the land. I started to clean out the shed while he started hacking away at sage brush. After a while we decided to hook a pallet up to the tailgate of the van and try to clear some brush that way. 30 minutes later we have some progress! It looked even better after taking up all the loose weeds. 

This pictures shows pretty clearly where we did and where we didn't clear. After 3 hours we loaded back in the car, with some fresh battle wounds and exhausted kiddos. 

The search continues for a skid steer or 3 wheeler to help with the land clearing process! 

Haters gonna hate

Since we have decided to go the route of building our own house, we have been met with opposition from nearly everyone we talk to. Pretty much the majority of our friends and family say this is a bad idea. Most of them have the same sort of advice

"you should definitely research this before you decide to do this" We have done weeks and weeks of research prior to signing the contract for the land. We have looked up pricing for all sorts of roadblocks we are sure to encounter. Will there likely be some unexpected problems arise, I'm sure of it. But this is something that happens to ANY build, whether it be with a contract/building company or owner build.

Multiple people have told us that the "pay as you build" model isn't practical and why don't we just go get a loan. "you would qualify for the VA home loan, just go use that to build the house you want" to this I answer, the whole point of this is to build our own place debt free!

"You know, you could just buy a house, it wouldn't be too much more than what you are planning." This one blows my mind. The home we have been discussing is nearly 3000 sqft with 2.64 acres of land, which would cost less than $75k. Have you EVER seen a home on the market this size for this price... Not a new one!

"You want to build a house out of straw??? have you never heard of the 3 little pigs?!" I'm sure i'm in for years and years of this joke. But in all seriousness, Straw is nearly fireproof, earthquake proof, Tornado resistant and insulates better than nearly anything else out there.

"Indianola is REALLY far away, you aren't going to want to commute to work from there!" We thought of this as well, I currently commute 45-50 minutes from our house to work. My work is moving locations at the end of the year, at this time when we are living on the lot, my commute will be 50 minutes give or take 5 minutes.... We thought about this as well. Timed it multiple times before signing.

"Why in the world would you want to buy an old RV to stay on the lot, It's going to be really small and cramped" OF COURSE it's going to be cramped and small, it's an RV, we didn't decide to do this and not even think of the space issue. We looked up many stories and blogs of families who have given up traditional living, completely re-done an old RV to open it up and brighten it. Some have families of 4-5 (with 2-3 toddlers) living in a single RV. These people do this full time, without an end in sight. By living in an RV on the lot we eliminate our rent, as well as put us right where we need to be to get the most amount of work done in a day. Will it be small, yup! Will it be temporary? YUP! Will it be easy? Probably not, and I'm sure more than once we will complain as we bump into each other trying to cook dinner, but there will be no rent, and it will be OURS!

We are not expecting an easy couple of years ahead of us, but honestly with everything changing in our lives over the past year, it's been far from an "easy year" it would be nice to at least have a pay off at the end of a struggle. We love that our friends and family care about us, but their concern is slightly misplaced, we have thought this through. We are praying that things go the way we are planning, and if they don't... We are totally fine hearing a hundred "told you so!"

It will be worth it if it works!