Posted in Homestead or Bust

Some of you may be wondering what happened to our journey to our homestead.  We are still plugging away.  In fact, if you've read my personal blog, I'm sure you've heard the good news.   We actually bought our Little Slice of Heaven in August!

We have 1 acre of land in the Matanuska Valley.  It is in the shadow of Hubby's favorite mountain, Pioneer Peak.    I know it isn't much, but there are several other lots around us that are vacant and we are hoping to eventually buy those as well.  Either way, 1 acre is a lot more than you can find here in Anchorage!

So, when do we move?  Well, it isn't quite that simple.  This is completly raw land.  We spent the 2 months between purchase and winter clearing a bit and trying to plan the layout.  We are ready to make the driveway, but the snow came before we got it done.  That will be our first step after spring thaw.  We also need to drill a well and place a septic. 

For now, all of our actual activity is on hold.  We do have a wonderful winter wonderland to go watch the Northern Lights or to cut more firewood for our pathetic little fireplace.  But we won't be doing any real work for several months, unless we have an unseasonably warm winter.  When we visited there 2 weeks ago, there was 3 inches of snow on the ground and the thermometer in the van said it was 0 degrees.  It was 23 degrees in town, with no snow.  Gotta love being on the "dark side" of the mountain! 

However, we are not necessarily sitting back on our laurels.  We are spending this winter paying off as many things as possible in the interim and trying to save up as much as we can for building in the summer.

God has provided in ways we never expected.  For example, my husband starts a new job next week.  His former employer has offered him $2/hr more than he has been making at the credit union.  This new job happens to be at an elementary school, where he will have summers off.  This will allow him unlimited time to work on our land and get it ready for our target move-in date.

We do have a goal.  Our goal is to move to the land 1 year from now, when our lease is up on this duplex.  This means that we will have to be extra-busy this summer and extra-wise with our money between now and then.  We may not have the cabin completed, but we'd like to have it at least livable.  In fact, Hubby has said he wants to move to the land November 2009 wether we are in the cabin, a yurt, an RV, or a cardboard box!

There may not be much to report this winter, but I will try to keep you updated on our journey to the land.  Homestead or Bust, indeed!!

Kristina Duckett