Instagram story viewer> @tinyrollinghomestead> Posts

Jen

@tinyrollinghomestead

1K

followers

802

following

Devoted foster dog mom 🐾🐕
Full-time in my self-built promaster since Sept 2020 🚐🏡

POSTS STORIES REELS

Newest foster: meet Fresno 🌶️

Fresno was rescued from Yakima with her four siblings. They were filthy and scared, but being kept alive. They were rescued by our Yakima rescue partners and then transferred to us at @resilientheartsanimalsanctuary. Now they’re all going to have wonderful lives in Seattle. Fresno was the last of her litter to go to foster on Sunday, and was *very* freaked out. The first 24 hours with a new foster are always the hardest, but she’s finally starting to settle in after plenty of time and some CBD treats from Amy at All the Best. I even caught a moment of her wagging her tail upon waking this morning. She’s still like “wtf is happening” any time I take her outside, but I’m going so very slow, giving her bodily autonomy whenever possible, and just being patient.

I can’t wait to watch you settle in and become a dog, Fresno 🌶️💕 by @tinyrollinghomestead

A much needed build update. This little home is really coming together.

I just passed my 10 month vanniversary, and while there have been some hard and inconvenient things about living in a van in general and dealing with things breaking in this van specifically, overall it’s quiet comfortable most of the time. But life keeps on going whether you live in a van or an apartment, so life has been full of high highs and low lows. Massive triumphs and awful heartbreak. I’m just trying to take my time and deal with things as they come.

It’s been a hell of a year (mostly bad, some good, some great), and you don’t need to feel 100% with where your life is or who you are right now. What matters is that you are willing to take on the discomfort of getting up each day and *trying*. It doesn’t have to work out, and you don’t have to try for more than 5 minutes if you’re really feeling like a pile of crap that day. But continuing to try—especially in the face of discomfort—is what really defines you.

Here’s hoping we come out stronger, wiser, kinder, and happier on the other side.

#vanbuild #vanbuildout #promastercampervan #vanlife by @tinyrollinghomestead

I started an accelerated grad school program back in September, and since then the build has pretty much been on hold.

Grad school and a part time research position—all remote—during a global pandemic has been about all I can handle (and often more than I can handle). So I’ve placed vases of flowers next to bundles of electrical wires. I’ve cooked dinner with a bungee cord holding up my stove cover. I’ve worked out on a dirty, painted subfloor. And I’ve taken zoom classes with a curtain hanging behind me to cover the exposed metal walls and rattletrap that I was tired of looking at.

I am tired and I am ready for a break from school to work with my hands on my little home again. But I’ve tried VERY hard to make this place as cozy as possible in the meantime. It’s a comedically industrial cottagecore aesthetic. I’ve paid for campsites next to lakes, bought flowers, and hung string lights. Every night when I brush my teeth and crawl into my cozy little bed, I’m really stinking grateful for all this, and all the help that has made living like this in a pandemic (and all the financial ruin that came with that pandemic) possible.

Yesterday I turned 31, and in less than a week I’ll hit my 5 month vanniversary. And it’s all just been a great big lesson about caring for myself deeply through hard times. I know it’s tiring, especially after a year of all this, but I hope y’all are fighting for yourselves and giving your inner child all the love in your heart that you can muster. by @tinyrollinghomestead

That one time I bought a $700 stove from Dometic only for it to start leaking propane a week after I started using it full time, leading me on a wild goose chase for the source of the leak for days only to have to drive across state lines to an rv repair shop bc they’re the only ones allowed to make a dometic warranty claim just for them to say they fixed it when they did not because they didn’t find the true source of the problem but I DID after two more days obsessively snooping around the underbelly of my stove with my propane sniffer to then have to hunt down the closest thing to the OEM part I could find to finally receive them from a random place on the internet and install them and be so relieved to be done for all of ONE day before THOSE started leaking because they were too squishy to then order another set of gaskets for a goshdarn pretty penny and have them finally arrive and install them and FINALLY fix the problem. But for two weeks I used a Coleman stove and had no heat because I turned off my van propane.

So please enjoy this very dumb and hilarious picture. Welcome to vanlife. Be curious and find fun in fixing odd things, otherwise you’ll go insane. (Side note: I had a blast solving this puzzle. Would have been more fun if it didn’t make me feel unsafe in my house, lose my heat, and happen during my first quarter of grad school.)

Honestly, shoutout to me for building a leak-free propane system and diagnosing a fatal flaw in a multi-million-dollar company’s product. @dometic I’m looking at you. by @tinyrollinghomestead

On September 26th, I packed up the van and hit the road to my cousin’s house (after 2 weeks of self-quarantine and a negative covid test) to spend some much needed time with family as I moved into the van and started (remote, bc Covid) grad school. Huge shoutout to @kingdomifican for so generously hosting me and blessing me with all the baby cuddles. I loved being your neighbor for a month.

Clearly there was (and is) lots of work left to do. One gigantic yet infinitely small step at a time. by @tinyrollinghomestead

Build update: building solo during quarantine is a trip, though honestly I’m starting to forget what life felt like before all this. Here’s a quick catch up on the last 5 months:

1) Properly installed my stove/oven, fridge, and sink 2) tidied up my electrical system 3) built a hot&cold 2 -shower-1-sink water system with zero leaks because apparently I’m a natural plumber 4) bruised the entire right side of my body hanging a 35 gallon grey tank under the van 5) modified a rev-a-shelf into my under-counter baking pantry 6) built, attached, and painted face frames for upper and lower cabinets + doors for upper cabinets 7) built bench tops and table for dinette 8) designed, finished, and installed live edge pecan counters that I am deeply in love with 9) built a swing that can hang in the door of the van 10) built a mirror into my pocket door and started hanging shiplap 11) installed my weboost and now I can have video chats in the van with the door closed

And so many other small projects I can’t even remember.

Life updates:
1) went through that weird thing we all went through of adjusting to a new normal in a pandemic and living with chronic anxiety about the state of the world 2) got caught in months of anxiety-inducing unemployment insurance bureaucracy 3) started 3 more grad school prereqs 4) went to protests, got knocked on my ass, cried about it 5) finished one of said prereqs, chipping away at the last two 6) had a legit panic attack, one of the worst experiences of my life 7) asked family for help because Covid ate my emergency fund (and then some) 8) took a couple mini overnight trips in the van to remember what this is all for 9) spoiled my roommate’s dog with love and toys 10) had a bunch of breakthroughs in therapy (BetterHelp ftw) 11) found some peace in art journaling and reading books again

This next month is an absolute race to finish prereqs and the van before starting grad school. But the good thing about this remote quarter is I’ll have the chance to do this first bit of grad school while living in the van out in nature, on the road (as I slowly make my way across the country toward school).

Keep moving forward, even if it’s slow. by @tinyrollinghomestead

I’ll just be here, building. 👷🏻‍♀️🚐 .
.
.

If you have financial resources and are looking to give back to people who don’t have the kind of safety net some of us do, please google “mutual aid” in your city/area (there are organizations and excel spreadsheets going around), donate to an organization directly working with people who are undocumented, send a small Venmo and a sweet note to anyone you know who is in the service industry or is on the front lines (healthcare workers, grocery store workers, sanitation workers, delivery workers), offer to drop off groceries for someone older or immunocompromised or caring for multiple children, or anything else that speaks to you.

And lastly—for your sanity—find a project. You don’t have to go fast or be any good or make a ton of progress, just do the thing. Mine is (obviously) the van. And I’m just taking it one day at a time. .
.
.
#stayhome #vanbuild #vanbuildout #campervan #promastercampervan #promasterconversion by @tinyrollinghomestead

Van update:

Today I cleaned out all my building supplies because I just couldn’t stand tripping on everything constantly. Despite having a bedroom, a shed, and the van, I have a ToN of things (physical items) to manage. I can’t wait to eventually rehome everything that doesn’t fit in the van and get back to simplicity. Building is seriously resource heavy.

In the last month or so, I have 1) turned 30 2) visited my future grad school program 3) lost both of my jobs due to a global pandemic (hoping to get back to a little freelance photography soon though) 4) finished online microbio 5) installed a propane tank underneath my van 6) run all the propane lines for the stove and heater 7) installed a 120-amp alternator charger kit 8) installed my propane heater and CO+propane monitor 9) installed a ladder to access the roof 10) laid a bit more decking 11) finished installing my ceiling boards

I miss my jobs and the friends I had there. I miss feeling financially independent and capable. But I am grateful for all of this time to work on my van so that I actually have a chance of living in it eventually (hopefully sooner rather than later). I am grateful for having a cozy home in which to quarantine (my friend’s house where I have been living the last year, not the van...yet). I am grateful for my family who has checked in to see if I need help.

I’m trying to channel all my anxiety into focusing on getting something done in the van every day. I can’t wait to call this place home. .
.
.
.

#stayhome #vanbuild #campervanconversion #campervan #promastercampervan by @tinyrollinghomestead

I did a thing! Look at my little home! I needed a win, and I got it.

After a very lackluster build schedule for a while now due to working two different jobs and taking an online microbiology class, I decided to take the whole weekend off of work to build.

Rather than focus on the propane or water (very important big projects to tackle in the near future) I decided that I wanted to do something that would have a big impact on how I think and feel about the build. And since I am SICK AND TIRED of looking at wires hanging from the ceiling—and tired of catching my bun on them while working—I figured the ceiling was a perfect project.

There’s still a small section in the back I need to do, but the bulk is done. And I am SO STOKED on how it looks, how it makes the van feel, and how secure it is (I hung on the first board with all my body weight lol). These are 6 inch pine tongue and groove panels secured with construction adhesive and finishing nails to the furring strips I attached to the ribs of the ceiling. They’ll get whitewashed eventually, but already it feels so much more like a home. 💕🏡
.
.
.
.
.
.
#vanbuild #campervan #campervanconversion #vanconversion #promastercampervan #promasterbuild by @tinyrollinghomestead

Thinking back to September and the glorious weekend I had in Asheville and the Pisgah National Forest with new friends, freezing cold waterfalls, endless green leaves, pups, and the last days of summer.

Though I wish I could have knocked out the build in 4 months flat (even 6), I’m trying to be patient. Memories of that weekend remind what this is all for.

Cannot cannot cannot waaaaait to finish the build to make more time for things like this.
.
.
.
#promastercampervan #promasterconversion #vanbuild #vanlife #campervan by @tinyrollinghomestead

1) I mounted my solar panels today. Holy fricking crap, I mounted my solar panels today.

2) Yes I installed all of that beautiful, hand-finished decking just to cover it up. But maybe in a year there will be more efficient solar panels and I’ll upgrade. I wanted the flexibility to change my panels without having deck-less spots down the road.
3) There are few motivators like being Sick. And. Tired. of seeing your panels collect dust in the workshop. “F*CK IT, WE’RE DOING IT TODAY” energy is essential to my build.

4) I have a gorgeous loaf of gluten free olive bread in the oven and a glass of Malbec in my hand because we are CELEBRATING EVERY STEP.

Building a house (while doing school and work) is a long process, both mentally and physically. Here’s to taking the time it takes and also getting all of this DONE THIS YEAR. 🌈✨
. . .
#vanbuild #promastercampervan #promasterconversion #campervanconversion #campervan #vanlife by @tinyrollinghomestead

After a crazy month of November (studying for and taking the GRE + writing and turning in all my grad school apps) and December (working a bunch, doing some random van things, seeing family for the holidays), I am finally back on the build.

The roof deck isn’t quite finished, but this front section here is making my heart sing.

#vanbuild #promastercampervan #promasterconversion #vanlife #campervan by @tinyrollinghomestead