Guest Post by Kera

I happily blame my friends, Adam and Suzi, for making me take an honest look at being more earth-friendly. It all started with cutting back on packaging, then a hard look at the foods I ate, next a deeper understanding of what businesses I was supporting… it goes on from there.

I think when you decide to take a more ‘green’ approach to your life it ends there is a snowball effect. You see how everything is connected, from the planet, to the people, to the life you are choosing to live. I realized I had a choice to make. Going back to being a mindless consumer was rather unlikely, so I started making active choices that were better for me and the planet.

All of this came to a head. I had this 1100 sq. ft. house and I had to live in the garage in order to make the mortgage payment. I rented out the rest of my rooms to try and cover expenses. I was unhappy and trapped in a job I hated because I had a house I could not afford. I felt really overwhelmed and I just could not do it anymore.

I realized I wanted a small, portable home. For a few years I had been drooling over the Tumbleweed Homes, but later realized I wanted something a bit different. I found that Dee Williams had started Portland Alternative Dwellings (P.A.D.) and reached out to her directly.

She was very helpful and gave me a tour of her small house, but had advised that P.A.D. was too busy to take an additional contract. I had mentioned in my first contact with her that I wanted something like a Tumbleweed Home that meets the stylings of a gypsy vardo. She sent me to Abel Zimmerman with the recommendation that he would do a splendid job and that he specialized in vardos. I was ecstatic.

I ended up quitting the hated job, selling the house, using what money I had saved up to take a vacation and to contract Abel Zimmerman to build my beautiful home, The Fortune Cookie. Abel did a fantastic job, and I love my house!

To learn more about Kera visit her blog. http://dreadnaughtdarling.com/

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