Stepping Out - The House

posted Mar 4, 2013, 11:31 AM by Jon Rumfelt   [ updated Mar 4, 2013, 4:40 PM ]

Well, things are going good on the moving front. We have the site generating a great deal of traffic on our moving sale. Posts on Eielsonforsale and Craigs List are second and third to the traffic from Facebook. We appreciate everyone who has expressed interest in purchasing some of our belongings. The response is yet another confirmation that we are doing the right thing and pushing forward in this move. Above - Three shots of our driveway from the porch, Winter, Fall, and Summer (clockwise). The summer photo shows a moose at the end of the driveway, He's about 6ft tall at his back. The next thing we'll be putting on the list is the big guy. The House. I've loved this house from the moment we drove by. It has been our "little blessing" on Blessing Ave. This is our "Blessings Bench" that stayed near our front door since we moved in. When it was given to us, we thought it the perfect gift! When we moved in, I knew nothing about sweeping a chimney, felling a tree, driving a ride-a-mower, cleaning a furnace, or replacing a sink. But living here in this house has afforded me the opportunity to keep this building an operational house. Sometimes it has cost us a great deal of money and frustration, other times it has been a simple fix. We've had others feel us in our pain, from house sitters being the lucky winners of a broken well, or running out of heating oil. And friends and family there by our side as we fix our furnace and yet another broken pump. This house has been so forgiving, allowing me to make mistakes, cut fingers, almost burn drywall. Through it all, the house has kept us warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and the back yard has hosted many a party. The joys of learning have brought us closer as a family and have made the smores around the fire that more enjoyable. Devotions around the porch fire pit -> Then there were the trees. We decided that having an acre of land is great, but having an acre of cleared flat grassy land would be awesome! So we decided to start cutting down trees. When you have never cut down a tree, it can be a bit daunting and intimidating. So I found a tree that no matter which direction it started to fall, it wouldn't hit anything. It was only 6" in diameter, but you have to start somewhere. I ran through the steps I saw on "Ask This Old House" (hey, don't judge, your man has watched it, I promise!) on how to "fell" a tree. I made the notch in the general direction I wanted it to fall. Then I stepped around the back side, looked for my escape route, then proceeded to make the back cut. As the tree fell, I changed my rotation angle and watched the tree be steered to the ground. It was AMAZING! Little old me was man enough to challenge this tree and wrestle it to the ground in triumphant victory! At least that's what went on in my head. Then there was the tall spruce with the dead cap. As I started cutting that one, it decided it was going to start leaning towards the house!!! I jumped in front of it and pushed with everything in me, but I could only hold it up. Luckily I had my cell phone in my pocket, so I pulled it out and dialed the wife inside and yelled, "GET THE CAR AND ROPE" and we were able to pull it in the right direction. I learned from that to pull a tree whenever possible. Of course, when you can't, you can just have Sarah push it. One was falling towards the fence and she pulled an "Alaskan Mom" and pushed the tree over enough to just miss the fence! So now we have a yard that has many trees removed, but more to go. I need to learn how to remove stumps in an easy way, instead of using my dull chainsaw blades to cut the ground. <- This pic was taken in the fall, all the trees in the back yard (behind the house) on the right side have been cut down. Once all leveled and stumps removed, this back yard could easily host a great game of Frisbee football.  It's going to be tough to leave this house, that's for sure. But the next person will inherit a great domicile in a peaceful neighborhood with great neighbors. I pray my new home is in a great neighborhood like this one. Stepping out of a home and becoming "homeless" is a huge leap of faith into the next chapter.