Kessler Fotos

This time two weeks ago, we were among our people. The people who continue to inspire our lives, our journey, and our build. Two weeks ago we were celebrating the accomplishments of others and celebrating our own progress. Today, we are still riding the wave of enlightenment from the jamboree and also settling back into the business of building our home (which is, in fact, a rough business).

I slightly regret waiting so long to put something up about that weekend. I had originally intended to post something at the end of each day, but after getting up early and standing around in the hot sun all day, I just couldn’t muster the motivation to do so when we got home each evening. I found myself falling asleep on the couch of my in-laws house instead. We left Colorado Springs and immediately jumped back into our usual routine, which also left little time and desire to sit down and write.

This was our second Tiny House Jamboree (which if you’re not aware, this was the second year it has been held) and our excitement could hardly be contained. In 2015, we arrived merely as spectators. Das Kleine Haus was still very much in planning stages. Ray was spending an exorbitant amount of time on SketchUp trying to figure out the ideal layout for our tiny, and I was still busy trying to figure out how exactly we were paying for all this. These were not the first tiny houses we’d ever seen, but it was HANDS DOWN the first experience we had with the amazing community.

This year we came into the Jamboree not just as spectators, but as proud members of this community. Although physically and emotionally tired at the end of that weekend, we left feeling confident that building our tiny was exactly what we were supposed to be doing.

Our favourite moments from this jam?

Meeting our fellow tiny house enthusiasts. Some were people we’ve followed through social media, some were people who approached us, and others who we shared brief moments while standing in line or sat near and chatted with in between speakers.

The new venue! CO Springs is a great location since we are located just outside Denver and Ray’s family lives just down the street from the Mining Museum (last year’s venue and the original site for this year) and on the other side of the highway from the Air Force Academy. On top of that, there was SOO much more room. The space was greatly appreciated given the number of homes on display, vendors and people. I’d like to throw in a HUGE shout out to the AFA for all the support to the THJ staff.

Dee Williams. I had a bit of a fangirl moment and failed to actually introduce myself and Ray when we met her. We had the pleasure to speak with her and see her home first thing Friday morning. Her talk on Sunday is one that resonated deeply with the two of us and no doubt, with anyone else who attended her talk.

Only one big downside in our opinion:

The lack of the DIY presence. I am in full support of anyone who wants to buy a home from a builder, but this community includes so many DIY-ers and there was a serious lack of representation. I’ve already let the organizers know we would like to be there with our home next year. ;)