By Jaymi Goetze

The day dream I had about “all the sinning I could be doing in Las Vegas” … didn’t come true. Instead I had myself a meltdown. All I wanted was to do the dishes with running water which turned into me crying and complaining about every little thing possible. I just want to flush a toilet. The fact that we have no running water is driving me absolutely mad.

I hate spiders. HATE THEM — and everywhere I turn there is a new one coming to kill me in my sleep because I killed its spouse, sibling or offspring. I also really dislike sticker bushes. As soon I cut one down another grows in its place as soon as I blink. It’s becoming a real pain to live off the grid. I love schedules and I don’t freaking have one out here.

After I finished throwing my hissy fit, I put my big girl panties on and pulled it together. I started to focus on what I am hoping to plant in the garden and tried conning Alajiah into living out here again. I tried all week but instead she only brought the boys out instead for a visit. We sent Jack and Riyan outside to re-dig the fire pit and reline it with river rock. They did well! Alajiah and I walked around the property for a little while, looked through all the wood. It turns out … I am sitting on a Pinterest gold mine! Lucky us! I even have enough tiles under my house to make an incredible mosaic behind my fireplace.

Later that night Phil and Ed were sitting around the table, enjoying a glass of wine (Yep, I said wine) and BAM! A new pump was ordered! THANK GOD! All the stress I had basically disappeared. We will have water in a week!

The chicken coop is coming along nicely. We found 10 old duck eggs in it. It took Harper everything she had not to smash or throw every single one of them. We ripped out chicken wire and we cut more sticker bushes away from it! It looks like a completely different structure now. Under another giant dome of sticker bushes you can barely see another chicken coop. I’m not sure what to do with it.

The coyotes love to hang out in the field when it’s dark out. Jake (my Great Dane) is positive they want to play with him. I’m sure that is true, but play in a kind of “rip him apart way.”

This is what I have fallen in love with out here:

1. The rain on the roof: it’s so loud and soothing.

2. The wind: you can hear it come down the mountain, across the field and under the house. I can’t explain how incredible it is.

3. The view: there are only mountains and trees to look at.

4. Family time: #winning

I know that I just complained throughout this entire article, except a couple lines ago, but it’s actually pretty challenging. It’s hard to go from a mainstream lifestyle to extreme off-grid living and no running water ha ha. There is a lot to get done and it’s a little overwhelming. We may need some help!