Here’s to bright days ahead in 2020!
I’ve been pondering for a while now where to pick up Niche News. Particularly considering that there have been some big transitions in my life which haven’t been easy to put into words. But I miss sharing vignettes of the little life. So today, as we embark upon both a new year and a new decade, I’ve decided to do a recap of 2019 and a look ahead for 2020.
At the end of January 2019 I headed to my beloved Yestermorrow to teach Tiny House Design with my former student and now friend and colleague (AND the instigator of Tiny House Fest Vermont) Erin Maile O’Keefe. Perhaps some of you remember Maile from the Paper Boat which we did a Build Blitz for in the summer of 2016.
Tiny House Design at Yestermorrow in February 2019 - checking out a student’s model
In February 2019 my tiny house community Going Places Turned Two and we welcomed a new community mate, Rosemary, along with her cat Chutney. She jumped right into community with an annual retreat (which was a staycation due to the snow!) I also taught ADU Design workshops through Portland Community College and Clark Community College.
March 2019 was relatively quiet with a couple projects at Going Places, including building a trellis to corral our vigorous raspberry patch and assembling a Murphy bed for the Req Room. (I have ALWAYS wanted a Murphy bed, so this was a dream come true!)
April 2019 I headed back to Yestermorrow to teach the first two weeks of the Tiny House Design Build Certificate along with amazing co-instructors Ethan Waldman, Jacob Mushlin, and Keith Lewis. We started Caitlin’s Tiny Tap House, The Fainting Goat, which she’s made incredible progress on completing and brought to Tiny House Fest Vermont this fall. On this trip I also got to see Maile’s Paper Boat tiny house for the first time since the build blitz and it is truly swoony! So amazing to see these projects manifest after watching the designs emerge in the studio!
In our Tiny House Design-Build course at Yestermorrow in April we started Caitlin’s Tiny Tap House, The Fainting Goat.
Then life turned upside-down and inside-out.
Isha and I had been working through some struggles and ultimately decided to get divorced. I moved into a coworker’s basement apartment for the transition time. Here’s part of the note I shared with friends and family:
We gave it our darndest, made our peace with the decision, and proceeded with the tidiest divorce in history. Apologies to those of you who are hearing though the grapevine that we didn't catch you in real time. Thanks to those of you who have supported one or both of us in the unwinding!
In May 2019 I traveled to Alaska for the wedding of some dear college friends and to visit a sister who just bought a house in Homer. On the Alaska Marine Highway I was writing so much in my journal that the woman who had been sitting next to me for hours leaned over and asked “are you writing a book?!” “Not yet,” I confided. “But stay tuned!”
A trip to Alaska to witness the wedding of some dear college friends and visit my sister.
In July 2019 I made My Annual Pilgrimage to the Oregon Country Fair, which was even more amazing this year thanks to being on crew this time! I thoroughly enjoyed using my carpentry and (amateur) electrical chops to make the magic happen alongside some awesome new friends.
Oregon Country Fair is my happy place. Especially when I get to share it with people I love!
In July I also traveled to Hawaii with my cousins and my auntie, which happened to coincide with my birthday (and one of my cousin’s!) It was a highlight of the year and a hell of a way to celebrate 36 revolutions around the sun!
Happy birthday to me! (And one of my cousins, too!) A trip to Hawaii with my cousins was a summer highlight!
In August 2019 Rosemary moved into the Req Room and I moved The Lucky Penny to a magnificent garden spot in a beautiful neighborhood. Raffi and I settled back into the Lucky Penny, which involved finding a place for everything all over again. Raffi was entirely unperturbed and found all his favorite spots again in no time!
The Lucky Penny all nestled into her new spot in a garden in one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in town!
In September 2019 I headed to my fifteen year Whitman College reunion where I enjoyed reconnecting with old friends from school and Walla Walla. I got to stay in a fantastic guest house called Tall House Small House which was created by some brilliant artist friends of mine from a former coal shed on their property. I did a little design consulting with them on the project in the early stages of dreaming and scheming so it was truly a treat to enjoy the space as one of their first guests!
In October 2019 I was recognized as a Woman of Vision by the Daily Journal of Commerce and it was an honor to follow in the footsteps of my colleagues Erica and Beth. I travelled to Tiny House Fest Vermont to speak and lead tiny house tours, as well as catch up with beloved friends and colleagues in a place that makes my heart sing.
In October and November 2019 I also launched myself headlong (and in some cases headfirst!) into pursuits that had long intrigued me. I had been taking an adult aerial class at Echo Theater Company with a couple friends since the spring and had so fallen in love with it that I decided to do it twice a week. I took a writing workshop called Prompt at Powell’s City of Books through Write Around Portland. I signed up for a Financial Freedom e-course through Portland Underground Grad School (PUGS) with a couple of accountability buddies. And I signed up for some continuing professional education - the Sustainable Homes Professional course through Earth Advantage.
Launching myself headlong into passions - including aerial silks!
And as this year has wrapped up I’ve thoroughly enjoyed time with friends and family, too. I had a blast spending a long weekend with some college friends in Hood River in November. I had a nice dinner and catch up with Isha this week and enjoyed hearing about an upcoming trip of his.
Last night I celebrated a friend’s birthday AND New Year’s Eve. When the clock struck midnight I was in a hot tub with dear friends, watching fireworks burst into the spaces between clouds where we’d been gazing at stars as we discussed what we hope 2020 will bring.
Today I went for a hike in the snow with one of my dearest friends. We saw four rainbows on our adventure (one of them a double) which we couldn’t help but see as a good omen. Then we had dinner and a three-year-old-inspired dance party at Simply Home Community.
Best wishes for all the goodness in 2020, from me and Raffi!
Needless to say, I have high hopes for 2020. Here are a few things I’m looking forward to:
In January I’ll be kicking off another round of our writing workshop, doing some cross country skiing, and visiting family.
In February I’ll be teaching Tiny House Design at Yestermorrow and making a trip to Fisher Poets’ in Astoria with some college friends.
Springtime will hopefully involve garden planning, outdoor adventures, design-build projects, and writing.
In July I’ll be making My Annual Pilgrimage to the Oregon Country Fair and teaching Tiny House Design-Build at Yestermorrow.
And beyond that, who knows? So curious to see what the universe has in store!
Cheers to all of you and best wishes for health, happiness, creativity, prosperity, and a healthy dose of activism as we head into this new decade! There’s so much adventure to embark upon, so much work to be done, so much love to share, so much magic to create in this crazy, beautiful world of ours. Hugs and kisses for the journey!