Adam and Chelsea:

Some may wonder what sort of people live in tiny houses and we wonder the same thing.  Apart from ourselves we have never met anyone who does.  Naturally it creates a bit of curiosity –  if you are curious, here is a little about us: We met in a class at the University of Oregon.  I was an art major, Adam was studying Human Physiology.  I wasn’t too sure about him at first but he wasn’t worried about that little detail.  We have been married for four years and live in Portland, OR.  Our third partner in crime is our Coonhound, Jesse.  We adopted her six years ago,  as I’m sure you’ll discover, she has a pretty plush life – despite the fact that she seems  a bit less excited about the tiny house concept than we are.

Adam is probably the most positive person I have ever met.  He is also extremely capable.  I am spontaneous and always full of new ideas and visions.  I have realized throughout our marriage how lucky I am to be part of this equation.  Though many of my ideas don’t stick the ones that do are sure to happen if Adam is involved.  We make a good team. Adam is a Firefighter/Paramedic and I work for the best Running brand out there.  We are fortunate to have jobs we love.  We are also fortunate that this season in our lives is conducive to living in such a small space without going crazy.  We love spending time together but any couple in-touch with reality knows that living in a house this size with another person could potentially have its challenges.  I travel often for my job and Adam has long days.  We love it when we are both in the house together but the majority of the time that is not the case.  We have never been homebodies and much of what we enjoy doing is outside of the house anyway. The most exciting thing about our decision to build and live in a tiny house is that it was our choice.  I think some people feel sorry for us when they hear we live in a tiny house, maybe they think we had no other option and can’t seem to wrap their head around why we would voluntarily live in a place that is “the size of their closet.” This reaction happens fairly often, but far more often we are met with enthusiasm and admiration.  It is becoming rare to meet someone who has not heard about tiny houses.  This makes the whole thing easier to explain, and for that I am grateful! Though I love a good challenge and often make it my mission to generate so much excitement about our house that even the Debbiest of Downers has to get on board I am also learning to become ok with those occasional negative reactions.  This choice is allowing us to focus on the things that really matter to us in life and revealing how simple and beautiful life can be when you live without extra space, extra stuff or excess bills.