Living in a Barn/Guest House

Back in 2013, Ryan and I moved to Washington State. Ryan accepted his dream job as a RAM Advocate (a marketing rep) with Chrysler/Ram trucks. His territory was from Bellingham, WA all the way to Medford, OR. I lived in Redmond, WA from 18 months to 16 years of age so I was pretty excited to go back! We weren't sure where to live though as we could have lived in Seattle area OR Portland. We got word that there was a "studio" barn/loft apartment available in Hollywood Hill (east-side of Seattle in the suburbs) on the backside of the property of a family friend's house. We figured it would be best to stay there whether it was 3 weeks or 3 months until we could figure out a more solid plan. Long story short ... we fell in love with the Hollywood Hill neighborhood and decided the small, comfy, cozy barn could make do!

 This is what the majority of Hollywood Hill looks like in Woodinville, WA. Large yards , big homes, with lots of horse properties. Very gorgeous and very expensive. Hence ... why we lived in the Barn!

In this photo you can see the main house and the barn on the other side of the sports court. 

 The barn. Super typical cold and deary rainy Seattle day. But when this place is sunny there is no place prettier. Like you can see here!

Guys ... it was SO small. Our boys slept in a CLOSET! Seriously, along with other coats hanging above them!

And the room upstairs was just ONE big room. On one end was a balcony with a sliding glass door and on the other was a sink with hookups for a washer and dryer. The rent was so cheap and affordable, month to month and the location was prime so we decided to stay put!

Although I was SUPER limited with decorating I tried my best. The biggest makeover/remodel was in the kitchen. Here's a few before and and afters.

 

  Before

After

 Before

 After

You can see lots more of the barn pictures here.

I have VERY fond memories living in the barn for 18 months. My boys often bathed in the sink!

In April of 2014 Ryan accepted a promotion with Chrysler in Dallas, TX. Stay tuned to read about purchasing our first home in another post. 

I'm headed to Woodinville, WA today to stay with my good friend Cherron who lived down the street from me. She has adorable twin girls who are 6 months younger than my boys. They are going to have a blast playing together again! This picture was taken on our favorite walk we took almost daily. They have grown up a lot since then!

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The Camping State Championship

Getting ready to head tomorrow back on the road to Yellowstone National Park. I plan to meet my friends to camp for 3 nights. I then have plans to head to Island Park, ID to meet Ryan and his parents to stay for a few days. Then we will head north to Missoula, MT and then Seattle, WA. I started on July 20th in Dallas, TX. I spent the first night in Amarillo, TX, the 2nd and 3rd night in Colorado Springs, CO. The 4th night in Glenwood Springs, CO. I have since been in Salt Lake City as well as 6 days in my husband's hometown of Roosevelt, UT. We have been on the road for 3 weeks now. The boys have been doing fairly well for the most part. Ethan has totally been testing my patience the last two nights and to be honest I haven't been handling it very well. More to come later on our trip.

Anyway ... so The Camping State Championship. I had no plans on blogging tonight. It's LATE - 1:00 am and I have a big day of driving tomorrow but I just went live with the Eclectic Mama and I wanted to get another post out there. I have been so busy the past 48 hours getting ready for this trip. Camping with 3 year old twins I'm sure its no joke. I've NEVER done it and I won't have my husband with me in Yellowstone. I will have my two friends and their 1 year old little boy. There is SO much to prepare for. So in my preparations tonight my grandfather who is almost 96 and pretty senile comes wondering into the kitchen multiple times asking what I was doing. I told him I was getting ready to go camping and he said "Wow, the State Championship, tell me more about that?" I actually giggled silently a little bit before I turned to him and explained for the 3rd time in 10 minutes that I was getting ready to go CAMPING. I kept preparing as I had groceries all over the counter. I was cutting fruit, I had the oven going with Parmesan Chicken, I had the crock-pot going with Polynesian Chicken and I thought "Geez, this IS the State Championship of camping", if I can pull this off, "I'm awesome!" So yeah, since I'm not the type to eat fast food on the road or just throw hot-dogs on the fire (I do love a good hot dog every now and then) but eating well and healthy is sort of my thing. It really takes SO much work though! My boys eat A LOT! A LOT, A LOT, A LOT. Like crazy amount and they are awesome eaters. Not picky at all. So I think I packed the whole kitchen. After all ... go big or go home, right? I'm in the Camping State Championship!

Grocery's pictured

Jacks Spratts - Sprouted Wheat Bread
Cedar's Organic Red Pepper Hummus
Bob's Red Mill Brown Gluten Free Rice Cereal
Kerrygold Irish Butter
Organic Grapes
Organic Blueberries
Organic Strawberries
Organic Cantelope
Organic Bananas
Avocadoes
Organic Kirkland Signature Salsa
Bertolli Oraganic Marinara Sauce
Celestial Organics Kombucha
Organic green/yellow zucinni & onions
Organic Cucumbers
Organic Kirkland Signature Peanut Butter
Organic Crunch Pack Sliced Apples
Organic Carrots
Organic White Rice
Organic Quinoa
Odwalla Superfood Smoothie Blend
Local Organic Raw Honey - L.R Rice
Arrowhead Mills Organic Buckwheat Pancakes
Eggs
Babybel Original Cheese
RedHill Farms Blueberry Pomegranate Goat Milk Kefir
True Story Organic Sweet Chicken Sausage
Coconut Water
Lemon Pepper Turkey Lunch Meat
Organic Pickles

Dylan and his 96 year old great grandpa - Charles Hardy. He pushed Dylan at the Grocery Store. They have a really cute bond. 

Send me an email if you want the recipes for the following crock-pot meals.

Polynesian Chicken
Chicken Chile
Parmesan Chicken

Wish us luck. Hopefully I take 1st place! :)

The Eclectic Mama

Okay ... so pretty much my life the past 4 years has flown! I'll go into more detail in another post but before graduating from LDS Business College with my two year Interior Design degree I started a blog. I posted a few times but my heart wasn't into it as I was working a full time job. Needless to say ... I'm back in the world of design officially and the best place to share my business and interests is my blog. I am starting to take clients again (local and via the internet by way of e-design).  Along with interior design one of my passions is holistic health. This blog will feature interior design stuff as well as holistic health. I LOVE essential oils. I have seen them change many lives the past couple years.  Christi Luke Interior Design is now The Eclectic Mama. I'm excited to share this journey with you!

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