Don't make fun of my princess bed.

I hate shopping.  Well... kinda.  I would love shopping if I could afford it, but I can't.  What I really love is getting a really awesome deal on something.  I'm going to need some supplies to take with me up to goatland, but I don't have much money to spend, so I've been bargain hunting.

I have to sleep in a tent for 3 months.  That's just how it is.  They don't have enough rooms for everyone, no big.  Though everyone in my family seems very concerned, I have decided to prepare myself.

On Sunday I ventured to Portland to go to my favorite store Andy & Bax.  It's an army surplus store that has really awesome hats and the best camping gear.  I really needed to get a good sleeping pad for my tent.  But they were closed!  Sad.  So I mosied to Deek & Bryan's!  The biggest camping pad they had was $90!  That's just crazy.  Defeated, I went home to look on craigslist.  I really wish I had a picture of what I found... But it looks very similar to this!

Awesome!  $30.  Not $90 for a thin, foam pad!  I'm going to be so comfy.  And I fully intend to dress my Queen-sized air mattress cot with my pretty duvet cover I made and my down pillows my mom got me for Christmas.  I love craigslist.  A lot.

I'm not sure I want the other WWOOFers to see my princess bed, though.  I will get teased.  They'll think I'm a wussy girl.  But I don't care, because I will be sleeping on a cloud.


Did you know that I own only 1 pair of jeans?  Now you do.  They have holes in them, too.  I patched the holes and now I have patches on my only pair of jeans.  And they don't even really fit me.  I definitely wouldn't want to be bending over to tend to cute goats all the time in them.  My boyfriend aspires to look like a handyman.  He has the mustache and everything.  A staple to this style are his Carhartt overalls.  What a brilliant idea for farm-living!  So I looked on craigslist and voila!  I'm the proud owner of a pair of insulated Carhartt bibs.  Value: $85  Craigslist Price: $40

Today, I still wanted to go to Andy & Bax, just to see if there was anything I was missing.  I needed a raincoat and a pair of gloves, which I bought for only $22.  And Bob gave me his work boots.  This is what it looks like...

I'm a smart shopper.


I'm not sure what else I need to bring!  3 months is a long time and I just want to make sure I have everything I need before I even start.

I also stopped at The Herb Shoppe on Hawthorne, which is so cool, so I could get a bunch of herbs to calm the crazy PMS I get.  I need to be able to tame it, because it has the power to freak me out and send me home.  I won't let it win!  I bought Vervain, Comfrey, Lemonbalm, Cramp Bark, Wood Betony, and something else I can't remember right now... Some other calming, sedativey thing for lady parts.  My PMS won't know what hit it.

So far I have:
Tent
Bed
Clothes - boots, pants, coat, gloves, etc...
Vitamins and healing herbs
Typical things for everyday....
Bedding

Can anyone think of anything else?

I need a hat.

Goats are the answer.

I'm a 20 year old lady, born and raised in Vancouver, WA, though I did spend two brief periods in Washington's Palm Springs.  Really... That is what Yakima calls itself.  There's a billboard.


I went to school and I graduated (barely) and I started college.  Instead of finishing college I dropped out about halfway through my first quarter, turned 18 and went nuts.  I came out of that period with the memory of a wonderful summer and a marriage that was horrendous and ended very quickly.  WHAT.  Like I said... nuts.

Then The Space came along in all it's painty glory.  We basically turned it into an art fort.  It's wonderful.  I have had the most fun that Vancouver has to offer.  We get to be right in the heart of it and I have made some amazing friends that I will cherish for the rest of my life.  But I'm ashamed to say, I'm still so unsatisfied.
For years, I've had bouts of anstyness (that's kind of a word) - hence the marriage and the mohawk (I did).

I've made plans to move to Europe... To walk across the country and hitch hike my way into a stinky, bearded boyfriend.  To move to San Francisco and work in a homeless shelter.  To go to school to be a scientist, an interpreter...  I've had so many dreams and I've never followed through with anything.
Well, this year I am at my most antsy and I really hate that feeling, let me tell you.  But I am in a dilemma... I'm unable to go back to school -not that I'm totally sure I'd even want to right now- and Vancouver has the highest unemployment rate in the state or something and I can't exactly fill up my resume with my babysitting gigs and expect to get a job that doesn't make me want to kill myself.

More than anything, I want to live a sustainable life.  I want my life to be my job.  I want a piece of land to live off of and work on.  My friend Emmy suggested I do a WWOOF program, which I had heard of before, but hadn't exactly considered.  For those of you who don't know, WWOOF is World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.  Awesome.  You can go anywhere in the world to a 'Host Farm.'  They feed you, give you shelter - though sometimes 'shelter' means 'tent'- and teach you everything they do and in turn you work and help out on their farm.  It's one of the coolest things ever.
www.wwoof.org

So, since I never follow through with anything in my life and I really want to experience farm life, I'm going for it.  I'm actually going to take a leap and go live on a farm for 3 months.  I decided that since it's my first real time away, I would stay in Washington.  I picked a farm that had a lot of skills I'm really interested in learning.  It's a Grade A Certified Raw Milk Micro-Dairy.  But it gets better.  They don't get their milk from cows... They use GOATS.  The greatest creatures in all creation.  The cutest, smartest, strangest looking little friends that I daydream about everyday.  I'll learn to make cheese, harvest wool, spin wool, tunnel garden, harvest wool from angora bunnies (!), use a loom... the list goes on and I am so excited.
www.littlerascalsfarm.com

I leave next month for about 3 months.  I am going to use this blog to keep everyone informed of my doings.  I can't wait!