The Cabin

“Wouldn’t it be so fun to buy a cabin and have a place of our own, out in the woods?” Three years ago we tossed this question around, and decided the answer was yes. We wanted to teach our city kids to live off the land. We wanted a remote getaway, where we could enjoy quiet and serenity. We wanted to make memories. The drive there was inspiring, through beautiful mountains. It took just over an hour, so we thought we could go up on weekends, no big deal.

The land had a beautiful house with a well, a generator, propane tank, electrical, everything. It was passive solar, so the windows got tons of sunlight. The thick log walls kept heat in during winter, and kept it cool in summer. There were even bat houses around the house itself. I learned that bats are friends because they eat pesky bugs. It was perfect.

But in the end, it took too much time, money and effort to maintain it. Last month we sold it. I’m condensing a three year journey into a very short essay here.

Random lessons we learned:

Cabins usually come fully furnished.

Well water tastes different than city water.

You can flush a toilet by dumping a few gallons of water in it.

If your daughter gets a tick in her neck, instead of pulling it out like I did, you should do this:

light a match, blow it out, and then put the hot match next to the tick. The heat would make it scurry away. Also, if the tick is in for less than 24 hours you don’t need to freak out about Lyme disease.

Deer ticks live in the sage brush, not in the trees.

A cell phone booster can help you get reception in dead zones.

Chain saws are finicky.

The best way to bait a mouse trap is with peanut butter.

If you throw dead mice out in the trees, the big critters will eat them. (Rodent removal was up to Norm. We had an unspoken agreement. *Ugh.)

Cabins have flies. It’s part of the deal. Cluster flies leave little chemical trails for their friends, kind of like a party invitation.

If a bat accidentally gets inside the house, then next time you’ll find a little bat poop on the floor instead of a thousand dead flies.

You can use chopsticks to relocate a dehydrated bat.

When you drive a four-wheeler, if the parking brake is on, it doesn’t work very well (oops).

Think of how much work it takes to maintain your house. Now take some of that energy and spend it on a weekend away. You have to pack your food in and the trash out. When you get there you find a bunch of stuff that needs attention at your peaceful getaway. Incidentally, we kept brainstorming ideas for the property, something unique and personal to us. The best name that we came up with was, “Always something,” meaning that almost every time we arrived we encountered a problem. Then return home to the city with dirty laundry and chores to make up for being gone all weekend.

That said, it wasn’t all bad.

Here are some of the really good memories:

Lots of trees

View across the valley

Father/son talks with the boys on the way there

Teaching the boys to load the snowmobile on the trailer

Norm chopped down his first tree for firewood

Super bright moon

Watching the bats dive bomb out of the bat house at twilight

Scout camp. One weeklong summer camp and two overnighters

Amber loved the cabin. She’d get so excited when we said we were going there. (Except she didn’t sleep when we were there.)

Nights by the fire pit. Grandpa Kemper stories, s’mores, hot dogs

Cold nights by the wood stove

Sunrise: Watching and hearing the birds as the world wakes up

Game cameras: seeing different animals around the property

Quiet: you can’t hear the freeway. The quiet goes deeper.

Drive to the lakes, fishing

Sledding in fresh snow

Some of the best neighbors

The most amazing starry night and shooting stars (I wrote about it here, last paragraph)

Really good hamburgers

Friends that came up with us for a weekend

Archery

Winter hike in:

It was a beautiful, clear January day in 2016. That year we got a Lot of snow. A few miles from the cabin, we parked and split up. Norm went ahead with the old snowmobile. The kids and I wore snow pants and started hiking, thinking that after a little while Norm would come back and give us a ride the rest of the way. After over an hour, we stopped at a stranger's house and a kind woman gave me water. Amber was still nursing, and I was soo thirsty. I’d wrapped her in a shemagh (one of Norm’s tough man scarves, useful for just about anything) and tied her to my waist, carrying her in my arms. The three big kids did great hiking. Meanwhile Norm got to the driveway of our property and then broke trail uphill through four feet of snow to get from the gate to the cabin. Eventually we all met up, tired but glad to be safe. The generator wouldn’t start, so the well wouldn’t work. Luckily there was plenty of snow outside, so we heated it on the stove to give us water to drink and wash. Just writing this story and remembering the details makes me tired.

To summarize:

If you own time shares and complain about maintenance fees, just stop. It’s a great deal to own something and not worry about calling a plumber when pipes break.

If I had to do it over again and was still convinced I wanted property out in the wilderness, I’d buy the land only and skip the house. I’d think twice if my husband was the scoutmaster (Norm already had a monthly camping commitment, plus a demanding job) or if I had a small baby (crawling or toddling on the floor with the dead flies.)

Lastly, it was a cool miracle that we sold it this past winter. This January had very little snow, so it was accessible with normal vehicles. The housing market improved over the past few years, so we didn’t lose money on it. Overall we gained wisdom and our big kids learned to work and do some interesting jobs. We had unique experiences there, and we appreciate the amenities of the city even more.

Comments

Leaving Utah

Norm and I are at a crossroads. It's time for our family to take the next step. But first a quick trip down memory lane. We first came to Utah sixteen years ago. We were young and cute and pregnant with baby #1. Norm had been accepted as a student. I had a lot of fun during my first two years of college, and I imagine the admissions board looked at my transcript and said something like, "yeah right!" (More details about getting a D in organ lessons over here .) So my first BYU application was rejected. They let me attend classes as a visiting student, and one day an admissions officer called my phone. It was a landline, and we were living in BYU married student housing. He had two questions for me: Is your husband a full time student? Yes. And you live on campus? Yes. End of interview. A few days later I got my acceptance letter. We finally graduated together in 2004. We bought our first home in Lehi, not too far from Willow Creek middle schoo

believe

These four books are either written by or about some of my favorite authors of all time. Isaiah , Prophet, Seer and Poet, by Victor Ludlow. One semester during college we did a deep dive into this poet's literary works found in the Old Testament. Someday if I get bored, I want to learn Hebrew and read his stuff in the original language. Neal A Maxwell is another favorite writer. My favorite book that he's written is called All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, and is a masterpiece on human suffering and why it's necessary in the refining process. Highly recommend. The first time I read through it, it took about a year because I could only digest about a paragraph a day. believe is such a fantastic collection of quotes on hope. Love it. Eliza The Life and Faith of Eliza R Snow, by Karen Lynn Davidson and Jill Mulvay Derr. I love this lady so much and she's my favorite poet and pioneer woman. This biography is beautifully written. My favorite poem or quote by

2021 Christmas Card

December 2021 Dear Friends and Family, We love you and and miss y'all that are far away in WA and UT and other places!! This year we skipped our tradition of sending a Thanksgiving card and opted for a virtual Christmas card instead. It saved a ton of stamps and envelopes, but I definitely miss the glitter and sparkle. We hope you can feel our love even through a simple email or blog post. One tradition we couldn't skip was our gratitude tree, where the little leaves are a list of blessings. We are so thankful for God's goodness and mercy every day. Here's the highlight reel: Cade graduated, made lots of Domino's pizza, read probably a thousand books, and is currently living in Provo, UT as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He's heading to Helsinki, Finland in January. We are so proud of him and his hard work, we miss him but are excited for his opportunity to learn and serve. Shad spent a zillion hours with Marcus Ban

Thorns and gifts

We've been reading in the New Testament as a family lately, and Paul has some great advice and counsel that's still applicable today. In his letter to the church in Corinth, he talks about a thorn in the flesh. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. It's kind of a moot point to speculate what Paul's particular thorn might have been, but I've often wondered. More importantly: what is God's purpose in giving his children such difficult stuff to learn? Why does life have to be so hard?

One More Syllable

It's been a year. One year ago we moved to Texas. One year ago I started asking people to call me Kristina instead of Kristy, thus adding one more syllable to my name. August is our anniversary. Last year we celebrated that anniversary by adding a cool new memory. That day we drove up to our house, found the keys and walked inside with the kids. We spent the night in our house without any stuff. Isn't it funny how places seem bigger when they're unfurnished? And that pool in the backyard? We knew nothing about pools and maintenance but just jumped in carefree. It was great. It was like being in a hotel but with room for everybody to spread out. Maybe it's time to explain the name change. For me, I had decided before moving to Texas that I wanted to quit using Kristy as my nickname. It served me well for many years and I still like it, but it's mainly for simplicity. When I'd first meet somebody, maybe I'd mumble or maybe I don't speak clearly enou

It doesn't matter where you live, but how...

Thoughts on Houses This is my first post from Texas. The blog lives on. August was a whirlwind, September we started settling in, and now it's October. Most of the boxes are unpacked. Just last week I found the box that had cookbooks in it, and that makes me pretty happy. I still haven't made whole wheat bread or cookies since we got here, but maybe I'll do that soon. We spent a lot of time this summer thinking about houses, getting ready to sell our house in Traverse Mountain (in Lehi, on the northern edge of Utah County), and brainstorming on what we'd need in a house in Texas. On the way to Texas, we drove south through Colorado and spent the night at Mesa Verde. We found the Far View Lodge inside the park and stayed up high on the mesa. The night sky was pitch black away from the city lights, and the weather was at least ten degrees cooler up high. I loved it. The next morning we learned a lot about the Native Americans who lived there. A man ga

Twenty + One Month

You know how life gets kinda messy sometimes? My version of messy looks like this: Four kids including a teenager learning to drive; a kindergartner learning to get herself ready in the morning; a senior learning about adulting; a middle schooler learning to ride her bike to electives every other day, a mortgage husband's career VIRTUAL PLUS church service pandemic, civil unrest, election year my own personal need for friends and connection even when my schedule looks like a revolving door Our big anniversary was last month and we were lucky enough to celebrate together this past weekend. We managed to sneak away for 24 hours. First I need to give credit where credit is due. There was a very generous friend who volunteered to parent the children during our 'Nelson marriage offsite.' And there was a generous benefactor who donated Marriott points to spring for the fancy room. I won't mention either party by name, but thanks to their generosity we had a great time. I'

Meek Warhorse

Norm's last church talk/sermon in Utah before moving to Texas July 2018, Lehi UT, Traverse Mountain 8th Ward Hello brothers and sisters, it’s my privilege to speak to you today. I guess this is our good-bye address even though we haven’t moved yet, which I’m taking as a personal sign that the bishopric can’t wait for the next family to move in. (that was a joke, guys) In my remarks today, I’m going to cover an alternative definition of meekness that really struck a chord with me. Once I’ve introduced this idea, I’m going to share my supporting argument for meekness as a strength, and then I’m going to talk about how I believe we can develop this form of meekness in our lives. As Kristy told you, our topic is “being meek and lowly of heart” which, in the terms I normally think of meekness or lowliness, is a subject that does not come naturally to me. I am not naturally what I consider to be meek, quiet or, as Kristy would tell you, all that well behaved. While I

How Controlling Are You?

Life is like Mario Kart. In the early levels, you're driving through Moo Moo Meadows and the grass is green and there's cows and fields and it's lovely. There's an occasional banana peel that gets tossed in the path, and sometimes the cows walk in the road so you try not to hit them. But overall the driving is pretty mellow. Then later after you've unlocked other levels, there's stuff like Bowser's Castle. It's a maze with lava on both sides of the path, there's fire and brimstone all around, there's stone columns that try to smash you at random intervals. Just to know where to go and how to steer and stay on the path is complicated. Some stages of life are like Moo Moo Meadows. The details are easy-peasy and you just keep moving right along. And then there are years like Bowser's Castle where it's pretty intense and you pray a lot because the fire around you is pretty hot and you're trying not to fall in the lava pit. During years

Shoplifting: Tic Tacs at Target

You know when you're at the store and one of your kids asks you to buy stuff? Then they ask again and again and again and again? My reply is usually something like, 'No, but thanks for asking.' And if they ask again then the reply goes something like, 'If you ask again, the answer will be no for like a week.' OR, "If you ask again, I'll take away your favorite toy," OR "If you ask me one more time, __________." Think of a punishment you will actually do! You can't make an empty threat here. If you don't have the energy to see it through, then just say yes. My older kids will often comment on how their younger sister gets a ton of stuff or privileges. If I'm tired and don't have the energy to win a battle, it's much better to JUST SAY YES the first time. That way, when I say NO on something, it carries more weight. So I explain to the older kids that they've already run me ragged and I no longer have the patience or st

Notes for my sister