The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less. - Socrates

"Yet, another wonderful day in Winneconne".....that should be their slogan. Life is good here. The pace is slower, quieter, and more relaxing. We were talking about this last night, and we had two different takes on this new perspective. Is it because we don't have a mortgage looming over our heads that makes us more relaxed?, Is it the water that forces you to be outside more thus less noise?, Is it being without a T.V?, or is it because I'm getting a break from school? 

We decided to call it the Lake Winneconne Artist/Fishing residency. I'm back to work in my studio (gosh that feels good to write this), and finished 3 pieces since school has been out. We don't have a lot of noise in our lives right now and it makes us both reevaluate on what is important: making art, making lures, going for a boat ride, having a healthy family (godspeed Kurtie and family!), going for long walks, playing guitar, reading, listening to music, eating good quality food, loving the cats, and taking care of each other. 

So, you are probably reading this and wondering is the build done? have they started?...the answer to both is no, and no. It's been an interesting roller coaster this past month. Everything has ran very smoothly from the posting and selling, so we assumed that the build would be easy. Lesson learned don't assume anything. 

We got the bid back on first day of summer break and it was not good news. Our architect, Matt, looked very defeated and said the bid was way over priced. The bid came back at a whopping $246,000! You would have thought we were building a mansion, which we are not. The general contractor had $67,000 of added charges that could not be explained.....hmmmmmmmmm. It was not a good experience, thus the melt down. Matt left with the final words, "I want to see this built". He has so much invested in this project, but we told him we have to build smaller. We have run the gamut of selling the property (and pay off my college loan, finally) and finding a small home and be debt-free! This is so enticing, but we are still holding onto hope. We believe in the notion we CAN build small (1000-1300 sq. ft), smart and on a tight budget.  We believe it can be done we just need to find the right person, and not like the first contractor who was only concerned about the almighty buck.

So, back to the concept of space. How much does two people really need? Currently, we live in a 900  sq. ft. home, and are happy (minus the questionable craftmanship). We both work in two working studios. My studio measures at a whopping 88 sq. ft and Paul's 105 sq. ft. and we are still making art and lures without a hitch. The house that we used to live in was 1600 sq. ft and it was too big, and all my time was spent cleaning and putting all our "stuff" away. Yet, that is another point to be made we have a storage unit that measures 10'X30' and it is filled with stuff that we don't even miss. Time to pitch, we say! 

I just realized we have less stress based on two components: we have less stuff and space, but more time to do what we love. Until next time...enjoy the view!