One of the things that has stressed us about having our house on the market but no home built on the farm yet is the question of where we would live intermittently when the house does sell.

Luckily, we've solved that problem. Yep, we've got our "Transition House." And, who knows -- once we move into it, we may just stay there a couple of years as we take our time planning out our more permanent residence. OR . . . we may be super eager to spread out a bit. We'll just have to see how it plays out.

We purchased a used mobile home that we can move right out to the farm. At 16x56 and just under 900 sq. ft., it'll definitely be the tightest quarters our family of five has ever occupied for any length of time. BUT. . . (I've got a great list of 10 things for you here!)

1. We will have the barn for extra storage.

2. The kids have a playhouse that can house some toys that will not fit into the small bedroom they'll all three be sharing.

3. I love the organizational challenge of figuring out how to maximize the space and make every square inch work FOR us.

4. I also look forward to the purging we'll get to do as we prepare to downsize into this space. We have too. much. stuff. We just do. And, while I'm constantly toting boxes to the donation center, I look forward to the cathartic cleansing that is imminent with this big move!

5. We'll have the farm! When we're not snowed in or in fear of heat stroke, we will be outdoors a lot. And there will be a lot of outdoor space to explore and enjoy!

6. My washer fits! This is a big deal to me. I can do without a dishwasher, if I must. I can do without a garbage disposal. But, I'm so very glad that I won't have to do without my high-capacity washing machine!

7. Living in a used mobile home is pretty "green." It's already in existence. This is basically like recycling a home -- what could be greener?

8. Our family will learn some valuable skills as we navigate the the stresses of living in closer proximity. I suspect that the kids will (eventually) become more cooperative and appreciative. And, we'll be forced to have even more "family togetherness" time. ;)

9. We'll get more in tune with the way much of the world lives. Our 896 square feet averages out to about 180 square feet per person in this home. The American average is much higher than that (embarrassingly high, in fact). But most of the world lives smaller. According to findings published by the UN, most families in the world would be quite comfortable in a space the size of our new digs; and, in fact, only about 60% of folks in "more developed countries" even get more space than this.

10. Based on our time spent in this transition home, we will gain a better sense of what we "need" in the permanent residence we'll eventually build.