Hello! Look at this, two post in 24 hours for our followers! Local reporter Chad Silber from WFMY Chanel 2 (out of Greensboro) came out last night and interviewed April and Sophie for their feature story. We thought you would enjoy the video/link here:
Don’t forget to tune in THIS Monday May 30th at 9:30pm EST/8:30pm CST for our episode to air on HGTV’s Tiny House-Big Living.
From the Rambler to The Road
Love, The Marzullo’s
Hello All! Its has been a couple of months since I last updated everyone on our living progress. I did admit that I am not the best at keeping updates but its better late than never. Before I get into the juicy details about our cable TV debut, here are some housekeeping updates.
We officially moved from our original landing spot to our new location. Literally the next day, one of the neighbors called the county on us and now we will probably have to move. We feel as if we are fugitives on the run that have not committed any crime. It’s unfortunate that people can’t be civil and talk to us in person but run and cry to mama!! Ok, enough venting on that issue, but in all seriousness the counties within the state of North Carolina are all different. Being that we are a Tiny House on Wheels puts us in a category where there are no regulations/zoning codes built for us around this area. We have to start looking around again making sure we stay close to the area for my job and Sophie’s school. If we moved farther away then we would have to restart the process again, which brings us to housekeeping update #2.
We have signed Sophie up for what we call Big Kid School, and she will be starting Kindergarten in August. We are excited for her to attend and she is most excited about the pool and having ice cream on Fridays for lunch. She just went to the Strawberry Farm this past week and loved every minute of it. April and I were chaperones and Sophie did not want anything to do with us but wanted to be with her friends and teacher. So, once she gets to Kindergarten there will be no doubt that she will enjoy her new class, teachers, and friends.
Lastly, we officially have our snippet displayed on the HGTV Tiny House-Big Living. Our episode airs THIS Monday May 30th (Memorial Day) around 9:30 est or 8:30 cst. It’s so exciting to actually see the final project after months of filming. I would love to see how they fit all of that filming into 22 minutes of air time. Here is a link to the snippet of our episode.
I hope you can all tune in to our episode and see the process in a nut-shell! I want to re-thank everyone who donated their time, talents, and treasures to make this possible because we can only express so much gratitude in words how much this truly meant to us in accomplishing our Tiny House.
Bart & Bruce from B2 Design Build, Jamie & Scott (electricians), Tyler Banks and team (Cabinet Makers), Nature’s Stone (Countertops), Floors To Go (our flooring) Sherwin Williams (all our paint, primer, brushes, supplies) which was a tremendous gift, donations from our Gofundme/YouCaring account, random monetary donations in the mail from family and friends, the hard work of Leon Boeckel (church friend), Steve Braun (father-in-law), Mark Vagle (church friend), Matt Anderson (friend and wine aficionado) and Charlie Rhein (friend and co-worker). I want to thank John and Julie Diwi for their support through out the years and especially their “babysitting” duties. I could not thank you enough especially during the year of April’s extreme health decline. The awesome crews from Orion Entertainment….Wow! Now I know how it feels when you win an Oscar and want to thank all the countless hours put in and all the people who made our dream possible. We can not forget the many other, the list goes on and on. You know who you are!
Enjoy the Show!!
From the Rambler to the Road,
The Marzullo’s 🙂
Hello All! It has been a long time since I posted! Here is what has happened so far:
So, lets start with the last couple of weeks and what we have been up to. A couple of weeks ago, we finished our last day of filming for the cable TV show that we are going to be featured. We will give more details once we are allowed and the show becomes on air. It was a nice final shooting because we got to see some of the TV crew from our very first filming. It has been a great process and experience filming for a TV show so we hope everything looks good in the end ;-).
Our next big adventure is trying to find where our next place to “park” will be because coming into the place we are now has always been a temporary location until we were officially settled. We are learning so much everyday from what it takes to buy land and have a tiny house and finding people in the tiny house circles who can be a tremendous resource.
Finally, the moment we have all been waiting for…The 3 month tour!! After much anticipation we are happy to show you how our house looks after 3 months. We broke down our video into 3 sections: 3 month tour, additions we have made, and FAQ’s. April did a wonderful job and we hope you enjoy the video.
Click on the link below:
From The Rambler to the Road, Love-The Marzullo’s
Hello All! First off, I hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! It has been a long while since I wrote and instead of giving a line of excuses let’s just say we wanted to ensure that we had functioning internet and hot water before I started on my creative blogging 😉 . Well, we have hot water (after our first 26 days here) & internet! After brainstorming, many trips to the stores, and help from Daniel (our tiny house helper) we finally figured out the hot water heater process. Without going into huge detail, the problem was that I have to have separate regulators for each gas line and buy new hoses that feed the propane to the gas lines. I will tell you with days that we had just the stove working to having just the water heater working and now having both is such a relief. I feel that it is now a complete home. So to sum up the last couple of weeks we:
O. Henry Magazine We are in the article Home Wee Home starting on page 76.
Overall, everything has been a smooth transition and are extremely thankful for all the support and prayers we have been receiving. As promised we will put up a “live-in” video very soon so please stay tuned!
From the Rambler to the Road,
The Marzullo’s
Hello All! So with the safe transport of our tiny house only starts the true realization that not everything goes the way that we plan. As people will watch on TV, the new tiny house owners are happy and living in their home with no problems. Well, not so with our tiny house because even though we are happy we ran into some problems! After we moved all our boxes in and unpacked (see below), we decided to start the living-in process. First step, fix the drain pipe that broke leaving our driveway. Next, finish tubing for the vent pipe for our compost toilet. Third, have someone come out to fix our hot water heater. Lastly, run the water and finally take a shower in our own bathroom. Yeah! Not so much. After going to 8 plumbing/home improvement stores we found that no one in the state of North Carolina has black piping. So after our driving tour of the neighboring cities we we had to use regular white PVC piping. Ok, so I accomplished this task, finished the compost toilet vent pipe, and now it’s time to start the water and let it flow!
WRONG!!! We hooked up our hose, turned it on, and ran the faucets only to see water pooling behind the wall and at the base of our shower. After we shut off the water, we noticed water dripping from the outside of the house where our washer/dryer combo is located. Note to self: If you build a tiny house make sure you have plumbing easily accessible. So after brainstorming and with the help of John Williams from Camp Tiny House II and Daniel we found the culprit to the problem. Our theory is that there was a small puncture of a screw that went through the stud and into the water line. After the transport of the tiny house, the water line moved and the small puncture hole was now exposed giving the free flow of water where it should not have been. We cut an access panel near the washer/dryer and looked for leaks and found none. You always have to be safe when dealing with water leaks so we had to access that even if we found nothing.
Next, we had a service technician come out to fix our hot water heater and found that he was not allowed to touch anything but of the fine print that states you can’t have this in a mobile home. Well, we tried to use the argument that this is not a mobile home and that it is a tiny house. AAaggghhh!!!!! Being in the gray area of a home is hard to get the answers that you need. So, we ordered some more parts and now we are waiting to see if that will be a success so that we can have hot water. You do miss the luxuries of hot water when you don’t have them, but one step at a time to achieve our goals 🙂 Now that I puked our problems on paper, let’s talk about some positive items.
When we first moved in, there was a photographer (Amy) here with John taking pictures of the tiny houses he is going and have built (shipping crates) and she said that she would try to come back and take some photos of our home. We are going to be in the January issue of O. Henry magazine:
It will be about a 10 page spread and we will be in a page or two about the Tiny House movement. Just pictures of us not our story (hopefully one day there may be a follow up).
I have been on the search of finding a job and finding Sophie a school (and boy does she need it) for her parents especially 😉 There is a promise for a job so let’s keep our fingers crossed for that.
Lastly, a nice picture of our view from the previous morning and a nice shot of Dante enjoying the life!
And to end on a positive note, we are excited to celebrate Christmas with our family here in the area and get to enjoy our new home no matter what may come our way. Merry Christmas to you all!
From the Rambler to the Road,
The Marzullos
Hello All! It’s been a crazy couple of weeks but we have finally packed up our large house (the rambler) and moved it into our tiny house. As I was packing things into the tiny house, I thought to myself that there is still a lot we will have to go through and much to my surprise we only have to donate a small amount. Before I go into detail about our move in process let’s start with the departure.
The transport company came to pick up the tiny house on Nov 29 the day before an ice/snow storm hit and made its way to Mauston, Wisconsin the first day. Then the second day made its way to Chillicothe, Ohio and to the final destination in Kernersville, North Carolina on Tuesday late afternoon.
We had one last bon voyage and Tiny House take-off party with a bonfire and cooler weather only to wake up with 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and an ice underlayment. We followed behind our tiny house at a slower pace where we stopped in Black River Falls WI before making our way to Chicago to visit my side of the family and took selfies along the way of the folks we got to see. We spent two nights in Illinois and one night in Ohio where April got to see an old college friend. We then made our way to our new home on Thursday evening.
Here are some friends and families we took pics of while visiting:
Here are all the states we visited along the way (didn’t get the Illinois shot….sorry)
We have some news!! We are going to be on TV in the Spring and we will give you more details in the future once we are allowed to tell you more so stay tuned. Thanks to everyone who helped us get to this point. We couldn’t do it without each and everyone of you.
From the Rambler to the Road,
The Marzullo’s
Hello All! Here is our descriptive walk through of our tiny house. Due to popular demand, I was not asked to be the MC for this visit 😦 so I left it up to my beautiful wife 🙂 to show you around our house. With our many visitors, everyone seems to comment that it looks bigger than 340 sq. ft. The vaulted ceilings, ten windows, and paint color brighten up our home and give a spacious appearance, and maybe one day we can add a deck/porch to add more usable space but that won’t be until well into the future. The guys (B2 design build) have to do their final inspection before our home gets transported on Nov. 30. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we can head out before snow sticks to the ground. And without further ado, here is your video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PZkiKLV3dw
From the Rambler to the Road,
The Marzullo’s
Hello All, It’s Official! We have our tiny house ready for transport! We (with the help of Steve and I) have put up finishing touches from staining all the woodwork to polyurethane and painting touch ups. Bart and Bruce have worked tirelessly to get our house ready for the reveal party we had on Nov.14. A friend from church (Katie Foley) was gracious enough to take more professional photos instead of our typical iphone shots. So enjoy the photos 🙂
After November 15, I slept for what it seemed like 2 straight days and just vegged out since the normal schedule was working until midnight or 2 in the morning. Now, the task of packing everything into boxes for the move is next on our list. We had to move our transport date from November 16 to November 30 since we had to make sure our home was “road worthy.” It was actually good timing because the transport company needed to change their schedule around, so even though it will be 70 degrees today in North Carolina, we will just have to deal with 32 degrees, wind, and snow! Yuck!!
We are working on getting an official video of the detailed tour of the tiny house which includes the materials list, colors, finishes, and other explanations in regards to items that we chose to put into our home. So stay tuned for that, and in the meantime enjoy the wonderful photos!
This is our Kitchen and Dining Area
Here is our desk, medicine/machine cabinet for April, and the sofa
Here is the bathroom and lofts
Here is the exterior
Have a Happy Thanksgiving from B2 Design Build & the Marzullo’s
From the Rambler to the Road,
The Marzullo’s
Hello All! It’s been quite some time since I have written so here is the latest update of what has been going on. My last day of work was on October 9, and beginning October 10th up to this past week has been committed hours of getting the house ready for our destination date of departure on November 16. We have decided to hire a transport company, We Haul RV Transport from Hutchinson, MN, to take our tiny house to our new home spot in Kernersville, NC on Camp Tiny House II. We will be the first tiny house to occupy this property and everyone is excited for our arrival. Now for our updates:
There are several other little things that have been done, but I don’t need to bore you with those details so we have decided to make a video and this time April is your host. So we will see who has done a better job 😉
Enjoy the tour of our tiny home!
From the Rambler to the Road,
The Marzullo’s
Hello Everyone! We wanted to let you know how thankful we are for each and every one of you in our lives. With the help of Steve, April was able to find the exact location we will be putting our tiny house. It is actually going just outside High Point NC (in the Triad) to Tiny House Camp II, which is on 4 acres of land with a huge vegetable garden and in the country. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it! Thanks to their 2,700 mile road trip in 5 days it was a success. They asked the renter, Kelly, if they needed to sign a contract and she said, “down here we smile and give an honest hand shake. Welcome to the South!” Wow!! Thanks so much to Brent & Ghazelle and Patty & Fritz for putting them up during their journey.
Lots of work was done while they were gone and thanks to Bart and Bruce, all the guys from church, and our friends for coming and helping. Thanks to Auntie Julie and Auntie Amie for minding Sophie for us the last few days because making memories before we leave is always great. Tomorrow is another great day with some special surprises for April and we would not allow her to see inside the house. She was pretty bummed when she got back, but after I clean up a bit and they come back in the morning then she can look at the space.
With everyone’s amazing support and gifts and several hours on the phone by April we are so happy to say April was successful in getting medications to cover herself during the move. So, that is a huge blessing and we can’t thank you each enough! That is a tremendous blessing and huge stress off of our back. So, as of today we will no longer be accepting donations. Side note, if you still feel called to give, April knows lots of girls who are needing extra $ love because of transplants right now. Meds were the big stress for us and you guys helped us reach our needed refills/out-of-pocket fills. Another answer to prayers is that April found out after an incredible meticulous review by doctors, for nearly 11 months now, that she does in fact meet the requirements with her health to get approved for disability-medical portion. The non-medical requirements are still pending. That is an absolute incredible blessing, medical wise. Knowing her body is nowhere near where it was and how easy she gets tired now, that news is a God send. Looks can be deceiving, this we know! Her blood levels, PFT’s, weight, polymorphisms, etc. are all battles she fights daily inside. Her disability is not exterior, at this point! That is what a lot of people don’t understand. They don’t see her walking up a few stairs and sitting down for several minutes to catch her breath. They don’t see that bringing something in from the car takes hundreds of calories. People don’t see she has to eat 3,000 calories a day because her lungs are burning more than that by just struggling to breath. People don’t see the hours connected to machines, hoses, medication schedules, and so much more. People don’t see her body shut down suddenly when her tank is empty. CF is one of those nasty diseases that makes the statement true, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’ Speaking of cover, I was reading Ian Pettigrew’s book of the Salty Girls. Man, are they strong women. If you didn’t look it up, you should. Check it out here: http://www.ianpettigrew.com/salty-girls.html April looks great, but I am bias 🙂 She is my Salty Princess.
But again, we just wanted to say thank you so much to each and everyone who has helped us along our journey. We could not be where we are without Bart and Bruce of B2 Design Build (http://www.b2designbuild.com/) Taylor, the cabinet-maker, Scott and Jamie our electricians, and all the other professions helping with the supplies and shipments. And of course, my army of men who work alongside me tirelessly into the night to make this dream a reality. We are so thankful for everyone who is taking this journey from The Rambler to The Road!! Pics and Video later….otherwise April will see how much progress we really did make.
Love, The Marzullo’s
