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Where the heck have I been?? I've moved to TAOS! :D

Home Forums Miscellany Community Where the heck have I been?? I've moved to TAOS! :D

Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
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  • #507691
    bayoudragon
    Participant

      OK. Yep, another update from me. After 2 years of crud, one thing after the other (which I will not bore everyone with), my life is finally moving in a positive direction. There comes a point where you just have to make a leap of faith and follow your heart. And that’s exactly what I did.

      One day while goofing off on YouTube, I stumbled upon a documentary that would start my life down a completely different road. The title was “Garbage Warrior”. Being from south Louisiana, you learn to deal with natural disasters, and this documentary sparked something. After watching the video, I moved to “Earthships New Solutions”… and after that, every other video I could find. I had seen enough; I was hooked! I decided to enroll in the Earthship Biotecture Academy, and I wasn’t going to let anyone tell my otherwise. I somehow borrowed the money for tuition and expenses, sent in my application, and was accepted.

      I headed to Taos at the end of August… and in Taos I’ve stayed! So many things lined up so beautifully to make this happen. I missed out on student housing so I rented an RV. If I had booked student housing, I would have had no place to stay after the last day and would have left Taos. On a whim I thought I’d check out a piece of property for sale (20 acres for 19K). I just didn’t know if my tiny little car would make it on those horrendous back “roads”. Strange things happen. I made a bit of a barter deal with one of the staff. He would take me to see this property (big 4×4 truck) and in return I would help him with his earthship rentals that weekend. Long story short, we did a lot of talking on that drive… my life, background, jobs I’ve had, skills, etc. In the end, I was told I couldn’t leave. LOL. And why not stay? I could start my life fresh!

      I did go back home for 2 weeks though. Telling family and friends all of a sudden you’re moving to another state (when you should already be driving back) is not something you do over Facebook. XD

      Basically, I somehow became his personal assistant. When I returned I had 2 weeks to learn the ropes, as he and many of the crew were headed to Easter Island for a humanitarian build. I have his cell phone, mail key, multiple car keys, I’m paying bills, handling texts and emails (including personal ones), vehicle maintenance, managing his rentals, etc. It’s a little scary when someone just completely turns over their life to you. And I occasionally get to babysit the furbaby (dane/greyhound mix), which is awesome (it’s time I got another dog. I’m ready now).

      I am currently renting an earthship in the Greater World community. It’s just northwest of Taos on the mesa. The whole community is completely off-grid. The people are awesome. They believe in making this world a better place. And the views? The views are stunning!

       photo IMG_3116_zps86d94576.jpg

       photo dd4e5f6e-eccc-4ec1-9858-1fdc5954372f_zps513cb795.jpg

      The crew has been gone for 6 weeks now. When the boss comes back in a couple days, I need to figure out exactly what my responsibilities will be… after I give him all his crap back. LOL. I definitely want to make sure I still have some time to paint (a big THANK YOU to those of you who are patiently waiting. I’ll have a update on a time frame soon!).

      So now, bayoudragon is currently living on the dry, dry mesa. LOL.

      Here are a couple picture albums for those interested. I made them public so you shouldn’t need an account to see them. 🙂

      Earthship Biotecture Academy (I never did finish uploading them all)

      The Phoenix Earthship

      Hopefully, I will actually be able to be on the forum regularly again!!! >.<

      #923130
      etruscan
      Participant

        Wow – what a change! Great to hear from you. 🙂

        #923134
        drag0nfeathers
        Participant

          YAY! bayoudragon we missed you!!!!

          Got a busted Windstone?
          drag0nfeathersdesign@gmail.com
          *OPEN for repairs*

          *SEEKING GRAILS*
          Arc-en-ciel Emperor
          Siphlophis Male Dragon
          Calypso Hatching Empress
          Ivory Moss Sitting Baby Kirin
          Tattoo Mother Kirin
          Emerald Tabby Male Griffin
          Tie Dye + Orion Hatching Royalty
          Indigo Rockfish + Flame Tabby Little Rock Dragons
          Dragon Quail + Obsidian Frost Old Warriors
          Betta Sun Dragon + Male Dragon
          Dreamscape, Orion, Poison Dart, Fireberry, Spangler + Tigerberry Dragons

          #923137
          Falcolf
          Participant

            Oh wow, this is incredible! So encouraging to hear that your life has taken such a positive turn, it drives me to hope that mine will too. I’ve got a lot of respect for the earthship idea and off grid living; it’s something I would like to do someday. Many, many congratulations to you Bayoudragon!

            Check out my finished artwork at http://falcolf.deviantart.com/ and my sketch/studio blog at http://rosannapbrost.tumblr.com/

            Excellent!

            #923139
            jmoore
            Participant

              Goodness! Many congratulations and best of luck to you!

              #923204
              Lokie
              Participant

                I don’t know much about Earthship structures or Taos, New Mexico but I will educate myself more on it. Its great that you are feeling positive and I wish you all the best! I can’t wait to see what lovely things you come up with when you start painting again =)

                #923145
                Kim
                Blocked

                  That’s very cool! I haven’t heard of Taos or anything like this before but will look it up. I would love to travel more or move somewhere cool and work out in nature or with animals or helping the environment! (Edit-I looked up your links and the pictures and process are so cool. I would love to live like that off the grid as well and grow my own food and live somewhere warm!)

                  Looking for rainbow or pink & teal grab bags!

                  #923214
                  Prezaurian
                  Participant

                    Great that you’re getting a positive upswing in your life! It’s good that you’re happy and I hope you’re family and friends encourage and support you in this. I think living off the grid is very interesting, I think I wouldn’t mind being partially off the grid. Kicking the electric bill out the door by switching to solar energy would be pretty cool. Perhaps I’ll try to save up for solar panels. That would be nice. House gets such blazing sunlight most of the day that I think the power company would end up having to pay me! lol

                    #923278
                    LadyFirebird
                    Participant

                      So glad to hear your news 🙂 I hope this will be the way for you to go and it sounds like it. You plan and do and think and nothing happens; then all of a sudden things happen fast and furious. I haven’t been to Taos but I’ve been in Santa Fe and yes, the scenery is out of this world. I wish the very best for you and keep us posted.

                      #923295
                      Hannah
                      Participant

                        I’m late to the party but – WOW! Bayou that is SO cool. I was actually just reading about earthships maybe a week ago and I was fascinated by how these structures are made using recycled material and in the end look like high class, gorgeous homes. My favorite image was of someone’s wall that had been stippled with different colored bottles – they acted like tiny stained glass windows and cast this beautiful light. What an awesome calling, I’m so happy for you! 😀

                        Commission spots are currently closed! Please message me for details.
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                        #923469
                        Skigod377
                        Participant

                          Wow! Freakin awesome!! I hope everything works out but it sounds like it was meant to be!

                          #923562
                          bayoudragon
                          Participant

                            Thanks all! It really has been an amazing ride.

                            I did get to talk to him. He will be building another Earthship sometime this year (if things go well) and wants to make me his project manager. He also mentioned about putting me on his client projects. I made him put on the brakes, and we discussed a few things.

                            He basically wants to make sure I have enough money and to keep me motivated so I don’t leave. And he doesn’t want the company (Earthship Biotecture) to steal me away either. That tends to happen with some of the people he personally hires. He just lost one to the company a couple months ago, and with my artistic abilities, he doesn’t want that to happen to me.

                            I told him that the last thing I wanted was to be overloaded. That’s one of the reasons I quit my job a couple years ago. I don’t need a bunch of money. Just enough… and enough time to myself so I can work on my commissions. He understood. I also told him I don’t really want to work for the company either. I have more flexibility with him, and if there’s something I don’t feel comfortable or qualified doing, I can simply let him know. It’s more of a partnership (than being an employee working for the company).

                            So far, I really want to see where this goes. Yes, I’m away from my family and spent Christmas alone, but in a way, I was OK with it. It was nice and quiet. I had the place to myself, the fire going with a nice hot cup of tea on Christmas Eve. We got snow on Christmas, and I got to watch my nephew open his gifts through FaceTime. It was kinda nice.

                            Actually, the hardest thing is adjusting to a totally different climate. South Louisiana barely drops below freezing. I checked the weather the other day, and it was -6 degrees (F). o.0

                            I have snow boots in route! XD

                            #923581
                            Skigod377
                            Participant

                              After reading this post I was checking out youtube. I didn’t even know these things existed! The ones I saw were gorgeous and it’s so unusual. It sounds like you’ll be seriously valued and that you’ll be happy. I hope so!!

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