Our Self-Reliant Life
Formerly Green Dream Project
We're Jim and Jess, an off-grid couple building our dream of a sustainable homestead in Southern Arizona. What is it like to live on rainwater in a dry climate and build a huge 14,000 gallon earthbag cistern by hand? How can you thrive comfortably on 100% off-grid solar energy? How do you build a beautiful dream home out of dirt with no heavy machinery? We're working towards self-sufficiency and a healthier, happier, more fulfilling life together. Join us on our journey to watch all our failures, triumphs, and fun with new videos each week.
Our Self-Reliant Life
Today, we're celebrating 🍾
Our anniversary was a couple of days ago, but Jess ended up very sick that day. After a bit of rest and some pampering, she's feeling much better. Now we're taking a little time to enjoy some time together and celebrate 19 years of marriage. Time flies when you get to live the adventure of a lifetime with your soul mate. Here's to many more happy years together. ❤️
2 months ago | [YT] | 1,588
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Our Self-Reliant Life
Hey, y'all! We hope you're doing well out there. You may have noticed we missed our upload yesterday. We're having technical difficulties. Life in the middle of the desert.😁 Keep an eye out. Hopefully, we'll have everything uploaded tomorrow. 🤞 Have a great day.
3 months ago | [YT] | 1,487
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Our Self-Reliant Life
A big happy birthday to Jess!🎉 We actually took some time to relax and have a little fun to celebrate. It's amazing to see our dream coming together a bit more every day. None of this would be possible without her vision, creativity, and tireless work ethic. Here's to another year around the sun. I love you.😘
6 months ago | [YT] | 1,396
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Our Self-Reliant Life
We did it!🎉
Our earthbag wall is finished. This is the last of our exterior walls and the most labor intensive as well. It's beyond exciting hitting this milestone. Now that this wall is finished, it's time to button up the roof.
Check out our latest video to see the exciting conclusion to this project.
https://youtu.be/PdoE_kJVL0M
6 months ago | [YT] | 861
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Our Self-Reliant Life
We're ready to build the final earthbag wall to our modified earthship home. We just built and installed the door forms. These will be necessary to create the openings in the earthbag wall. This is the beginning of the next chapter in building our own offgrid home. Check out our latest video out now.
https://youtu.be/gLqHRfGGX28
8 months ago | [YT] | 663
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Our Self-Reliant Life
The polycarbonate panels are going up! It feels like it's been a long time coming. Sealing up the greenhouse will be a huge step to getting the full house closed in. We just released a video today showing the panel installation so far.
https://youtu.be/L1ztJpjCgm4
9 months ago | [YT] | 624
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Our Self-Reliant Life
Happy Valentine's Day! We hope you get to spend time with loved ones today.
9 months ago | [YT] | 534
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Our Self-Reliant Life
The doors are in! We're excited as we reach a new milestone with the build. We just put the windows in, and with the addition of the doors, everything is looking a little more complete. Check out our latest video to see our salvaged doors go up.
https://youtu.be/3TukgAqO9bM?si=0m9uh...
9 months ago | [YT] | 616
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Our Self-Reliant Life
Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you have an amazing day and get to spend time with family and friends.
10 months ago | [YT] | 1,283
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Our Self-Reliant Life
Happy Thanksgiving! We're still knocking out some work today, but you can bet we'll be knocking out some delicious food later.
We're so thankful to be out here building the life we want and to spend so much time together as a couple.🥰 What are you thankful for?
11 months ago | [YT] | 1,069
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