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When we built our little yellow Goldfinch we went through several different design changes. Before we started I decided it was going to be a more affordable house, with fiberglass batt insulation and T1-11 siding. I modified the Wee Bee plan and drew up a new floor plan calling for split lofts and a different kitchen configuration to allow for a bigger stove with oven. We were still working under the tutelage of our neighbor and friend, a smart guy with years of building experience.

By the time we got through the framing of the exterior walls we had heard many requests for just a room

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Figure out what really makes you happy. Be specific, and forget about realistic for now. If you don't know, gather information. Become a happiness detective. Think back over your history and reflect on times you've been happy, how long they lasted, and what you learned from those experiences. Expose yourself to new places, people, situations and reflect on how you feel during and after those experiences. Investigate; talk to people about what their happiest moments in life have been. Ask them how long those good feelings lasted, how and why they changed and what feelings followed.

Hi. My name is Paprika, but most of my friends call me Pepper. My earliest memories of learning about the world are colored by grief for the destruction we humans wreak on nature and each other. From the beginning it seems my brain lingered around the biggest questions I could frame, especially those I could apply to both situations in my own daily life and those in the nightly news. How could people be so good and yet behave so badly? Why did we keep making the same mistakes repeatedly? Why did we seem so unhappy and yet feel powerless to improve our lives?