urban pioneers!

So, we've been house-hunting, looking for a slightly nicer house, with extremely nicer neighbors. After searching and searching, and wanting to punch craigslist in the face, we may have found the one. Just turned in the rental app today. As soon as I walked in (well, almost as soon... had to get past that pink paint first!) I started daydreaming about painting, decorating, house-warming, and all the other things that I can do in a brand new house. Like expanding on our already odd tendency to do things ourselves. We make our own pickles. We preserved and canned blueberries. Brewed beer. Our first attempt at cheese failed, but I'm game to try again. My theory is the more I do myself, the more independent I can be. I am not a handy person, not particularly good with tools, nor am I an outdoorsy, country type. I like living in the city, but I want a root cellar. I want to get an old Mercedes, and make my own bio-diesel. (Seriously, I'm trying to convince Logan that this is a great idea.) All this in the name of making life simpler. By simpler I mean affected less by marketing, packaging, all the ways we consume in unhealthy ways. Anyway, the few small things I've tried to do myself have been empowering, and I'm on the lookout for new ideas. Got any good ones? I'm thinking about buying a sewing machine and some vintage Vogue patterns...