Some Bad News

What can I say, dear readers? The past couple weeks have been some of the hardest of my life.

We lost our baby.

I’m doing something different than the conventional medical way, and waiting for my body to finish the process. (It’s called expectant management.) Guess what. My body is a tortoise walking a marathon. It’s started the race, but it’s taking its own sweet time.

Please pray for us. And I will be back around eventually. Thank you!

Summer Reflections

 

June 2013

This picture was taken around this time last year. The last child is my daughter and the grass she’s in is now our backyard. The land you see is the acreage behind our house. A lot has changed.



June 2013 - Our house is the one way back on the right (next to, but not part of, the white building).

 

We took a walk down to this house last year when my sister-in-laws were visiting. We had no idea we would move here in January. That the next year, they’d stay in it with us. Life can change so fast.

May 2014 - The garden

Yet, sometimes it feels so slow. Like this dream of living slower and being more self-sustainable. Well, those things take time to come around. Time and slow, but continual, change. Active change. Sometimes it’s hard to keep the dream alive. Hard when you realize all time and effort it takes to have the things that you want, like a garden. Hard when you realize that having a slower schedule sometimes means fighting against the system, or changing your own system.

 

June 2014 - Lots of growth!

 

Despite how I may feel, a lot of good change has happened this year so far. And mostly due to my husband. If I had been in charge of the garden, we wouldn’t have one. If I had to care for the chickens, I might have given them away. Yet, I am growing the baby – he’s doing the rest. So I guess I’m pulling my own weight. (And I still cook all the food.)

Growing Pains: spring thoughts

I should have known when we decided to move here, it would mean that this year would be hard. For me, most of my growth has been to accept slowing down, yet maintaining peace when things are busy. And also to have patience when projects take more time than I want them to. Those are some things I probably would have gone through no matter where we were. And they will probably be lifelong things anyway. 

For my husband, he’s had to be even more of a leader since we have taken on more projects. He’s also had to learn to be handy. All while working more than full-time, as in 12 hour days, 7 days a week, and sometimes traveling on the weekends. All of this has been an adjustment for sure, involving some growing pains here and there.

So, what projects might you ask?

1.   Wood stove. We have a wood stove, which is amazing, but it takes lots and lots of wood, of course! So my husband has had to add wood collecting and cutting to his list of things to do. But he got to buy a chainsaw and ax out of it, which I think he’s pretty happy about. Still working on finding a truck! We don’t need wood now since it’s warm, but he’s still making it a weekly habit of collecting so we’ll be well stocked come winter.
2. Maple syrup.  We teamed up with my parents to tap some maple trees on their property. It was our job to empty the sap into buckets. My dad would simmer it in a huge pot on a hot plate outside for a long time. When it was getting close, he’d bring it inside, we’d split it, and then we each boiled it down all the way to syrup. Ahh, I loved the smell of it boiling down. And you know what? We got over a gallon of maple syrup! It won’t last us all year, but it’ll get us through most of it.
3. Chickens. At first we were taking turns feeding the chickens at my parents’. One weekend my dad and my husband moved an old coop to our place. Fencing was on the way. As the weather got nicer, more chickens escaped their home at my parents’. My mom asked if we could move them early and just keep them in the coop until the fence came. April 2^nd, they moved in! It was work initially for my husband, getting everything set up, but now I do most of the care, egg collecting, and storing. My parents pretty much gave us a small business. We’re selling eggs to friends and church members. My main hope is to break even (and have eggs for us, which is a profit in its own way), but if we make a little extra, that would be helpful. So, yeah, we have chickens!! Didn’t think that would happen for another year or two, but it practically happened overnight!
4.  Garden. My husband has done all the planning for the garden, outside of my ideas for what to plant. I know this was work for him because he’s never gardened. Our yard is thick with years of grass that had not been mowed. He worked a few mornings shoveling out a border around the area we choose. God blessed him with neighbor driving by on a Bobcat. My husband promptly flagged him down and asked him what he could pay him to plow that plot. Fifty bucks and it was done. It was well worth it! It has taken trials to get the lot tilled, but it is finally tilled (thanks to a friend and my father) and we have some spring things planted!

It’s been really neat to see this land come alive in the spring. Who knew we had flowering trees in the front? I think we’ll have irises and maybe another bulb flower. There is a rose bush trying to revive. And this lovely plant below.

There have been many ups and downs with this move. There still are. But the vision is coming together. Our hard work is paying off. This is the exciting time. This is what all of our day dreaming and planning has been for. It’s such a blessing to see a little fruit from our efforts. I pray God continues to guide and bless us along this new journey of ours. 

What Were We Thinking?

It was the summer of 2011 when I first started seeing glimpses of this homestead dream of ours. I was reading Real Food by NinaPlank. In it she described the family cow and how pigs and chickens can root, fertilize and basically prepare your land for gardening. She described the cycle of food and animals – the cycle of a farm. That was the spark. 

Of course, my extended family was already moving in that direction. My brother had started a CSA on my parents’ land. Two of my sister-in-laws and I had “Nourishing Traditions” and were doing what we could. We all wanted to be eating real, traditional foods. And I began wanting to grow it.

Two and half years later, we are able to make steps toward this dream. It’ exhilarating. And daunting. And overwhelming. I have had many moments when I have thought, “What were we thinking?” Like when I smelled a stench in a particular part of the kitchen after we moved in. (It’s gone now thankfully!) Or when we would spend $200 in just half an hour getting things for the house and land. Just to mention a few. There have been challenges and I sense they are just the beginning. What were we thinking? What are we thinking?!?

I would ask myself this. Yet then, I’d see a glorious sunset. I’d catch the bright stars and stare out at the open field. While spring delayed, the sunsets and stars served as reminders to why we moved. Now that spring is here and we have walked and worked the land, I have even more reminders. Our plans are unfolding. And grateful and hopeful anticipation is rolling in. 

The Blue House :: Week 1

Sunset view from the front door this week.

 

By God’s grace, the move went very smoothly. Nevertheless, it was still stressful. Of course, that was to be expected.

We’ve made more progress than I had imagined, but as I predicted, I still felt/feel overwhelmed by how much there is still to do.  Obviously right now my mind is constantly occupied with thoughts of how to improve this home, things to do, things we need, etc., etc. The other morning I read in Luke, “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” (17:33) I don’t know how to do this. I feel like I’m trying to create a life - one I’ve pictured in my head and one I feel God has inspired me to, yet I keep leaving Him out.

And while I still don’t know how to practically apply this to my life, I received some basic instruction on how to live in 1 Peter 3:10-11: “For ‘He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.’” Shocker: this is something I really need to work on right now.

It all goes back to love: loving others and loving Christ by seeking Him and trusting in Him. I don’t need some grand act to “lose my life”; I simply need to be faithful in the little things.

This week I hope to do some real cleaning, organize our closet and the laundry room, get back into routines with the kids, and trust God for the strength to do what I can, and let go of the rest.

While I work, I pray I can keep this quote in mind: “Work with vigilance, simply and naturally, without anxiety, with joy and happiness, with a good disposition. And then divine grace will come.” St. Porphyrious, Wounded by Love pg 144

Here's review of the progress. I'm sure you'll be able to tell, but just in case, the first picture is the before, the second is after. :)

 

 

 

We've made an entry way on the side of the living room.

 

 

My desk in the sun room. Needs some decluttering!

 

 

 

 

 

 

In case you were thinking we were unpacked. Nope!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a home that will house a lot of growth

This house has been labeled "The Blue House."

A year and a half ago, right after Bubby was born, my brother told me about this place. I knew about it. I'd seen it several times since it's on the way to his house. He said our parents were hoping to buy it. My heart lept. I wanted it to be for us. I wanted to live there.

Not because it's a beautiful house. It's not. It's just a manufactured home. But, the land. The location. And just something... something I can't explain.

And then they bought it. And it had to sit some more due to procedure.

But now they own it. And we're moving in! It's a dream come true. A huge blessing from my parents. And God.

They bought it on a tax sale. It sits on six acres. It was forclosed on several years ago and has not been lived in since. There are some cosmetic things (holes in the walls, doorknobs needed, etc.) that we'll get to after we unpack. As far as we can tell, it's fully functional. Since it's a manufactured home, everything about it is really cheap. The walls, the floor, the doors. Not ideal, but I love the layout!

Let me show you this house I'm all excited about. The one that will be our home, at least for another long while. A home that will house a lot of growth.

These pictures will be the before pictures. Once we're in, I post pictures of our stuff every where. It will be scary. But then I'll show the progress, hopefully week by week. I'll need this as motivation.

Since these pictures:
- We have cleaned and vacuumed
- My brother and hubby put in a wood stove (with a tile floor underneath) in the living room. (Thank you so much Justin!)
- My dad installed a dishwasher, stove, and refrigerator (Thanks Dad!)

Here it is!!!

As you walk in the front door...

... turn around and see the front door.

Kitchen

Kitchen with hallway to bedrooms on the right.

Laundry room. (With a door to the back yard on the left.) There's a bit more room to it on the right.

Master bedroom, leading to master bath.

 Master Bathroom

This bathroom is ridiculously big. I had to take four pictures of it to capture all the essential parts. Not looking forward to cleaning this... haha

Toilet (which will be getting replaced soon)

Large tub. Maybe I'll finally become a bath person. :)

Sink

Shower

Walk in closet. We'll have to buy more clothes to fill this thing up! Or not.

Hallway to other 2 bedrooms and other bathroom.

Dubbed "the green room." Don't be fooled by those stars. They are camo - and they will have a short life in our home, hopefully! The kids will stay here because Sweet Girl chose it. 

Second bathroom. Toilet will also be replaced. The seat came off when I was cleaning it!

Third bedroom. This will be the guest room! :) (I'm very excited about having a guest room.)

This is the dining area.

This is the view of the living room from the dining area.

Off of the dining area, what I think will be my favorite room... "The Sun Room." This will be the office/school/craft room.

Please pray for us as we adjust to a new home!