I'm still here, alive and kicken'!! Probably a little more kicken' than I should have been doing though :)
Farmer Willie and I were just talking about the fact that in November, it will have been one year since we first laid eyes on our farm. December will be a year since the move.
It has been a crazy year!
You would think that with moving to our dream home/land/farm it would have been a happy year...right?? Well, it has had its ups and downs.
Moving out here has taken more adjusting than I had anticipated. Most of the girls transitioned well, but my sweet Tori struggled. This was not her cup of tea!!
It has also been a struggle for me, and that shocked me!
Two things I have struggled with have been being tied down by the animals and the overwhelming cost that it takes to keep things going.
You see, we are a family that loves to travel. We have always given up some of the things that many families count as necessity in order to free up money for travel. We don't have cable, we don't do smart phones, we don't eat out much, etc. This was all with the express intent to travel more.
Well....apparently goats and chickens and bees and cats have this crazy thought process....they expect us to feed, water and milk them everyday!!! I know, soooo selfish on their part!!! Right??!!
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| (Isn't she just the cutest thing??!!) |
My life before moving here was really just getting from one trip to another. I kid you not!! We traveled ALL OF THE TIME!! Some were big trips and many were small. We loved them all!! William and I think it is a super important thing to do for our children.
So...not as much traveling and not as much money, plus a lot more work to be done sometimes makes for a grumpy Kristi!! :) (I know, you are totally shocked!)
Then we have travel time. When we moved we realized that we would be an hour away from my family as opposed to minutes away, but at the time an hour drive did not really seem like that far! Umm....it is!!
We tried to make the drive several times a week at first, but now realize that we can only do it once a week on most weeks.
We have also had change in our family due to our oldest daughter going off to college. We miss her. A lot.
Now that you are all depressed and think I am too, let me tell you the good stuff!
The Lord has shown me that we have much to be thankful for!
It began by spending at least an hour sitting on the porch in the morning. My 16 year old, Tori, and I will sit out there and sip coffee as the sun comes up.
Eventually Emi and Kalli join us after they have finished their farm chores. We watch the chickens come out of their coop, the grasshoppers wake up and get hopping, the cat play with his tail and the goats play in the cooler morning air.
It is one of my favorite times of the day and a time that in the past, I would have just hurried by.
My girls are learning the value of hard work. And they have taken that lesson and run with it!
We have been blessed with outstanding neighbors! It is a little different here how the neighbor thing works. You really must get to know the people you live near because in one way or another, you will need each other.
When we lived in town we could get away with self survival because everything was close and at our disposal. Out here...not so much!
But our neighbors are more than just helpful, they have become our friends! Some of the ladies that live on our street get together every couple of weeks to share breakfast together. It is just one of my favorite times!!
Seeing our family in town has gotten better too. Even though we only drive in once a week, we are more intentional about our visit. Instead of someone coming over and me doing laundry and dishes while they are there, I am able to just concentrate on spending time with them.
And when family comes out here, they tend to stay longer because of the drive!!
So we are learning. It is definitely still a work in progress.
But we have slowed down.
And I am learning that the lesson of slowing down is one that is worth mastering.
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