Who am I?

Well, that’s a loaded question. I’ve been asking myself that for years. The problem is, just when I think I’ve got it figured out, I read a new book or discover some new Pinterest catagory and I morph into something else. It’s a little complicated, I guess. But if you’re familiar with Mr. Toad, you might compare me to him.

Okay, seriously, I’m first and foremost a wife and mom. A couple of years ago I would have ordered those as mom and wife. I homeschooled my kids, I was the director of my daughter’s cheerleading squad and participated in the fundraising and consession stand for my boys’ football team. I made all of the Halloween costumes and became passionate about everything they were passionate about. I just followed them around, admiring them and gushing over them.

Now that they’re all practically grown, in order to avoid that empty nest thing and to save my kids from a life long, helicopter smother, I’ve become wife first and mom when they want or need me.

My interests are many and varied. The short list includes gardening, beekeeping, crafts, BOOKS, making old things new, and techniques for de-frizzing my crazy hair.

What am I about?

My husband (to whom I’ll be referring as Adam from now on because it’s shorter to type and because that’s his name) and I have dreamed of homesteading for the last several years. Now that we’re getting close to having our house paid off and our kids are older, the dream is becoming a real possibility. In preparation for the big move we’ve been investing time learning skills that we can take with us to make the transition a tiny bit easier.

We live on 1/8 of an acre at the edge of a small city, or a really big town, depending on who you ask, so we’re limited as to what we have room for and what we’re legally allowed to do and have.

But we have learned to keep bees and have them here, in our back yard, along with a few chickens and a decent sized garden. I’ve been learning to cook from scratch and how to prepare food for long term storage.

The force driving us to homestead is our desire to work really hard to live a healthier, more simple life. We’re ready to work side by side in effort to provide for ourselves, and at the end of the day be thankful and proud.
In the spirit of full disclosure, my lifelong obsession with Little House on the Prairie has a little to do with it.

How did I get here and what am I gonna do about it?

I was in a waiting room and I was waiting. And waiting. For a long time. So, I started bored Googling. I came across an interesting sounding article by @scottyt and, botta-bing-botta-boom, I’ve got an account. I’m in love with this place. I’m almost waiting for the other shoe to drop on this thang. I have read so many insanely helpful posts, looked at some of the most beautiful photography I’ve seen, and witnessed generosity that I just don’t see day to day. But I’ve noticed a complete lack of trolls. No insults, no hatefulness, no back biting. Can this be real? I sure hope so.

Although the learning curve is crazy here, I think I’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly (maybe with a little help from you).My plan is to do the best I can to post regularly, maybe twice a week to start. I hope to contribute something worth your time and attention.

So that’s it.

That’s a little about me. Thanks for your time. Please, if you’ve got any suggestions for the noob, suggest away. I’ll take all the help I can get!