Our Homestead Dreams

  Jeff and I have had dreams of starting a small (tiny, perhaps) homestead for the past few years.  I'm sure Jeff has longed for that dream to become a reality much, much longer than I.  I lost sight of those dreams on and off due to circumstances or my state of mind at that particular time.

  Over the past few months, I've been enjoying the conveniences of the house we currently live in.  We're literally across the street from a grocery store, we have neighbors real close by (which is a blessing and a burden, depending on the day), I have the prettiest and most spacious kitchen I've ever had, we enjoy the convenience of a master bathroom, and the list goes on.  I got really wrapped up in the prettiness and convenience of this home.  It is vastly different from where we lived before.  This is good and bad.

  Our current house has a pitiful excuse for a yard.  It is a yard, but it feels like nothing compared to the thirteen wooded acres we lived on before.  Our current house is a one year old manufactured home with what I value as all the "bells and whistles."  We have a walk in pantry, tons of cupboard space, walk in closets in all the bedrooms, and a dishwasher.  This isn't the trailer that comes to mind when I think of the mobile homes we had seen or been in growing up.  This thing is a legit house.  Seeing it from the inside, you'd never know it could be torn apart and hauled off to another location.

Our current kitchen, before we moved in.

June 2013

  Our previous house was big and unique and had its own charm, but it was very hard to heat and we struggled with keeping the mice at bay.  It was too much house for my taste.  But the yard, oh the yard.  It was my idea of heaven.  Trees surrounding us, lots of room to play, a big fire pit, and a long driveway perfect for bike rides and walks.  We made friends with some cows and horses who grazed on a pasture that backed up to our driveway.  We saw so much wildlife and experienced so many things that city life just can't provide.

The kids playing track and field games in our old yard.  Oh, how I miss this yard.

June 2013 

I took this while walking through the woods before the greenery of spring took over.

April 2013

One of our little friends.  The kids named him Oreo Lightning McQueen. lol

June 2012

  

  Sometimes, in the moment, I would become frustrated with where we lived.   We were about 30 minutes or more from our friends and family, 20+ minutes from an affordable grocery store, and I would feel lonely (we share a car, so it was rare for me to leave while Jeff was at work), even with homeschooling four kids.  Despite the struggles that I so eagerly pointed out while living in our previous home, it was home.  I felt at peace whenever I'd walk the property.  I felt closer to nature and in ways, my mental struggles with where we were at the time brought me closer to God.  Living there, with all the mishaps and annoyances we experienced made me stronger.  I didn't fully appreciate just how much I grew while living there until I took the time to look back on it objectively.

  I believe I am a better person for having lived there and I believe while I was bent to the point of almost breaking (mentally), we were exactly where we were meant to be.  It was in that place that God could chip through the hard shell I had formed around my heart to show me that a simple life is what Jeff, the kids, and I really need.

  I struggled with feeling left out of many events, activities, and get togethers my friends and family participated in.  I struggled with the why's and how's of our ending up there.  The struggle was unbearable at times, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

  As much as I love an updated house full of new appliances and pretty fixtures, my heart longs for the country.  I long to live off the land and force myself into some good, old fashioned work.  I long to give my children the experience of growing and raising their own food.  I long to have them look back on life and see it as a full one.... full of memories of being outside, raising animals, gardening, and playing just as hard as they work.  A life away from the tv and computer screens.  A life of scrapes and bruises from playing without the fear of dirt and mud.  A life of grand experiences that money and the things this modern world can't provide.  I want us to get back to our roots, to become closer to nature and to rely on ourselves and our God more than big chain grocery and department stores.

  I want to provide my family with organically grown food without the enormous price tag. I want to make our own lotions and potions and cleaners (I've started this somewhat and will share a post on that soon). I want the kids to see that their food doesn't come from a shelf or a freezer, but that it comes from the earth.  I want the satisfaction that comes from growing food, fixing things, and building things ourselves.  I want to live life on purpose.

  Sometimes I become overwhelmed when I think of all the hard work this lifestyle will bring and the vast amount of knowledge I have to gain while pursuing this dream.  Living a simple life is far from simple.  But the simplicity that comes from hard work and dedication takes hold of me in a way that filling a grocery cart or watching my favorite tv shows can never do.

  So yes, while living in this pretty, convenient home has been much more like a vacation than every day life, I will gladly trade it for less house and more yard.  I will gladly embrace outdated fixtures and countertops if I need to, in order to get started on our dream.  It took me a long time, and many isolated experiences to come to this.  It took a whole lot to bring my mind to the point of letting go of the "pretty" and embracing the humbleness of a simple life, but I have arrived and I can not wait to get started with making this new adventure happen.

  We're not sure when or where our little homestead will be planted, but when it is, our lives will change for the better. 

~Em

If you have experience with homesteading on any scale, we'd love to learn from you!  If you'd just like to follow along and keep up with our new lifestyle, join our Facebook page and we'll post our thoughts and experiences for you to read.