I love my family, I am so thankful that all 5 of my children are close, that we can talk about anything together, and that we can always depend on each other. One of my most favorite things, is to have them all here at the same time, to pour a cup of coffee, and sit back and watch them talk! They are all so different, from one politically extreme to the other, from laid back and chill,to hyper and full of energy, from quick tempered to low key..but the thing is no matter how passionate they feel on something,or how loud the discussions and debates get, they respect each other and do not make it personal! As, I was laying in bed this morning,my thoughts went to them,and I thanked God he blessed me with each one of them. I was thinking of how, if I could give them advice to help make their life easier..what I would say.
First thing, keep your faith, God has always been present in my life, but I can see so many places where he has seen me through, so many of my prayers answered,sometimes not in the way I wished, but looking back it was always for the best. Pray daily and read the bible and give God a chance to lead you where he wants you.If you give Him a chance he will always be there, and trust me when I say He has answered many prayers about and for each one of you.
Next, do not be afraid to be different! Today, people are so worried about appearances, and what others think, they hide their real thoughts and ideas for fear people will not understand. Being unique is wonderful , It brings out new ideas, and ways of doing things. When you stop trying to please everyone else, you can find out who you truly are. It will make your life so much more content!
You will learn so much about yourself and others, and your true friends will always stick with you, even if they think your odd..lol
You are entitled to your opinion, and others are entitled to theirs! You do not ALWAYS have to be right, and sometimes its better to agree to disagree! As, important as being yourself is, it's also important to remember that, that does not mean everyone else has to be like you and think like you too! Always put yourself in the other persons shoes, before you judge or get angry. They are a different person, raised different,different environment growing up than you, so they are not always going to think like you! I hate confrontation, but lots of times I do not argue because I always try to see the others viewpoint and where they are coming from before I speak! I promise you it helps a lot!
Honesty is very important, I have learned this the hard way! Sometimes, I will not be honest to spare someones feelings, or to avoid conflict. One thing I have learned over the years, IT DOES NOT HELP!! It makes things worse, That does not mean you have to be a jerk, just be honest, and if it is difficult , it will still be better for everyone in the long run.
My grandmother was an amazing woman, I have never met anyone like her . Her favorite thing to say was "If you cannot say something nice, do not say anything at all" and she lived by that! If your criticism of someone is not asked for, or will not help them, keep your mouth shut! It is so much better and more fulfilling to build others up, not tear them down! It is amazing how one positive word can change another persons day! Try it, it will make you both feel good.
I guess the last thing is do not judge others, do not let your misconceptions cloud what you see. Working with the homeless I have learned so much! The outside is not important, it is the inside that really counts, and you may not know what the other person is going through. Love is very forgiving, and it is also important not to lose sight of it. Love is more important then being right, its forgiving when others do you wrong, its stepping up to help when you are needed, not just thinking of what you will get in return, or how it benefits you!
Wow, I could write a book..hehehe, so much more I could say. If only I had known this stuff when I was young, but I guess it is part of growing up and learning about yourself and life. What advice would you give? What would you tell your children? What one thing do you think would help make their life easier? I would love to hear from you!
We have been working hard to grow our little homestead. What started with an idea, a small box garden and 3 bantam chickens has grown quite a bit! We now have 2 dozen chickens for eggs, numerous bantams, 2 Nigerian Dwarf goats, and a hive of bees! We have raised and processed 27 meat chickens as well, and our garden is quite a bit larger. We also have fruit trees, bushes and vines. We make our own bread, laundry detergent and dish washing detergent. We can a lot, from jams, syrups, to vegetables, soups and meat! As far as we have come , there is so much more we want to do! Now, we are trying to decide which type of animal to add to our little homestead..pigs or turkeys?
To start with we had about decided on pigs. We figured we could feed them with scraps, and make a pen out back and in some time have delicious fresh pork, food that we know was raised well and ate healthy! We could take them to be processed, so it would not be too much to handle. However, they do get very big , and eat a lot, and for some reason I am a little apprehensive about it!
Then, we visited a nearby farm , and I sort of fell for the turkeys! Not the turkeys that have been genetically altered to be so huge they cannot even reproduce on their own,like the ones they sale in the store, but the ones that are the way they are suppose to be. Not huge, but one of the original breeds! They are smaller , and do not seem to be much more difficult than chickens, a little different but not too hard. Then there is the bonus of having a fresh farm raised turkey for the holidays, or any other time. No worries on the chemicals that would be ingested from the store bought ones!We could process those on our own , and it would be less investment to begin with too. So which way do we go? Pigs or turkeys? Drop us a message and tell us what you think..
Since, we started this journey, I have wanted goats. Not just any goats but milk goats! I researched and read on all types of goats,before I decided I wanted Nigerian Dwarf Goats. They seemed perfect, small in size , perfect for our needs, friendly, great rich milk, perfect for cheese and the output for such a small goat is pretty impressive. So I worked on saving enough money, and preparing a place for them. However,things get put on the back burner, we got chickens, they were cheaper and easy to manage and gave us fresh eggs, then we got meat birds, and it was always something, from a new roof, to repairs to something.. but I kept reading and hoping and praying,, then one day a close friend called me to meet someone who had a pregnant goat..not just any goat but...you guessed it, a pregnant Nigerian Dwarf Goat! I figured I could really learn a lot from meeting her.. and get more knowledge for the future.. but it went better than planned.. I immediately clicked with Hillary, and before I knew it I was the proud owner of 2 Nigerian Dwarf kids!Now that I finally have them here at home, it is even better than I ever imagined! They are the sweetest, cutest little babies! Hillary is an amazing fountain of information, and I quiz her often..lol... but I have learned so much. It will be awhile before I can breed them, before I can began my dreams of goat milk, cheese , soaps and such, but I can wait.. a step at a time. In the meantime they are very entertaining, great companions, who cry when they see me coming, and make me smile.. if you want to learn more about my new babies here is a link to why their milk is so awesome..
It is amazing to me how a person's perspective can change! I remember, and not too long ago at that, going to the store and by the time I was ready to check out, having a cart full of convenience, processed foods! I would go to a big box store and load up on snacks, frozen pizza, sugary drinks, etc! I would be happy with my choices, and glad I would have something quick to pop in the oven or microwave to fix in a hurry! Now, wow its like I am in a different world! We have not used a microwave, in months! We took it out, so we would be less tempted to grab those quick processed foods when we were hungry. Now, I truly do not even miss it! The visits to a grocery store or few and far between, and when I do go its for things like toilet paper, paper towels, chocolate or coffee!! Now, we make our own bread, snacks,etc. We grow our own fruits and veggies, and what we do not grow we get from local farmers. We raise our own chicken for meat and eggs, we buy our pork and beef from local farmers too.We grow our own herbs, they taste so much better, and we dry them to use throughout the winter!We have our own bees and are using honey instead of sugar more and more!We use the wax to make our own candles. In the next week we will be bringing home goats, and when they are a little older they will help provide us with milk,cheese, and soaps! We make our own dish washing detergent and laundry soap, although we do order some ingredients, I still like the simple cleaning products, that work great and are cheaper and has less chemicals in them! I feel such a since of accomplishment when we finish canning a batch of green beans, or tomatoes! I love that I know exactly what went into them , and that I can go outside and pick a tomato and take a bite, and not worry about what chemicals were sprayed on it!We all feel better, I have more energy, and have lost a few pounds without even trying! When we eat out, we do our best to eat at locally owned places that use local fresh products. I bypass things that I once would load up on , and truthfully I do not even miss them! I am so glad we started on this journey, I think we all appreciate our food more, and I look forward to continuing down this path!I am proud of how far we come , I look forward to how far we go!
