Autumn has been incredibly graceful this year. In Iowa, this season is usually an unpredictable tug o war between autumn and an ever looming winter. The fallout is usually a flurry of snow, wildly fluctuating temperatures and relentless wind that violently scrubs the land of all things giving it character. Sometimes autumn, with all its... Continue Reading →
It humors me when I look back on our lives. I don't even have to go back that far. I mean, who are those impostors? Those two young kids who agreed to walk down the isle together. They really had no clue what lay ahead of them. The birth of 4 children. Building a life... Continue Reading →
I walked into the house, ignoring the chicken poop spread across the white siding next to the back door. Yep, you read that right. Chicken poop. Not sure how it got there, but the location suggested a little person. I didn't bother asking, knowing I wouldn't get a straight answer. All hands get washed and... Continue Reading →
We are not meant to live life in grayscale. Do you ever feel like that? Life can sometimes seem like one long exhale. Go to work, pay the bills, make sure the kids do their homework. Recycle. Repeat. Exhausting. But what if there was more available to us? Have you ever read a... Continue Reading →
Do you remember how it felt to wake up to the first winter snow? How white it seems, that first snowfall. Hauntingly perfect. As a child, you probably couldn’t wait to get out there in it. To make the first snowman. To throw snow balls at your buddies. Or just to mess up that perfect... Continue Reading →
If I'm entirely honest, I had no intention of ever becoming a homesteader. I didn't understand homesteading. I thought it was a fad, and it wasn't something I was going to be interested in. But little did I know that homesteading was so much more than what I thought it was. It was exactly what... Continue Reading →
It goes without saying that this self-sufficient lifestyle comes with certain characteristics. Like determination. Persistence. And plain old stubbornness. You know the kind of stubbornness I'm talking about. Right? Grit. Stick-to-it-iveness. Refusing to quit by all means. Even when that might be the best thing to do. I understand that all too well. I don't... Continue Reading →