Expectations vs reality

 Let's just say expectations have not been able match up to reality since we moved in. We had big plans and dreams. Which is not a bad thing. However we have been barely surviving everything we have had going on but now as another year comes to an end, it is time. Time to set goals, expectations, and simplify. I have so much to still unpack, clean, and organize. I could never seem to find my way at our old place and I am worried I wont here. Everything is chaos and we never know where anything is because we haven't had time to find homes for everything. I have many decisions to make and priorities to determine. How can I succeed this time when I have failed so many times in the past? So thankful for what I have learned and accomplished in the years we have lived here so far and I can't wait to see what we learn and accomplish moving forward.

That week in between

 It is almost the end of the week in-between, where time slows down for a moment and there are usually no appointments or lessons, no school. Nothing is really planned, not even menus. It has been nice to rest. I am not sleeping much at night so afternoon naps have been wonderful. I have also gotten a head start on decluttering. I have gone through numerous bags and boxes, managed to take a load to the dump, a load to goodwill, with another load almost ready. It feels really good. Still a long way to go but just getting rid of stuff no longer meeting our needs has been so helpful. I even got a head start on working on our calendar for the upcoming year. 

We even learned how to butcher our old laying hens and ducks this week. They were no longer laying and should have been butchered a long time ago but we finally were able to do it today. Some friends came over with all the equipment and showed us how. This will give us a chance to reevaluate what we want to do in the future and make necessary repairs and improvements to our coops. Photo of our youngest supervising our work today. 

It All Started With A Rug

So how did this new adventure begin? Well let's just say it started with a rug. Yes, a simple rug. See we had an eventful/stressful few years and we were looking forward to a nice relaxing summer, complete with finishing up some long overdue projects and to begin preparing and planning a much needed remodel of our current home . Around Mother's Day of 2019 a friend was having a garage sale and had a rug for sale that would work in our girls current room. I told her I would buy it and pick it up the next day. Which we did.

The rug

We knew that their neighbor's house was for sale and we had joked about buying it. When we stopped by to pick up the rug I saw that the house was still for sale and looked it up. It was pending. However right underneath it was a house that caught both our interest. It was 5 acres with a charming 1940's house in an ideal location for us. We decided to drive by and check it out...

Checking it out left us with more questions than answers and we made some interesting discoveries that left us crossing that one off the list. We had told ourselves before looking that we would just check out this one house and if it didn't work out we would stick to our original plan of remodeling. But we started running numbers and talking through the remodel costs and plan and realized that it was probably not going to work for us long term so why not sell our house and find something that works better for our family now and in the future. Our house sold quickly (4 days, a roller coaster of a summer looking at houses, before finding one that met our needs!

More Questions Than Answers?

 My last post I shared about some of the challenges and opportunities we have to make this property ours. It continues to be an adventure. We have been working and doing some research on the direction we want to take and we thought we had a direction that we were leaning towards... and then we went to a cattle show for a weekend. We left with more questions than answers but a completely different set and type of questions. 

Lot of research and writing out goals. And then crossing them out and writing more. Pulling out calendars and looking at events and dates and projects. It is fun to dream and begin to see things happen. None of this can really get off the ground until I get myself and my house organized. So this is where I am starting, trying to get organized. I have been trying to do this for what seems like forever so we will see how it goes. 

Back to the drawing board/Starting over

We have been in our home just a little over 4 years and what a time it has been. The last few years have proved to be a challenge in and of themselves. We are already having to change and rethink many things. I am having to throw out  all the plans and expectations that I had and rethink everything. Which is a good thing but still full of pressure that I am making the right choices.  Not going to lie, it is a pretty bitter pill to swallow sometimes.  I love to plan and make things happen so everything will hopefully turn out alright and be even better.

We bought a house that we thought was completely redone and was move in ready so we would not have to think about house projects for awhile and focus on the outside and getting our farm going. Unfortunately this is not the case. We have some expensive decisions to make and deadlines. Not sure what they will look like or what the outcomes may be yet. This means that most of the outside projects will be put on hold for another year or two. 

Looking on the bright side it will give me more time to do research and make better plans. There are no easy answers right now. We are all okay and have plenty to do in the meantime. It isn't what we wanted or thought would happen and it is hard to wait when there are so many things that I am anxious to accomplish.

Trying to stay positive. We have a beautiful piece of land that has lots of possibilities. My kids have room to play and explore. We will figure all of this out and make it into a farm, it just may take longer and the journey will be different. We will enjoy the process and how we grow and change as a family. Now time to get back to the drawing board.

Welcome

 Welcome to our latest adventure!

Faythful Roots is where  our family hopes to chronicle our journey to creating a more sustainable and simple life, and in the process create our own mini farm/homestead.

We are a family of 7, living in the Pacific Northwest and moved to our property in 2019. It has been quite the adventure and we hope to begin sharing that here with you.

Thank you for stopping by and we hope you join us on our journey.