The Little Things

having someone with steady employment is the greatest thing.. there isnt that constant worry, or dread... now there is continued HOPE and better things to come. We are talking about buying our first home next year... can't believe that we will be able to continue with our dream. I knew it would happen, just seemed like forever to get here.

Once we find our home, and get it fixed up, the year after that, we will plant a big garden, in hopes of learning to can, and preserve all of what we grow. Depending on where we will be living, we hope to get Urban Chickens.. I was born on a farm, and loved that life, but when you live in a huge city, its very hard to have that "urban farm life". But we will get there. Just takes a bit of planning, time and money.

Another item on our agenda will be the purchasing of Mason Bees. They are a native Bee to Oregon, and I find them truly fascinating. They don't sting unless you try and really do them harm, and they are the best pollinators.. I found a website that has directions on how to build your own Mason Bee Houses.
http://www.citygirlfarming.com/Bees/BeeKeeping.html

Seems funny, that the generation that I am, we as parents and even non-parents are finding ways to be urban farmers, not only for the fun, but the fresh food. I made a promise to myself, if we ever got a lot of money, I would buy urban land, turn it into a public garden, and all people had to pay for was the water, as long as they up keep it, they can take up to 20 lbs of food a week.

I grew up on the fresh stuff, and was super lean then, and then as I got older, I lost my way, but with the help of Modern medicine, I learned that I am Insulin Resistant, so basically if I over do it on carbs, it turns to sugar, that doesnt get processed, thus turning to fat. ICK, so, while planning my life, and my garden, just thinking of all the sweat i'll use up... amazing

My son, who is 2.5 will be raised with a garden, compost pile, his own bees, urban chickens, and other little critters. This seems normal for me and my family. If you have any questions, please feel free to message me here, and I'll see if I can help. I have a wonderful green thumb, and if I don't know the answer, I know lots of other Urban/Rural Farmers that will...

This song in my dreams was written for just me LOL growing up, I lived at my Grandparents farm house... it was a great house, lots of places to hide, and well, an upstairs back bedroom... Even being the age that I am, a Mother of one, and the love of a lifetime to Kevin, my childhood was filled with so much love, and this song just hits me... makes me cry almost every time I hear it. Mainly because I miss the people who have passed on, my Grandpa, his brothers, lots of cousins, and my Great Grandmothers.. life was so good, they might have had struggles, but growing up, I never felt them.

Paybacks A Bitch...

My Mom told me that my son has no fear... just like me. I said how do you mean, she simply said, "you werent afraid to do things, try things, especially unexpectedly." My perfect example is Myself, My Mom, Grandfather and Great Uncle (grandpa's brother). We were in Uncle Ralph's barn, My Mom, Uncle Ralph and I were sitting on one side of the barn door, about 10 feet across, was my Grandpa sitting on the other side, about 30 feet up.. we had just brought that seasons hay in.... and me being 3 or 4 years old, I really had nothing to do with bringing in the hay, but I was there.

I wanted to sit with my Grandpa, so, I went to the far side of the loft, ran, and jumped... lets just say, that Grandpa's guardian Angel was paying attention and watching over him, with cat like reflexes, caught me just before I fell... and he pulled me up on top of the other side of the loft. (I did make it to the other side, but landed about three feet down the haystack)

I remember that moment, not the near heart attacks that I had nearly given my family, but that I wanted to sit with my Grandpa, I jumped, and he caught me... things like that, are stories I am sure, my son will remind me of... needless to say, he is almost 3...

I got a glint of a reminder today... we were at the park playing, and he was sliding down the slide then running around, climbing back up, and with Daddy's help, getting into place... well, one of his last trips down, he decided to climb up the slide. He slipped on the last step and smashed his teeth into his lip... he fussed and then proceeded to wipe his mouth on his sweatshirt...

Gratitude...

Life has been hard for the three of us this past year and a half. I envisioned my life with a UPS Driver , a small child at home until he was 2 or so, then he would go off to day care/ preschool and I would get back to school part time until he got to kindergarten. But life usually has other plans, in 2009 Kevin lost his job, and we had to figure out what our next move was, of course we started applying to everywhere, but seeing as neither of us had enough to amount to a degree, we both went back to school. Me first, and I worked very hard to become a National Certified Medical Assistant, and guess what, I still don't have a job, and I am trying very hard, I am even expanding my career searches that could lead me to MA work... and then Kevin went to school, got his CDL, tried over the road, but not being able to shower, sleep or eat when his body felt like it, he came home. We were both at our wits ends and just recently started looking for work around Olympia, as that is where my Grandma has a home, until just recently....

I applied Kevin to a truck company about a month ago, and they liked what they saw on paper, and called him in for an interview..... two weeks after that, we finally heard back, and.... he wasnt chosen, even though he had the right stuff, they just went with someone who had more experience... I wrote the HR rep a letter, for Kevin, as I'm a better typist, and she called the next day....

we are happy to announce that he will be working for said company, and he goes tomorrow to get his DOT physical, and Drug test, but even better

We will be able to support ourselves again, and that is the biggest thing, no more having help financially, or seeing help other ways by working odd jobs, this is stable, and a great company...

The benefits are wonderful, and our little guy will be able to go back to his regular Doctor, and we can say good bye and thank you to Oregon Health Plan..

So many things have changed that there is now hope, hope for something better.. and not worrying about every little penny... when you get to that point, its hard to ask for a little more, because you need something or want something... We are so thankful that we have family we can rely on in hard times.. so that when someone else needs help, we will be there to help them...

So the word for the day in our house, is Gratitude...