Much like the rest of 2020, there have been a lot of changes take place that have led our little family in one direction or another.

Prior to this year, my husband and I had talked about our goals for the next 3, 5, and 10 years. It seems silly and trivial now with the perspective provided by “unprecedented” times but the main takeaway from our goals during those conversations was the reoccurring theme of “not right now”.

We had a million things we wanted to accomplish but at the time I didn’t have a job. Well, I did have a very unpredictable PRN job that provided me experience and great relationships but no steady income. We had been a single income household since the day we got married and we had BIG BIG plans, expensive plans. At the time, we felt comfortable in our lives and finances as we weren’t living outside of our means or blowing money on new cars, unaffordable houses, or adult “toys” such as ATVs, etc. So, life felt a little put on hold, as it were.

March hit and I somehow lucked into an administration position which is the exact opposite of what I went to school for. However, it was with the company I knew I wanted to eventually work for as a COTA. I was there 2 weeks…TWO…before our country shut down.

I vividly remember going to the grocery store every day for those 2 weeks in anticipation of what was to come to stock up on all things (not toilet paper, shocker) before it dawned on me and my husband.

We would be more sustainable to go ahead and push ourselves to strive towards our homesteading goal. I already knew I loved gardening and Lord willing would have one nestled near our cabin for as long as I could. My husband was equally interested in permaculture, animals, and sustainable water systems; so instead of hoarding our money, we spent it.

We bought and snagged as many seeds, posts, chicks, and compost as we could get our hands on. In case you didn’t know, 21 million people decided to jump on the gardening band wagon this year, making garden supplies and seeds sold out across the world.

We expanded our garden 3x the size it was last year. I watched hours and hours of youtube How-To videos. We bought 3 homesteading books that have more information than we could ever consume in a 6 month shut down and we got to work.

I was LOVING quarantine because though I had no job, no money, and no prospects, I was bettering our lives. Each day I watched over chicks, nurturing their growing bodies and washing poopy butt off to increase their chances of survival. I sowed every seed I could, pulling weeds day after day and then sitting wishfully hoping I would see a seedling pop through within seconds.

March turned into April, then May, then June. And June was one for the books.

June came and I got my dream job. June was also when the world started opening back up very slightly, so there was an influx in patients at my first PRN job. and THEN I got another PRN job with a school system. I went from virtually no jobs, to 3. (Which is why you haven’t heard from me much on here. Oops.)

I was overwhelmed and overworked because my “jobs” expanded beyond COTA positions. We were STILL growing our passion and homestead life at home, including a massive fenced in garden, adding perennial fruit bushes, cutting cedar trees out for a fruit orchard, becoming bee keepers, and building sustainable habitats for all of the above. Our days were often 14-hour days as we tried to maintain our professional lives while tending to our personal goals that were in motion at high speeds.

Now here we are, in October–having survived and so close to being done with the foundation of our future. Which is exactly why we thought, “why not keep growing?”

In October alone, we’ve added more fruit trees, a Yoderbuilt greenhouse, and our very own baby chicks.

As the days go by, I remind myself that we have grown so much these last 8 months. It’s no longer about “what can we add?” And instead more about “let’s take a breather and enjoy what we’ve done.”