Reading

I'm a reader.  Books, magazines, blogs, forums, email, billboards...you name it, my eyes are scanning and reading it.  Since I find so many things interesting, I'm subscribed to a number of blogs and email newsletters.  I have them sorted into folders as they arrive-homeschool ideas into the Homeschool folder, and general ideas to help me be a better wife, mom, homemaker go into the Mom Stuff folder.  The homeschool one I can usually keep up with, but the mom one gets way more messages and I get behind.  If I delete w/o reading, I feel guilty, or like I've missed something.  This is, of course on top of email that doesn't fit either of those categories!

Lately, I've been taking advantage of Tony's night time music jobs by sitting on the couch with my laptop while TJ watches a movie.  He feels more like I'm spending time with him, and I get to catch up.  I made a big dent in the total number of messages weekend before last, as Tony played out of town both nights.  I was almost able to keep current after that, but today/tonight I managed to clear ALL of my folders of unread messages!  Trust me, that's a big accomplishment!

I didn't do any meal planning or homeschool prep, but I do feel good about this being done!  I even learned several things and have stuff I want to research too.

So now it's off to bed, where I'll read a few pages from Dumbing Us Down: the Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto.

Locavore

It's an interesting idea, but not one I'm eager to embrace.  I don't think chocolate grows around here!  Regardless, I do prefer to buy locally when possible and growing our own is the bigger goal.  Last night while eating dinner I realized everything had come from within 50 miles of home.

Pastured chicken from the farmer's market (been in freezer), green beans from a friend's garden, squash from the U-pick farm, and a pomegranate from the farmer's market.  Milk from our goats rounded out the meal.  I didn't take pictures.

Paradigms

No, not that kind of paradigms, but I couldn't resist.  Sorry.  Lame, slapstick humor.  The kind that I often choose to not even grant the obligatory eye roll/moan process when my husband does it to me.

I'm talking about the belief system that we all have regarding just about everything in life.  The way we think about a topic or view the world around us.  In the last year and a half or so, many of my personal paradigms have been knocked on their duff.  It's sent me on a journey that is changing my life and the way I process new information now.  My eyes have been opened to so many new ways to see things, but it does get hard and confusing. 

For instance, most of us were told (popular media influence, school texts, etc) that to be healthy we needed to restrict our saturated fat intake and consume more carbohydrates.  Many obediently pursued the low fat approach, trusting that this would lead to a healthier life, reducing risk of heart disease and obesity.  I for one, never asked to see the research, nor looked at the daily evidence that there's now actually more heart disease and obesity than at any time in modern history.  Why?  Why is the advice of many research studies and government programs not working?  Perhaps because those studies are funded by businesses that have a vested interest in the outcome, and reports are skewed?  Do I sound paranoid yet?

I've come across a lot of new information during this journey and it can be so overwhelming that I just want to shrug and say, "oh well, I'll just keep doing what I've been doing".  However, that might not be what's best.  Instead, I've learned to run the new info through this filter test. 

• Who stands to gain from this line of thinking?
• How was it done before the Industrial Revolution?
• How did God design the process?

Is it foolproof?  Not as long as this fool is involved.  I do think it's a better way of digesting all the conflicting, and sometimes misleading, information that's out there though.  After answering these questions, I can determine the route I think is best for me and my family.  That won't necessarily be the route that's best for you and your family, but I do want to encourage you to at least consider when something new comes along that it might be valuable.

I'm noticing, however, that many people simply to choose to keep on believing what they've always been taught, not questioning it at all, and I think that's a sad statement on our society.  We've grown complacent and we just accept the way things are done in this country as normal, a standard to be reached.  I say we because I know I'm just as guilty as anyone.  I'm trying to change that though, and want to encourage you to do the same.  The next time someone comes to you with info that sounds corny, conflicts with what you've always believed, or any of a multitude of reasons for why you'd tune it out, try listening and running it through your own filter.  Listen with an attitude of "this person must believe this, or think it's worthwhile, maybe I should examine it too."  Maybe the person presenting it to you cares about you so much that they want you to know what they've discovered.  I'm not suggesting that the new info will always be better, just that it's worth it to consider why it was brought to you in the first place. 

For myself, I feel betrayed by the very institutions I once trusted and wonder why someone didn't show me what I've been discovering with my own research.  It's with that attitude that I bring new info to those around me.  I may sound nuts, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.  If I think it can help you live a better life, I'm going to say something.  If you don't like what I say, that's certainly your prerogative, and I won't spend time trying to persuade you.  I will continue to present new ideas as they come to me though, because I care.  Not because I think everyone must do it my way, but because the info was so profound to me, that it changed the way I live, and I want to share this new discovery to give you the opportunity to perhaps improve your life!

Here's to growth and improving one's life and the world around us!

The Look & Feel of a Blog

I liked the old Blogger design tools better than the new system.  What I'd like even better than that is the knowledge to make and create blog backgrounds and layouts.  Some of the blogs I follow are so nicely layed out. 

Amy, at Homestead Revival has a very homey and welcoming blog.
At A Wise Woman Builds Her House, the site is beautiful and the music complements the blog substance.
At Keeper of the Home, Stephanie has a clean, crisp look.  Here's another at Small Notebook.

I like my blog to be welcoming, pleasing to the eye, and easy to navigate.  It's also a source of reminders for me, like the side bar constants that I just cleaned up.  I used to have a home business teaching and training home users and small business owners how to use their computers.  In all that time I never learned even basic HTML.  I've tried a few times, but it just doesn't make sense to me.  I'd love to create a look for my blog that truly represents me and my goals.  Got any suggestions?

Cod Liver Oil

Yes, cod liver oil, or CLO for short.  I've been reading about its health benefits, and even tried to consume it daily, but just couldn't get past the ick factor, regardless of the health that might come from it.  I'm encouraged to try again after reading this review at Kitchen Stewardship, but the giveaway would be helpful.  The good stuff is expensive, so it makes it harder to part with the cash and then not be able to "stomach" it.  Her review is funny and uplifting, so take the time to read it.

In my defense, I am taking a high Vitamin A capsule daily, and that's one of the nutrients in CLO.  What about you?

One Deal, One Giveaway, and Then She Found More

I love winning free stuff, don't you?  Since there's usually just one winner at a giveaway though, discounts are a nice consolation prize, right?

The first giveaway is the book, "In the Kitchen-Real Food Basics eBook".  I read the six page preview and ordered it!  It's only $5.21 with the current promotion.  If I win, she'll refund my purchase price.  Now that's good business sense! 

How about a wholesome family skincare goodie basket?

At another blog I follow there's a discount for Family Fun magazine.  It's 30 Minute Martha and the price is just $3.75!

I just found this while exploring this evening.  For the Love of Pie free eBook download.  Or Fun, Fabulous and (mostly) Free Preschool Projects.

Adventures in House Hunting

Some of you might remember my post on the pros and cons of a house we found a few months ago.  We decided not to buy the one in the post, but have been searching continuously-mostly online until we find something interesting.  A month ago we did find something interesting and made an offer several days later.  The listing agent still hasn't responded, and all kinds of twists and turns have arisen since then.  It's still in the works, but we're looking for other options too.

Thursday our son was with my parents, and Tony just had a bug to get out on the road.  Me, I was looking forward to a day at home without my son, getting stuff done.  By the title of the blog, you've probably figured out who won. 

Our agent had sent us a list of homes that had been served with a trustee's sale notice and I went thru it to see if anything on it met our needs.  There's a 10 acre parcel listed, but with a trustee sale, opening bids aren't released until the day before the sale.  The county lists parcels with previous and current years valuations, so I use that as a guide.  This 10 acre parcel was valued at $93,000 last year, and $1,000 this year!  OK, now my curiosity is aroused enough to consider leaving home.  It was a little hard to locate on the map because it's in an undeveloped area.  We found the names of a couple of dirt roads and knew we could get to it.  What we didn't know was the condition of the roads...

This is what we were faced with after driving over a couple of hills with washouts as deep as the one on the left of this photo.  Did I tell you it was a narrow road?  With a steep enough drop-off to make me quite nervous?  Or that the ruts were situated such that we had to drive as close to that drop-off as we could without falling off?  What about the fact that the road is rocky granite?

You might be asking why we stopped and got out. 

The road we were on ended and there was a three foot deep, five foot wide ravine before the next one started.  That's Tony making a rock bridge for the tires to drive across.  I would have helped, but I was busy taking pictures and limping around.  Yeah, as soon as I stepped out of the car I slid into that rut on the left side of the picture.  Tony couldn't see me and didn't know I had fallen.  I wasn't sure I could stand up with sliding more.  It was kinda funny!  Here's my injury:

This is from the day after.  The one I took at the scene doesn't really show anything.  I got familiar with the contents of the first aid kit kept in the van.  Glad I bought one when we bought the van!  Did you know neosporin stings??

That was just the beginning of the adventure though.  Once we got onto the other road and wound our way around a couple more hills, we took two month's worth of rubber off the tires trying to climb back out.  We could smell the burning rubber.  I prayed.  God answered!  The granite on this road wasn't ground up and rocky.  It was large rocks and small boulders.  Driving from one to the next, hoping we wouldn't start slipping back down.  We got over that hill, came back to where the other road joined this one and kept on going.  Turns out this road has been taken care of, and it's the route I suggested we take in.  I agreed with his route because it was shorter.  Yikes!

We got out of there and continued on into the next series of towns to look at houses that Tony had researched.  Keyed the addresses in to the GPS but "she" wanted us to go a different way than what Tony had written down.  We went miles out of our way, drove by 2 houses he thought we might like (we didn't) and then tried to find two more.  One was empty, so we got out to look around.  Not bad.  Not in the area I'd like to be, but it sat on a hill looking out over the valley.  I decided not to be so firm in where I want to live and told Tony we could investigate this one more.

Darkness had now come upon us, but we tried to find the 4th house anyway.  It didn't exist.  Or the address in the instructions didn't.  We gave up and decided to go eat.  He said there were photos of the one we looked at online so I was eager to get home and see them.  Know what the listing said?  2500 gallon water tank to store hauled water.  You don't know Tony so you don't know how ironic that is.  The reason we haven't left the area we're in is because water is a prime requirement of his for any property we buy.  The town we live in has irrigation ditches, and most of AZ does NOT.  I couldn't believe we were in the car for 6 hours to look at 4 houses and one parcel of land, with one of those houses not even having water!

I think I was a good sport about it though.  I didn't rub it in too much, but I did remind him that I'm supposed to be the navigator.  :-)

The Least Among You

This movie is a based on a true story that I was not familiar with prior to ordering this for review purposes.  I prefer "based on a true story" movies over fiction more often than not, and this was no exception.  The storyline was a bit slow moving, but who says it has to be high speed to be good? 
Set in 1965 following the Watts race riots, Richard Kelly finds that he is unable to take the job with the big computer company that he was so proud to get.  Instead, he'll be spending "time" at an all white seminary as the only black student in their history.  In the process he learns about reverse racism, forgiveness, consequences, perseverance and loyalty.  To tell you anything else would give away too much, so let it be known that I enjoyed the movie and recommend it to all.  It's an important life lesson learned.

Cause & Effect

I requested a copy of this 4 disc series of Adventures in Odyssey to review and find out if my son enjoys listening to the show.  I know the suggested audience is a little older age range than he is, but I figured it was worth a try.  To my surprise, he was really paying attention!  We listened while running errands one day and he wanted to wait in the car while I went into the grocery store, so he could keep listening!  I didn't let him stay but he reminded me as soon as we got back that we needed to turn the story back on.

I found myself even being curious as to what would happen next.  We've listened together and enjoyed everything we've heard!  I like the morals and values that are expressed throughout the stories and the way the shows wrap up with a recap of the lessons taught.  This set is something we will listen to over and over!  If you've got young children, I recommend this set for "edutational" purposes.

Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this CD to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

Lasagna

This morning I made my first successful batch of ricotta cheese from the whey left after making chevre.  I only got about 1/2 cup (little errors on my part) but was wondering what I'd do with it, so it wouldn't just sit in the fridge and spoil.  I decided we'd have lasagna for dinner, but 1/2 cup of ricotta wouldn't be enough.  So, I found out how to make ricotta straight from the milk rather than from whey.  We had Italian sausage from the 1/2 hog we bought a few months ago, but everything else would have to be store bought. 

This was the first time any of us assembled a lasagna and we were quite excited to take on this adventure together!  I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Ricotta curds draining in butter muslin.

Goober Gus and Dad frying the sausage and beef.

A huge bag of fresh basil from a neighbor.  What else can I do with this?

Layering the ingredients.

Goober mixing the egg and seasoning into the ricotta.

More layering.  My artistic husband made sure it was very eye appealing.

The ricotta goes on...

Ready to go into the oven.

The mess!

More of the mess.

I even did the dishes after dinner-I hardly EVER do that!  Just ask my mom...

Goober cracking the egg...

Follow Up to Previous Goat Posts

Fifty Minutes.  50.  I just don't see how one person can milk 4 goats in less time, unless I didn't care about measuring and recording each girls' daily contribution.  From the time I prepared the treats to putting the jarred milk in the fridge, it was 50 minutes.  However, if one considers the VALUE of the quantity of milk, it's a very worthwhile endeavor.  A quart of goat milk retails for $3.69 around here.  I get a minimum of 3 quarts just from the 2 Alpines, so that's $11.07, and they're done in 25 minutes.  That's over $26/hr I'm "earning" for milking those goats!  We won't even go into the cost/value of raw goat cheese at $24 per pound.

The other thing I wanted to mention is I've repeated the outcome of thick, creamy yogurt with Nubian milk.  Today we're going to reinforce the fence around the backyard and send the doelings there to wean them and HOPEFULLY get more than 12 oz of milk from 2 goats. 

Learning to Milk With Two Stands

When we took Annie to our pasture to spend a month with our buck, Tony built a second milking stand to leave there.  I used it a couple of times before the neighbor asked if they could "foster" the goats for a while and decide if they want to get dairy goats.  Sure!  The 3 of them got a new pasture of grass and I didn't have to go over there daily to milk!  I taught him what I do, bought the feed we want her to have at milking time, and set them up.  In exchange for milking her, they got to keep the milk.

Well, her month is up and the neighbors are leaving town, so the gals came back and so did the extra stand.  It occurred to me this might speed up the milking process.  It was taking me close to an hour total to get the job done, milking 3.  With Annie back it would take even longer, and she gives the most milk.  I've tried it for two days now, and I'm not sure it's really speeding anything up!  It's funny to watch me (I'm guessing) and it's funny to watch the goats' reaction when they see an extra stand.  I don't have any photos to share, but they all want to go to the familiar stand, even when there's already a goat there!

So how does a dairy maiden use two stands?  I start with the first goat and milk her out.  It takes her longer to eat her goodies than it takes me to get the milk, so that's generally the time consumer-waiting for her to finish.  Before bringing the next girl up, I empty and measure the milk from the bucket.  Back out again, I can bring #2 up to the second stand, but #1 is done eating before I've finished with #2, so she starts getting antsy.  At this point, I don't get much from #2, so I finish her fairly quickly and measure her milk before exchanging #1 for #3.  #3 used to be Belle and she HATES being milked.  I've trained her to the point of being able to milk one handed while holding the bucket with the other-makes it easier to get it out of the way before she steps in it-but she still stomps a lot.  However, since Annie has returned, she thinks she should be #1 (used to be) but I wanted her to be last because she smells like a BUCK IN RUT!  I was successful at making her #4 yesterday, but not today.  Are ya with me here, because I've lost track of what I'm doing, hahaha!  Oh yes, so #1 goes back and #3 comes out, rinse, lather, repeat.  I think you get the picture.  It still took me about an hour today, though I have to admit to not noting the time when I started.  Tomorrow I'll make a point of timing it all, starting with soaking the feed.  Maybe it'll be my daily goal to get as much milk in as few minutes as possible and see if I can beat the previous day.

OK, seriously, I think I need a better hobby!  Although, if ice cream and cheese made from Nubian milk is as good as the yogurt, then this is a fabulous hobby!  We need to take the two doelings out of the pen and see if that increases output from the Nubian mamas.  We're going to try putting them in the backyard and see how hard they try to get out.

Oh, and the whole reason I decided to write about this is that today when I brought Belle out, Peaches was on the familiar stand still eating.  Belle ran to it and tried to push Peaches out of the way.  I had to grab her and get her to the second stand before she broke poor Peaches' neck.  In the process I stepped on a small branch on the ground and cut my foot (silly me-I wear flip flops for this job because I don't like lacing up the boots when it's hot out).  It's not that bad, but it's in a spot that makes it hurt with each step.

Best Yogurt Yet!

I've been making goat milk yogurt for close to a year now, and have just kinda gotten used to it being thin with lots of whey, and quite tangy.  I generally only use it in smoothies, since it's so thin and tangy.  It makes a good orange juice and banana smoothie.

Back in the Spring, when we came to the realization that our cow wasn't going to let us milk her, we decided to expand the goat herd by adding Nubians.  We found sister Nubian/Boer cross goats, one had recently given birth and one was pregnant.  I started training both of them a few months ago-boy are they skittish!  The older mama, Peaches has calmed down and her baby, Cream is old enough to take to the buck, so I've been getting all of her milk for a month or so now.  It's not been much-average of 12 ounces a day-but Molly's production really shot up when I tried to dry her off for the last two months of her pregnancy, so Peaches' milk has been going in its own jar.

Yesterday I decided to use her milk to make the yogurt.  I was a few ounces shy of the 2 quarts needed, but figured it was close enough.  We had to use store bought yogurt for the starter culture and all I could do was hope for the best.  Well, I got it!  After incubating for 8 hours and cooling in the fridge over night, I opened the container expecting the usual 1/2 pint or so of whey, but found a layer of thick, creamy yogurt.  I grabbed a spoon and dug in to see if there was whey below.  Nope!  Just 2 quarts of thick, creamy (and yummy) yogurt!  It's as thick as the store bought, and it's NOT tangy.  I could actually eat this!

Time for Action

Regardless of your position on milk (raw vs pasteurized) I think all agree with the freedom to choose what's best for each individual.  There are those that want to take that freedom away under the guise of food safety, namely S510.  I've already contacted my senators to express opposition to this bill, but there's more to do. (If you haven't done so, please consider contacting your senators-the language in S510 is so broad that your backyard garden could be illegal.)  A fellow blogger posted about an "inspection" going on at a dairy in Missouri.  Their blog has the details.  One reader has suggested an "un-cheese" party to help support them.  She says:
************CYBER-SPACE UN-CHEESE PARTY!*************
Here's how to SPONSOR A CHEESE:


The average price per pound is $5. You can send your sponsorship checks or money orders directly to the dairy. Just let them know what the money is for, and a note of encouragement would certainly be appreciated.

Morningland Dairy
6248 County Road 2980
Mountain View, MO
65548
Or PayPal:  You can paypal your cheese sponsorship to morningland@centurytel.net
Now, folks, this is a PARTY, so INVITE YOUR FRIENDS, your neighbors, your mere acquaintances to join us!
Plaster the message on other boards you frequent, put it on your Facebook Status, make a YouTube video and hey! maybe it'll go viral!
We have to stand together as raw milk consumers and producers, or we WILL see the day where we can't even grow food for our own consumption!

Let's get Morningland back on its feet -


SAVE THE CHEESE!!!

A related story about this is found here:


MILK IS A TOXIC SUBSTANCE?

I've read several stories of raw dairy farms being "inspected" simply because their milk is raw, yet far fewer people get sick from consuming raw milk than pasteurized.  If you're not familiar with the benefits of raw milk and would like to know more, I suggest starting at the Weston A Price Foundation's website.  Still, regardless of your thoughts about raw milk, contact your senator to oppose S510 and consider sending $5 to the people at Morningland Dairy.

Another Tattler Lid Giveaway

Don't ya just love a good giveaway?  I won two things from blogs, back to back, think I'll win again?

Here's the link to Keeper of the Home and the giveaway.

Want some free bakeware?

Then visit The Food Renegade.  She has a giveaway that ends this Saturday.  Paula's Bread is giving away the stainless steel muffin pan and jelly roll pan.  Why are you still here?  Follow the links and enter the contest!

The things we do for our goats...

The power company has been in the area lately trimming (and shredding) trees that are touching power lines.  When they got to the side road north of our property, I asked if they could just pile the trees on our property so we could use it for goat food.  The foreman was happy to fulfill my request and instructed the guys to save all the branches from trees that the goats like.  They've been here a few days now, and we've got at least as much as they'll eat in the time the leaves will remain green. 

Then I though, "hmm, what do they do with the chipped stuff?"  I asked, and they're leaving a load of that tomorrow and we'll use it as nesting material in the hen house!  Gotta love free food and bedding material!  Maybe I should suggest that APS start a "bed and breakfast" for farm animals, hmm, another business venture.

This is one truckload, there were two like this, then they cut this total again:

Time for a Change

I'm just not satisfied with the tools available to change the look and layout of my blog since they added the new template designer.  It's probably because I don't understand HTML and really need drag and drop capabilities to do it easily.  I think I managed to give my page a new look though.  I don't have time to teach myself all these cool things, and really shouldn't be sitting here right now! 

I have company coming for dinner and the house needs to be cleaned.  So what do I do?  Clean out the cabinet where my plastic containers are kept.  Yeah, that's a priority when visitors are coming!  It's done though and I'm glad to mark it off my mental "to do someday" list.  Maybe now I'll sleep at night, lol!

We've been busy driving around neighborhoods within about a 90 minute radius of us, and it's crazy how much time it can take to peruse a neighborhood.  We stumbled across a great deal online recently and have put in an offer.  I'll come back with details when we get word of acceptance (or not).  Trying not to get my hopes up just in case the offer isn't accepted.

OK, I need to walk away from the computer.  Hope you're all having a great day!

The Edge of the Divine...

...Where Possibility Meets God's Faithfulness by Sandi Patty.  Feeling as though I needed to get closer to the Divine God I serve, I picked this book from the titles available for review from Thomas Nelson Publishers.  As I started reading I wasn't sure it was the right choice.  It's a bit autobiographical, and Sandi has struggled with her weight since childhood.  The story focuses on this portion of her life and her journey through Lap Band surgery that's supposed to help her return from being severely, morbidly obese.  I've got some weight to lose, but for most of my life have been thin and athletic, so I started thinking I may not learn much from reading her story.

However, I realized that her struggle with overeating isn't really any different than the struggles each of us face, so I kept reading.  She shared the commitment it would take-that the surgery wasn't a quick, easy fix, but rather a tool in her arsenal that would help her get control over this addiction.  She learned that she used food to stuff her negative emotions, and once she stopped that habit, she found she needed to learn how to gently express those negative emotions. 

She spends time taking us to the edge of extreme situations in life and showing us how God is there to take the bad and use it for good.  She shares stories from her own life, as well as from the members of her band.  She helps us see that trusting God is always better than trusting our circumstances and experience.

It's the last chapter that really affected me.  It's simply called Enough.  In a story of an alcoholic acquaintance's journey to sobriety that survived the loss of his, he tells of his own discovery that the abused substance is never enough.  Never enough to kill the pain, forget the bad memories or satisfy the longing deep within.  But GOD is enough.  He promises to meet our needs, and offers to share His abundance when we draw close to Him.  I remember for a few days, thinking that I had enough.  I had enough stuff, I had enough time, I had enough blessing.  Could I truly be satisfied, content, while living in circumstances that I didn't choose?  While struggling with a situation that I couldn't control?  In the midst of less than ideal health?  Is God enough for me?  Is He enough for you?

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Looking for New Property

Be forewarned: I got carried away with details-it's LONG!

We've been looking at property and coming up with ideas since before we were married. We've had some grand ideas that we could never afford, but the process can be fun. We had a strategy for paying for the more realistic ideas, but Plan A got kiboshed before we could ever put it into play. Plan B was a bit more of a challenge and would take time, but we could build in phases with that plan. Well, the economy nose dived and the source of those funds dried up too. In between those phases, we bought what we thought was the perfect parcel. Two acres of irrigated land for the price that many people were asking for one. The bonus was the other 3 couples making up this investment group were all part of the church we go to, and people we'd actually want to be neighbors with. We managed to get the cash for the buy in and then we really started dreaming/planning! We'd been renting since getting married and were eager to set down roots.

(Would it help to know that we got married in 2006?)

 

Thru an odd exchange, we ended up with a home to live in while building that had no mortgage. It was supposed to be temporary-like 6 to 8 months. It's now been two and a half years and we aren't any closer to building than when we moved in! There are several reasons why, but I won't go into all of that in this post. Suffice to say that had I known we'd even be here a year I never would have agreed to the set up. It's just not adequate to call a home. I've tried not to complain too much, as it is paid for but I feel like I'm holding back on things until we have a "real" house. Every few months we look at what's available in our area and quickly realize there's nothing wonderful enough about any of the places to make us want to go into debt. However, I'm getting weary of tripping over every day items because there's nowhere to put them. Oh, and the balloon payment on that marvelous piece of property is due November 1st. Nothing like a large sum of money coming due to change one's perspective.

I think I mentioned last week that we even drove to TN last December to see if we'd want to live there, because it seemed like an ideal place for us and prices are like a 10th of what they are here. We've looked at other parts of AZ, but where we are has water. Water means plants and trees. Plants and trees mean food and shade. Food and shade mean happier family. Need I say more? So I tell you all of this because we found a place that is almost perfect, but the parts that aren't are enough to make us really examine our motives and desires and continue to seek God's guidance. That's where you come in. We've made a list of the pros and cons of each place and I'd like to present it for examination. Maybe you will see something we haven't thought of or have some wisdom and insight we don't.

For the record, we make quarterly payments on that piece of land we bought a few years ago. The cost of this place we're looking at would give us a mortgage of roughly $200/month less than what that quarterly payment works out to be-if they accepted our low ball offer. We're also aware that the mortgage would now be on our primary residence rather than a bare piece of land that we could let go of, if needed. So here's the list:

Current Residence Pros:

1. no mortgage
2. irrigation
3. creek
4. easy drive to town
5. 1 acre
6. central heat & AC
7. wood stove
8. hen house
9. fenced garden

 Current Residence Cons:

1. tight floor plan
2. no storage
3. old bath fixtures
4. highway noise
5. drafty construction
6. cracked window seals
7. can't remodel
8. can't take more foster kids/no siblings for TJ
9. can't have guests
10. no room for crafts
11. bad flooring
12. one bathroom
13. no linen closet
14. funky thermostat
15. I could go on, but I don't want to be reminded!

Proposed Residence Pros:

1. hen house
2. barn with stalls
3. hay loft
4. mechanical room (could be used as milking area)
5. pond
6. pasture
7. fenced
8. cross fenced
9. fenced garden
10. music work shop
11. root cellar
12. cheese aging room
13. evaporative cooling
14. storage
15. workshop
16. wood stove (s)
17. trampoline enclosure
18. swing set up
19. irrigation
20. 2 acres

Proposed Residence Cons:

1. mortgage
2. no AC
3. small master bedroom-not so bad except it's 1 of only 2 bedrooms-foster care makes this a challenge
4. tight floor plan-would be a challenge to remodel to our liking
5. old bath fixtures

 If we simply look at the numbers of pros and cons on each, the decision seems easy, but some of the cons are big at the proposed place. This post is already long, but I'll take a bit more time to say that once TJ's adoption is final, he can't share a room with foster children unless they are the same age group and gender. I think the dividing line for age is 6, so that gives us a year to find a way to have another bedroom for more kids. Once a child is adopted, the rules no longer apply. TJ really wants a brother, and we think it'd be good for him to have one, so that's a big consideration too. Children two and under can share our room, but we're not sure we want any that young. There's a bedroom in the basement, but it can't be used for foster children because there have to be two exits to the outside from any room they sleep in for fire safety. This room has no exits to the outside. The master bedroom being small isn't so much the issue as sharing the upstairs bathroom is. Our thought was to build a master suite on the main level so that both upstairs rooms would be kids rooms. Oh yeah, and when my parents come to visit, they can't go up and down the stairs, so there isn't anywhere for them to stay. Here I go talking myself out of a place that I really want! Well, I really want all the outside amenities and the basement. And the huge workshop for Tony's instrument building-along with another workshop for everything else. Did I mention storage? We'd be able to buy in bulk and save money. And with two acres we'd have enough grazing area for all the animals we have. And that pond-not having to fill buckets for the goats several times a day-how much power does that feature get?? I didn't tell you the barn stalls are configurable-the gates swing either way to make various size stalls. If we had to buy hay-we could buy in bulk and save again!

 

Now do you see why this is such a hard decision?  Maybe floor plans will help:

 
If you've read this far, you're a real trooper and I thank you!