This is a follow up to yesterdays post “ Reprioritizing and doing away with the superwomen complex” “ I was feeling pretty overwhelmed when I wrote that. I am not going to lie I was thinking about people like my sister who live in town have a nice big house ( and a nice big house payment) a stay at home Mom, gets her nails done all the time, goes out to eat often, has several tv programs that she watches every week, her husband does all the yard work. Doesn’t garden, doesn’t have any animals except an inside dog, doesn’t can or preserve any food, doesn’t have a deep pantry,& buys absolutely everything.

But as I thought about it a little more I would hate her life how boring not to mention that they live paycheck to paycheck, All the processed foods that they eat has to be so unhealthy, All the TV watching means a lot of nonactivity,

I choose my life and I really do love it and wouldn’t trade it for anything ( even when I am having my own little pity party) I love homesteading, prepping, canning & preserving my own food, being self-employed, blogging, and living frugally. Trying to see just how much I can save by doing it myself, by being as self-reliant as I possibly can be.

I love it but it is a lot of hard work, long hours and some yucky work.

I raise as much of my own food as I can because it is less expensive than store bought, it is so much better for you and it tastes sooo much better. Yes, there are some years I don’t get much for all that work or the cows have gotten out and helped themselves along with the deer. But every little bit that I do get is one thing I don’t have to buy and I know it is all natural. And yes weeding, planting, and watering takes lots of time and is extra work, but it is worth every minute and being outside in the fresh air just feels good ( well except for this year when it was so darn smoky from all the fires).

I raise chickens, goats, cows, and dogs ( with a few other animals thrown in the mix) because once again I can save on my grocery bill and I know where the food comes from, And fresh eggs taste so much better than store bought. .Having goat milk for cheese and soap is great. There is nothing better than grass-fed beef that you have raised yourself. Sometimes it really isn’t that much fun not going to lie I hate cleaning the chicken coop and the dog kennel out but the rewards from them make it well worth it. Milking the goat takes time and has to be done every day. Cows take a lot of time feeding in the winter, moving them from pasture to pasture during the summer, breeding, and calving. If I wasn’t doing all that I would probably be watching tv all the time and since there is nothing good on tv what a waste that would be.

I try to make all my food from scratch because once again it saves a ton of money and it is so much better for you then all the chemical filled processed stuff from the store. Yes, it takes a little longer than opening up a box but it tastes so much better and is so much more healthy for you. I don’t want to have all the problems that a lot of older people have when I can avoid a lot of them by watching what we eat.

I prepare and try to be as self-reliant as I can because you never know what can happen a job loss a natural or man-made disaster, and just like this past summer when money was super tight I had plenty of food and still had enough to be able to help the girls out with food. I don’t want to have to ever depend on anyone else to have to feed my family. Plus many years ago before I started prepping/having a deep pantry I was having some extremely hard times and I swore that when I got over them I would never let myself be in that position again. It is a lot of work and there really isn’t much of a vacation from it. It is a dusk to dawn kind of job but it is so satisfying to know how much you can really do for your self.

I can and preserve as much of my own food as I can and same thing as all the above I can save a ton of money and it is so much better for you. It is a lot of work and very time consuming but it is oh so rewarding. Plus I just love looking at all the jars of food sitting on the shelves and knowing I did all that. Yes like cooking from scratch it does take a lot more time but I do it for the same reasons I cook from scratch.

I am self-employed because I love working from home, I started doing daycare when my girls were little and I was a single parent I wanted to be home with them. I am able to get things done around the place during the day that I wouldn’t be able to do if I worked in town. I love sharing the farm type life with the little ones especially the kids that don’t have any of this at home. And the best thing ever is watching their faces when they are playing with the baby goat. It does mean that my house is full of baby and kid stuff and I can’t have it decorated like I would like, but who else can say they have a tent and a paper mountain behind their couch hahaha. It does get frustrating at times having all that in my living room and my house seeming like it is always a wreak. But at least I get to be home especially in the middle of winter when there is a couple feet of snow and it is super cold. Yes, I still have to go out an do chores but I don’t have to get all dressed up and drive in the snow.

I blog because I love sharing what little I know about frugal living, canning, DIY, what we do in daycare, homesteading and being self-reliant ( which I have really fallen down on here lately). This has been one of my favorite things to do even if it does take a little money and a lot of time especially for me since my typing skills are not the best in the west ( really should of went to typing in school instead of extending my lunch hour to 2 hours haha).

I try to live as frugal as I can so we have the extra money to go play when we get the chance, music festivals, hunting, jeeping, boating, and all the things we like to do. Living frugal takes a lot of work doing extra things to save a dime ( all the above and more). A lot of my family gives me a hard time because I try to make everything from scratch ( Although I do go out of my way to shock them with what I am doing now like the homemade sunscreen. I have been doing it so long it takes a lot to shock them any more guess I need to try harder haha). But I love crocheting, sewing, soap making, quilting, yard work and trying to learn to spin and weave.

I do have to give a huge shout out to Andy though without him a lot of this wouldn’t be possible. While he usually has his own list of things he has to do farming, a real job, custom farm work, all the repairs that always seem to be needed, taking care of the old homestead, cows just to name a few. He is a big help with the garden and whenever I need a helping hand just as I try to help whenever he needs it. I guess I am pretty lucky that I have someone that matches what I can’t do he can and what he can’t do I can so it works out pretty well.

So even though I have to have a pity party and whine once in a while there is not one thing I would change about my life yes it is busy and sometimes I don’t feel like I can get it all done,  it does manage to get done. And I will continue to bit off more then I can chew.  I can’t imagine having the life like my sister, having to buy the latest greatest name brand things, having to keep up with the Joneses and being in so much debt having to live paycheck to paycheck. If everyone lived this life there would be a lot fewer problems in the country and I think a lot less divorces because you would have to depend on each other and what little you have you would be a lot more grateful for it. No, I am not superwoman I am just a woman who tries’s to do all she can so here family can have a better life.

So I am off to fix lunch for Andy and the kids and start getting to work on plums and the hundred other things I need to get done.