Homesteading Sitrep: January

I haven’t updated since October.  And there’s a very good reason for that… there’s not much to update.  Due to several things, not much has been done.  NGD started work on the well house, a much needed project, but then then rains began and the hole that he dug for the foundation has become our own little pond.  Now the water has been drained and the rains have stopped but it’s too cold for the concrete to cure.

So, on to the next:  the fireplace/study.  This is the next area we hope to focus on.  As a matter of fact, NGD and Chas have gone right now to get the stones and mortar, etc. to begin work on this.  This is after a week of research, two failed attempts, and a broken pickup.  Sigh.  No one said it would be easy.  Even writing about this is hard.

I sometimes get discouraged.  Okay, I often get discouraged.  I have come to realize many things during this project.  One of which is contentment.  I’m learning to deal with living in close quarters.  I’m learning a new repertoire of recipes and things that are easily prepared in a camper kitchen with minimal resources.  I’m trying to find contentment instead of just railing about every little convenience because who does that help?

Once again, I am reminded that this is a LONG-TERM project and trying to grow out of my impatient, instant gratification ways.  As it sits right now, we have 11 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days on the countdown clock.  That’s a considerable amount of time and a lot can happen.  NGD assures me that we are still on pace and that this is still an achievable goal.  I try to make myself remember that when all I see is a house with no floors or walls and little to no progress.

So, with all the negative out of the way, here’s what’s on the horizon.  Hopefully, the fireplace will be done by the end of January and then we’ll start on the study (walls, floors, supports, etc.) beginning in February.  This is one step closer to being able to move in and actually live in the house.  We also may put a pause on the house and work a little on the chicken coop/brooder house due to timing and the fact that I can’t wait to have fresh eggs/chicken.  Baby steps, slow-going, and victory in inches are still my mantra.  

*Btw, 'sitrep' is a military term (and possibly used elsewhere) from situation report.

Why Wednesday? Clean Eating/Whole Foods

Why Whole Foods/Clean Eating?

Just to clear things up, I don’t mean Whole Foods Market, though I do tend to shop there.  No, today I’m talking about why I eat the way I do, or at least try to.  There is no simple answer to this question.  I can’t talk about the way I eat without talking about the whole of life.

To start, I think I have to answer the question of why eat at all?  What is the purpose of eating?  We eat to sustain ourselves.  Better said, we eat to live.  Without food, we can’t be sustained.  What follows is what kind of life to you want?  I want a healthy life, therefore I want to eat healthy.

Eating healthy means different things to different people.  I have friends and family that believe that if it says “healthy” “low fat/calorie” or “good for you” on the label or on tv, then it must, in fact, be healthy.  What those labels mean to me is that they’ve probably taken the really heathy parts and replaced them with things to make it taste better or last longer.  That is why I try to eat ‘clean’ or ‘whole foods.’

Clean eating is basically the premise that you eat things that are processed as little as possible or have few ingredients.  I am not a strict adherent to this principle, so if that’s what you are into or if you want more info on that kind of life, I’d suggest you go here.  She’s got some great info and some recipes that are AMAZING!

I believe that the reason that we have so many health problems in our country is because we tend to lack food in our food.  There are so many preservatives, processed, and synthetic parts in our food that it rarely resembles what it’s actually supposed to be.  Try looking at a normal bottle of fruit juice.  To me, the only ingredient should be the fruit, right?  However, that is rarely the case.  Look at a jar of pickles.  You know what it takes to make a jar of pickles?  Cucumbers, pickling spices, vinegar, and water.  Do you know what the common ingredients in a store bought jar of pickles?  Cucumbers, water, vinegar, salt, calcium chloride, sodium benzoate, polysorbate 80, natural flavors, and yellow #5.

With the modern invent of so many convenience foods in our country, from fast food drive thrus to grocery store prepared food sections, we have lost the nutrients in our food.  That’s why we need vitamins, supplements, and drugs to solve problems that could be solved by returning to a diet that actually contains those vitamins and nutrients.

So, that is why I eat clean/whole foods.  When I can.  Because just like everyone else in the world, I don’t always have the time to bake my own bread (I do it when I can) or squeeze my own orange juice, or pickle my own pickles.  I fall prey to the modern conveniences, too.  But that is why it is so important that you read labels and choose wisely.  Perhaps you have to buy spaghetti sauce instead of making your own, read the labels and make a good choice.  Stay away from high sugars and a multiplicity of ingredients (especially if you can’t recognize or pronounce them!). 

Because in the end, all we can do is the best we can.  Make good, healthy choices when we can.  And this helps in those times when we can’t.  Our body was made to heal itself.  So if we are able to eat as clean and whole as possible 75% of the time, then our body will work to repair any damage that is caused when we run through the McDonald’s drive thru during the remaining 25% of time.  Food is meant to sustain us, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy it.  We just have to make sure that it is in it's proper place and that we are being good stewards of self and others.

Victory in Inches...

Oh, goodness! This could be the theme of my life. It's a phrase that the Hubs and I coined a while back during a particularly tough duty station. There was rampant wickedness and horrible situations and a lot of issues in our family. We really didn't know where to start or how to fix things. So, we just jumped in and followed Jesus. And things began to change. Little by little, here and there, things got better.

That's when we started using this term, Victory in Inches. There were no huge, life shattering moments, it was just the little things that were happening slowly, over time until one day when we turned around we could see undeniable progress. 

So, here we are again. There's a huge task before us, major house renovation and a major change in lifestyle (hello, homesteading!). I'm glad the Hubs knows where to start, because I certainly don't. And start, we have. Things are going, moving forward, but it seems that it is at a glacial pace. I'm the kind of person who goes for a walk in the morning and wonders if I'm skinny and healthy yet. 

Because of this, I am struggling with this project. It's one of the biggest of my life and certainly the biggest of my marriage. So, we definitely need to take our time and do it right. That's what I want. But I also want it done and want it done now. This is the part of me that I'm having to crucify daily. 

However, there's that other part that keeps sneaking in. The part that's telling me that we aren't making any progress and it's all for naught. All this sacrifice, all this work, it's just spinning our wheels. Oh, how easy these thoughts come. How easily my mind conjures the negative aspects and feeds on them. This is what I'm currently combatting. Every setback, every missed deadline is feeding into this line of thinking. 

This is why I have to occasionally do a "moto check." I have to stop and turn around. I have to make myself look at where we started so that I can see how far we've come. It's not drastic and it looks far worse now than when we started, but there is progress. Slow, steady moving forward. Victory in inches. It's not pretty yet and it isn't comfortable, but it's necessary.

For any person, in any stage of life, it's so much easier to focus on the negative aspects, to spend our time looking at how much is left, rather than what has been accomplished. But we can't live there, in that place. That is not our home.  No, our call is to live in the victory and hope that has been promised to us. When it is difficult and discouraging, we have to remember to take the time to see where we've been and how far Jesus has brought us. Because even when the victory comes in inches, we are still gaining ground.