We recently purchased 12 acres just outside of a smaller town, and are sharing our journey as we build our self-sufficient lifestyle.
I have learned a lot in the last 10 years of becoming more self-sufficient. This feels like the end goal to a dream, but really it's only the beginning. There are so many things you can do to become more self-sufficient no matter what your living arrangement is. The important thing is to start where you are.
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We all have the same amount of hours in the day. We decide what we are going to do with those hours. If we have set obligations, we have less hours to get our other tasks done, but still need to do them.
This may look like working out for 30 minutes a week if that is all you can squeeze in, as long as you make the time to take care of your body.
I woke up that morning to a beautiful sunshiny day. With dreams of completing some work in the yard, and getting ready for spring.
10 minutes later the mower was stuck in the mud 😂
Using the jack and some plywood, I was able to get it on a steady platform so it could get traction. That didn’t work. So I jacked up the front end and realized that the mower had sunk down and was stuck on the 4-inch tall stump (maybe 2 inches wide) that had been in the middle of the weeds (4 inches tall, because the mower is a BEAST and cut through it - also a good reason we probably needed to buy new blades recently.)
Off to the garage for the chainsaw... cut that baby down, dropped the mower, and I was back in business.
The dogs and I went for a ride around the property, mowing down bits of weeds.
I took the dogs inside for a water break and decided to mow around the pond....
And that’s where the trouble happened...


What a moment.
I feel like we have all been in a moment like this in our lives. It feels like the whole world is falling in around us, like we have all lost control. Her first no was this dress. She was ready to give up. I have wanted to give up so many times. The amount of no’s, or not right now’s, or I’ll just use this other cheaper (possibly risky) product, etc. continues to grow.
Sometimes, it seems like no matter what, you just aren’t reaching the people you want to reach. Sometimes, you feel like you are talking to a wall. Sophia recovers, and she takes the world by storm.
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