Right now we are finishing up the flooring system for our soon-to-be beautiful home:)!! YAY, YAY and more YAY!! When the block was being laid all I could think about was "I hope this house will be big enough!" I don't mean to sound carnal, but it sure didn't look big enough for my house plan's drawings. But once we got the trusses down ( or up...I'm not quite sure which one it is) it seems bigger! And Paul says that once the walls go up it will seem ever larger! If only it could just keep growing and growing...welllll, maybe not. More to clean, so no thanks! I purposely picked an 1800 square foot house so that it would fit a growing family, but also keep us together (thanks to an open floor plan) and be easier to clean. I don't think I could live very happily in a 4000 square foot home. I wouldn't feel connected to my chillins. I'm pretty sure I would need a map just to find the laundry room and such. And all the furniture to dust and floors to mop?? Once again, no thank you! An 1800 s.f. house will suit just fine:) Now a few years down the road when we have about 6 more children (HAHAHAHA) we will finish the upstairs 800 s.f.
I won't go into detail about the floor trusses just yet...I want to wait until I have all the pictures and everything is finished. Though I will tell you that it keeps looking more and more like a house!! Obviously:) But really, I am SOOO bad at imagining what things look like. I can't come up with an original idea to save my life! That's why I love houzz.com! I don't have to blow my mind coming up with some pretty creative things...that's what that site is for:) All I need to do is incorporate it into my lifestye and tastes.
Anyways, I'm rambling. Let's get to where I want to go with this entry! Self-sufficiency! Wow, weird, I know:) But hang on...I am not going off the deep end here. I just want to mention a few things that I have waited 5 years to do in our own home...things that will probably save us mo
ney; very likely be hard work; but (most importantly) definitely bring our family together in ways that won't happen if we rely on everybody and every place else for our needs. Now, I have never done any of these things that I will be mentioning...it will take years to perfect and I may even become weary and fail sometimes, but my dream has been to supply my family with a healthy, affordable and fun way of eating, playing and living!
First of all: a garden:) Not just a flower garden, and not even just a vegetable garden; but a garden of fruits, vegetables, herbs and grains where we can last a whole year off it's produce. What a wonderful way to start becoming more self sufficient. Even just the first step of planting a few veggies or starting a mini herb garden will improve your health and give you and your kiddos something fun to do! I can't wait!
A great book that I have read over and over is called The Backyard Homesteader. It has soooo many ideas and ways to start your own garden even though you might only live on 1/4 acre! Don't be afraid of new things...try them!
Secondly (and this kind of correlates to number one), making myown bread/pasta/cereals, etc. I won't begin to tell you how much healthier this is for you and your family. Knowing exactly what is in your food and where it came from, to me anyways, is a huge relief!! Can you imagine whipping up a batch of spaghetti, knowing where every single igredient, from the pasta to the herbs, came from? See? I have already begun to tell you:) I'll stop! *smile* Can you see the money you'll be saving by not going to the grocery store for just these foods! I know with my addiction to cereal, that I'd be saving a couple hundred a month! Not really, but (yikes!) it's probably pretty close! So even for this reason only, what a great thing to do!:)
Thirdly, chickens!!! Other than the fact that I absolutely love these little creatures
, what better way to save money (and be 10,000 times healthier) than to grow your own meat and eggs! This may end up being one of my most favorite things to do! Several of my friends have chickens and none of them regret it. They have fresh eggs every day, great meats and less bugs around their house. Plus those things are so stinking cute! There is really no downside to this idea at all!! Now, the only thing I am worried about is the bobcat that my hubby says lives in our woods! I would be soooo mad if it killed all our little chicks. I would prefer my man to kill the bobcat before we move in! But if he doesn't then I may have to wait on our precious chickens :( boohoo!! But this is definitely a "yes" for the future! :)
So, there are some of my ideas on becoming self sufficient:) I have more, but don't want to scare you off:) hehe. It wasn't too bad, was it? I told you! I am by NO MEANS the expert on this...I have only been researching stuff for 5 years or so...and I have TONS to learn! In fact, if you have any comments on ANY kind of self sufficient ideas, I would love to hear them! Please!! I could have gone on about getting your own milk cow (which I would LOVE to do) or even a few milk goats, but if you're interested here is a great link that was a blessing to me:
http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/articles/general-view/archive/2010/june/08/from-city-slickers-to-happy-homesteaders/
I won't go into detail about the floor trusses just yet...I want to wait until I have all the pictures and everything is finished. Though I will tell you that it keeps looking more and more like a house!! Obviously:) But really, I am SOOO bad at imagining what things look like. I can't come up with an original idea to save my life! That's why I love houzz.com! I don't have to blow my mind coming up with some pretty creative things...that's what that site is for:) All I need to do is incorporate it into my lifestye and tastes.
Anyways, I'm rambling. Let's get to where I want to go with this entry! Self-sufficiency! Wow, weird, I know:) But hang on...I am not going off the deep end here. I just want to mention a few things that I have waited 5 years to do in our own home...things that will probably save us mo
ney; very likely be hard work; but (most importantly) definitely bring our family together in ways that won't happen if we rely on everybody and every place else for our needs. Now, I have never done any of these things that I will be mentioning...it will take years to perfect and I may even become weary and fail sometimes, but my dream has been to supply my family with a healthy, affordable and fun way of eating, playing and living!First of all: a garden:) Not just a flower garden, and not even just a vegetable garden; but a garden of fruits, vegetables, herbs and grains where we can last a whole year off it's produce. What a wonderful way to start becoming more self sufficient. Even just the first step of planting a few veggies or starting a mini herb garden will improve your health and give you and your kiddos something fun to do! I can't wait!
A great book that I have read over and over is called The Backyard Homesteader. It has soooo many ideas and ways to start your own garden even though you might only live on 1/4 acre! Don't be afraid of new things...try them!
Secondly (and this kind of correlates to number one), making myown bread/pasta/cereals, etc. I won't begin to tell you how much healthier this is for you and your family. Knowing exactly what is in your food and where it came from, to me anyways, is a huge relief!! Can you imagine whipping up a batch of spaghetti, knowing where every single igredient, from the pasta to the herbs, came from? See? I have already begun to tell you:) I'll stop! *smile* Can you see the money you'll be saving by not going to the grocery store for just these foods! I know with my addiction to cereal, that I'd be saving a couple hundred a month! Not really, but (yikes!) it's probably pretty close! So even for this reason only, what a great thing to do!:)
Thirdly, chickens!!! Other than the fact that I absolutely love these little creatures
, what better way to save money (and be 10,000 times healthier) than to grow your own meat and eggs! This may end up being one of my most favorite things to do! Several of my friends have chickens and none of them regret it. They have fresh eggs every day, great meats and less bugs around their house. Plus those things are so stinking cute! There is really no downside to this idea at all!! Now, the only thing I am worried about is the bobcat that my hubby says lives in our woods! I would be soooo mad if it killed all our little chicks. I would prefer my man to kill the bobcat before we move in! But if he doesn't then I may have to wait on our precious chickens :( boohoo!! But this is definitely a "yes" for the future! :)So, there are some of my ideas on becoming self sufficient:) I have more, but don't want to scare you off:) hehe. It wasn't too bad, was it? I told you! I am by NO MEANS the expert on this...I have only been researching stuff for 5 years or so...and I have TONS to learn! In fact, if you have any comments on ANY kind of self sufficient ideas, I would love to hear them! Please!! I could have gone on about getting your own milk cow (which I would LOVE to do) or even a few milk goats, but if you're interested here is a great link that was a blessing to me:
http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/articles/general-view/archive/2010/june/08/from-city-slickers-to-happy-homesteaders/
Well, have a great middle of the week everyone:) I will have more to post the end of the week. Thank you SOOOO much for reading! You make my day:)
On to build,
Rachael
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