Monday morning dawned early and with it the bustle of a new week. The weekend had been productive. On Saturday I helped my husband with the building of our chicken coop in an effort to get it finished before we finally bring our chickens home next week. The poor cluckers have been housed with friends since our move, bless their hearts, and it's high time we bring them up here and get them settled in their new home. It's the only thing we haven't completed from the move. Sunday was church and it was my week to bring the main dish, or Hot Dish as they call it here. I made lasagna. It was so nice to be back at church this week as we had missed last week with being gone on vacation for the 4th. What a difference it makes in our weeks! There is just something about gathering together to worship the Lord and fellowship that brings an order and calm to my week. After church we ended up spending the afternoon with friends. It was an accident, really. We began talking after church and time slipped away and then a few hours had gone by when the men decided to go look at some machinery and a hayfield and left us ladies and children at the church. We decided to head on back to our place where it was cooler and the children could play. I had laundry on the couch and dishes on the counters and my home was not company ready (doesn't it almost always happen when you aren't ready?!) but my friend did not mind. I brewed a pot of coffee and we drank it while we shared deep conversation as only two dear friends can. When she left that evening, I felt utterly refreshed. Friends are such blessings!
Monday came all too soon, but we were ready and renewed again for the week ahead. I got up early to make my husband breakfast and pack his lunch before he left. The house was still in disarray from the weekend projects and it was first on my list to tackle. After sending my husband off to work, I sat with a cup of coffee and my thoughts. I began writing the posts about our life and financial history as the mornings are often the only quiet time to sit and do work of this sort. As I began to think back over our life, moves, jobs, and wild income fluctuations, I felt a sort of panic start to rise. There is such a perceived way to do things, an order to life if you will, that is seen as the way life is to go. I wrote in the last post of our story how I felt like we were starting over again. It truly feels like that. It can be a bit discouraging to be starting life over again when you feel like you should be further along but due to unforeseen circumstances, you were stripped down to bare bones and now you are having to get your feet under you again. I've felt these feelings since we moved here as we have had to purchase many things again and in a lot of ways, start over.
Given the nature of our move, we wiped out our sinking funds and a lot of our savings. We started from the ground up after moving and each month seems to have some major outgo. Work clothes for my husband as his were in bad repair. Summer clothes for the children as we moved in spring and they didn't have warm weather clothing yet. School books for the new school year as we didn't wait for fall to start again but started our new school year immediately after finishing the last year. A lawnmower, a weed eater, supplies to build a chicken coop, materials for our raised beds, items needed for the house to make things work in this new space. All the little and big things that are needed for the care and keeping of a home. Watching a seemingly endless stream of expenditures go out of our bank account is hard for my frugal nature. Sometimes it is overwhelming - this process of starting over. This process of again paying off debt. Of again purchasing necessary basics. Of updating items we simply have not been able to think of replacing before now. It is a balancing act of living now and setting aside for later, saving and spending, paying off debt and not neglecting the things needed today. I have always thrown myself wholeheartedly into things and it can be hard for me to learn patience and let the little amounts add up over time. I would like our debt to be gone right away and not do anything or spend any money until we have everything paid off. That's just not realistic right now and I don't think it's what our hearts need either. I'm learning to rest in the fact that all good things take time. So I am enjoying life in the here and now, setting money aside for needs and future goals, faithfully paying extra towards our payments, and letting go of the pressures of where life tells us we should be.
Sometimes I want to hurry this process along. I want my home to be what I envision right now, instead of adding things as I go for an eventual result. Sometimes I feel like we're so far behind where we should be. I look around at friends with established homes and feel like I'm a newlywed again slowly gathering the things needed for life and home. Renting instead of owning and once again saving up a down payment for a home purchase. But then I remember the richness of the experiences we have had, the places we have lived, and the friends we have made. I remember that we have not made decisions based on earthly possessions or money. That we have followed the Lord to the best of our ability and have stood firm in the belief that our money should work for us, not dictate what we do. We have taken risks that others might not and in doing so, we have had many experiences and learned many lessons that others might not be afforded. I remember again that there is no "timeline" on this road of life and that this journey should not be marked by checked-off accomplishments, but it should be one in which you grow and learn, have adventures and solace, have the confidence to take risks and the knowledge to know that you can start over again as many times as you need.
I knew I could sit with my thoughts and overwhelm or I could do what was in my power to change the atmosphere of my home and my mood. Nothing sets my world right again like a clean and orderly house, and nothing untangles my thoughts like music. I have been listening to this CD on repeat. Instrumental music is so cozy and relaxing to me. I love the music wafting quietly through the house as I go about my tasks. I lit the candles in the kitchen and turned the music on and I could feel the stress leaving my muscles as I began to focus on what was at hand to do. We made quick work of the household chores and I breathed easier once the house was put together again. That evening we ate a quick supper and loaded up the kayaks to take the children to the lake 15 minutes from here. It was deserted and we had the place to ourselves. We paddled our way around the lake while we watched the sun slowly sink towards the edge of the horizon. I don't believe there is any prettier place for sunsets than on the Great Plains. I think it should be on everyone's bucket list to see a sunset here. It was a calming day and I ended it feeling very thankful for where we've come and all we've seen along the way. Put to rest were the feelings of impatience or the panic that we weren't "farther along" in life. Sleep was sweet. Peace is a wonderful thing.
The days this week have been much like the others during the day. Each day has it's own work and tasks during the day but we have had a good mixture of interesting evenings and ones spent quietly at home. The children have spent countless hours outside. Meals have been prepared and eaten. One day I spent all afternoon mowing and doing yard work while the children played. Ice cream cones and popsicles have been consumed and hot dogs and deer steaks grilled outside. We have taken afternoons to sit down or relax on beds and read while we cool down and give ourselves a bit of a rest. We just started this book about Caddie Woodlawn and the children have really been enjoying it. Before that we read Lumber Camp Library. We enjoyed that one as well.
On Wednesday evening I made chocolate chip bars and a half gallon of iced coffee and we drove out to where some friends were making hay. They would be working late into the night and I knew they would appreciate some cold coffee in the blistering heat. We were planning on just dropping it off for them and leaving but they asked if we would like to ride along while they made hay. The children had never gotten to experience making hay before. My husband and son went in one tractor with the man while I went with the wife in another tractor with our daughter and youngest son. We rode and visited with them for a couple hours before heading home. It was a nice way to pass an evening with friends and a new experience for the children.
On Thursday, my daughter and I sat down with cups of tea together as she began to learn how to menu plan and write a grocery list. She has been making breakfasts and baking for fun as well as helping with supper for awhile. This week she planned a whole day of meals from her own cookbook and compiled her grocery list for what she needed. Next week she will be in charge of a day of meals and I will be her helper until she can fully cook a whole day of meals by herself. She is so excited and I can't quite wrap my mind around the fact that she is old enough to be learning these things already!
Friday we cleaned the house and prepped it for the weekend. A little one had wet the bed in the early morning hours so bedding and mattress had to be washed and cleaned. That bit of extra work was just a quick extra step in our typical morning work as well as bathing said child. Before the heat of the day hit, the 3 children and I walked the few blocks to our tiny grocery store here. I've only been in there once since moving here as I usually shop about 20 minutes away or at Walmart an hour away. It's a quaint country store that feels like you step back in time. The prices are very high which is why I only go there for small items, if I need them. Usually we just do without until grocery shopping day but today I needed bread. I had completely forgotten to get some loaves of bread out to thaw yesterday to bake and I had no bread to make sandwiches with. A couple of the children decided to bike while I walked. They thought the excursion was very fun and they were quite enamored with the little store as they hadn't ever been inside it before. We were going to Walmart and "the big town" an hour away to do our grocery shopping and I needed to make sandwiches to take along for supper.
When my husband got home from work on Friday, we loaded up with our coolers and picnic supper and headed off on the hour drive to “the big town.” It’s an hour drive. We ate supper on the way and then my husband and the boys went to the hardware store while my daughter and I went to Walmart for groceries. I have had very longstanding conflicted feelings about Walmart. In West Virginia it was about the only place to get things at and given our food budget, I really couldn’t afford to shop anywhere else. They consistently had the cheapest groceries and I could get more for my money than anywhere else. Here it is much the same except that I have to drive an hour to get there. This Walmart serves a large geographical area and is poorly managed. The shelves are often empty (even before 2020) and it is utter chaos going in there. I am still figuring out how to balance affordability with patronizing places I would like to support with our money more than Walmart. I have not found that yet so we are in this odd spot of still doing some of our shopping at Walmart and some local, and of course Sam’s club online as well. Anyways, we picked up the necessary things we needed which took longer than usual with explaining how to compare prices and brands. We’ve done this some during other shopping trips but this time was more in depth as my daughter was shopping herself for her cooking day (with our money.) One fun thing I picked up while we were there were these turntables for my spice cabinet.
I had considered buying some off Amazon but I liked these better and I really enjoyed arranging everything when we got home.
Saturday we made bacon and pancakes for breakfast and then loaded up to go to a threshing bee and steam tractor show. We had never been before and didn’t know what to expect. It was really, really neat. We walked around almost all day and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. There were stage coach rides and old claim shacks and stores that had been moved to recreate an old town. There was lots of history to read about and a functional old saw mill, wheat threshing being done and fields being plowed. It was so interesting with lots to see everywhere you looked. We came home hot, sweaty, and exhausted but so glad we went.
After eating dinner at home and getting cooled off in the air conditioning, I started prepping the dish I was taking to church on Sunday morning. I was to bring a side dish this week so I made cheesy potatoes. They are easy to mix up and put in the oven during church. This morning was the typical Sunday morning hustle of getting breakfast eaten and children’s faces washed and teeth brushed, church clothes put on and hair combed. I swept and put the few things in order that needed picked up and ran the mop. Everyone filed out to the pickup in their Sunday best, with backpacks stuffed with drawing paper and pencils for things to do during church, and insulated casserole bags with food for the potluck. The house was left sparkling clean and ready for afternoon guests.
After church we came home and changed into comfy clothes and put the coffee pot on. We had invited friends to come after church. We sat at the kitchen table and sipped coffee and swapped stories and laughed while the children played outside. Friends are one of life’s most wonderful gifts, I believe.
Our company left in the late afternoon and I made a simple supper to eat with minimal cleanup. We had a nice, quiet evening and here we are once again, thankful for a wonderful week and ready to start a new one. This week is the county fair here and I’m looking forward to spending more time enjoying this community and our friends here.
I hope your week was lovely as well and that you are rejuvenated for the week to come. I appreciate every single one of you who read my posts. Have a great week!