Head West Young Man

We are moving!
In one month from today.
We are moving to a tiny little town of 294 people. Actually we will be living 5 miles outside of this tiny little town.
We are extremely excited for this opportunity for both Jordan and our family.  After being out of school for almost two years Jordan realized that sitting at a computer looking at drawings and work packages all day was not for him.  We are extremely grateful for our time here in South Carolina, it taught us so much, it has been special to be able to take the kids to visit Jordan's dad twice a week, own our first home, have Bo, and so much more.  While these things have been great, we knew that we wanted our kids to grow up with a different lifestyle, a more simple and wholesome lifestyle.
After much prayer and fasting we have decided to move back to Idaho.  Jordan will be working on a large ranch.  And yes, we realize Jordan knows nothing about ranching.
We were not out looking for a ranching job, we were actually looking into other field engineer positions in the oil and gas industry.  While visiting family and friends in Utah this summer our friends Tim and Elaine stopped by, it was briefly mentioned about a possibly of an engineering position with their family's company.  When we got back to Aiken we talked about how we really missed Idaho and maybe we should look into that rather than oil/gas.  We also knew they were looking for a ranch hand for their cattle operation.  About 4 months later we were sitting in the living room and it just kind of dawned on us that we should ask about that position and seeing if there was anyway to make it work for our family.  For some crazy reason they said yes, and now we are packing up.
 This is a big change but we truly think it is right for our family.
Really though, it all boils down to that I look way more cute in the freezing cold than I do the sweltering heat.

Survival mode.

In the past 33 months I have either been growing a child or physically providing a child with all of their nutrients. For 9 of those months I was doing both simultaneously. 

In the past 24 months I have changed roughly 7,482 diapers. 

I have not slept through the night in two years. 

I have not slept longer than 3 hours in the past nine months. 

I have gone to school part time during all of this. 

I still wake up at 5 and make Jordan a lunch every morning. 

Most mornings it takes a whole lot of self control not to throw his camelback at his head. 

But yet I do it cause it's the only time we get to talk without kids. 

I have 5 loads of laundry to fold. 

It's been sitting in my room for over a week. 

I still have 3 more loads to wash. 

My sink still has dishes from thanksgiving. 

I am tired. 

Today is madilyn's 2nd birthday, and I can't even imagine finding the energy to buy let alone make a cake. 

My kind of husband.

Comes home from work.  Takes you to Hobby Lobby.  Carries both kids to the car.  

But really this is just one of those snapshots I want to remember forever.  He is one great dad, which makes him one great husband.  Life can be extremely overwhelming with babies just 14 months apart, and although we can both have our "natural man" tendencies, he handles like it's the most normal and easy thing ever.  

*Unless of course he has been home with both kids more than an hour.  In that case I get a call that goes something like ..."It's really hard being mom, come home we need you."  

Hurray for Chipotle.

Have you seen Chipotle's  new commercial?   

Well, what did you think?
If your thoughts were something along the lines of " I don't get it" or "well that is disturbing,
things are not really like that."
Do me a favor and go watch FOOD Inc (it is on netflix, amazon prime, and youtube) and Fresh (amazon prime).  Open your eyes to the reality of factory farming.
At first you might think, well I am never eating meat again.  Here is the thing, that does not have to be the answer, meat is not the criminal here.  The industry is.  When the industry is pumping your family's dinner full of hormones and antibiotics, you are feeding your family hormones and antibiotics for Sunday dinner.  Makes your mouth water huh?  There are thousands of farmers out there who are raising animals the way God made them to be raised.  On Grass.  Find a farmer who feeds his chicks grass, not fecal soup.  And if you are going to eat out, cause who doesn't love skipping the dishes, find a place that supports sustainable agriculture.
  I love how brave Chipotle was to come out with such a bold statement.

Farmers Market.

I am officially a PROUD vendor at the local farmers market.
Along with creating two human beings and keeping them not only alive, but also thriving, this may in fact be one of my proudest accomplishment.  It might even trump graduating college... yeah it does.
Happiness is still Homemade is a cute little stand selling homemade bread, granola, pies, and possibly some other treat I decided to whip up at 1am.

So WHY am I doing this?
There are two main reasons.
The first would be that being at home with my kids is amazing, I know that I am a lucky girl to be at home everyday with Bo and Madilyn while Jordan goes to work solely to provide for our wants and needs at home.  But here is the thing, any stay at home mom will admit there are a heck of a whole lot more diapers, various bodily fluids, and tantrum filled moments than there are the warm and fuzzy ones.  And this girl needs an outlet.  Seeing as my sewing machine and glue gun only get used once a quarter it is not like crafting really does much for me.  I love being able to look up and develop new recipes. I love staying up late with the husband on friday night baking together.  I love being at the market from 6 to 11 every Saturday morning where I get to meet new friends, talk to adults, and just be apart of my community.  And I love that by 11 I am really missing my little family.
So the second reason.  I LOVE LOCAL FOOD.  You should too.   I love that I am providing good nutrient rich food.  Have you looked at the ingredient label of your bread lately?  If there are more than 5 items listed you are feeding your family... well junk.  I want everyone to eat food that is truly food, not a GMO, not processed, not shipped from the other side of the equator.  Jordan said that I seem to talk about it so much that I should do something about it.  So I did.  Kind of crazy right?  I can't tell everyone I know to stop eating enriched white flour and Jiff, and trust that they will.   But what I can do is introduce them to almond butter through granola bites, and freshly ground wheat through still warm bread.

Ever tried a 100% whole wheat pie crust? No?  I make one and it will rock your pumpkin pie loving world.