Update on Life

Wow guys!  Its been a while.  I am sure you all thought I quit blogging, with good reason too.  I didn't!  I only just now got my computer set back up and have access to the internet.  In the past month, hubby and I have moved to Texas.  Why? you ask?  Well Hubby is getting out of the military in Feb. He had enough leave saved up that he could be done working mid Dec and on vacation until the end of Feb.  We debated for a long time if we wanted to stay in Maryland, or move elsewhere.  We realized that without the military pay, we wouldn't be able to keep our mortgage even with both of us working.  And if we couldn't stay on the farm, we knew we didn't want to rent an apartment in town.  While we love Maryland, what was keeping us there other than the military, was the freedom to have the farm. Take that away and we didn't want to stay.  It was incredibly hard saying goodbye to all our friends and "adopted" family there.  Moving to Texas allows us to be a short drive to Hubby's family.  I have extended family in Texas and close relatives in Arkansas.  Its also a shorter plane ride to California! 
  Once we decided to move and told the Army, we figured we would have a month before they came to pack.  Since Hubby is getting out, they will move us to our final destination (as long as its not farther than Houston where he enlisted).  Apparently December is not a popular moving month, so the packers were completely open.  They came less than a week after we got our official orders.  For two weeks after the movers came we were still staying in the house with only an air mattress and our clothes.  I don't recommend that as a long term solution.  Since Hubby and I have two cars, we had to drive separately.  I left early so I could spend some time with my family in Arkansas.  Once in Texas, we found the cutest rental (Ill post pictures once all our boxes are unpacked).  The house was built in 1929 and has been lovingly restored.  Swoon!
  So now I am in the midst of unpacking, decorating, cooking (so thankful to have our pots and pans back!) and taking lots of knitting breaks.  I am not sure of the direction this blog will take.  Since we are renting, we can't tear up the yard to plant a big garden.  We will still be living much the same as before (just with no farm animals for now).  The kitchen is so tiny in this new house that there is no room for a microwave.  So we will be learning to live without one.  One of the biggest money eaters in our budget is going out to eat.  I have barely any willpower and am the first to suggest grabbing a pizza.  This year one of my goals is to cook from scratch at least 5 nights a week.  Ill write a post on my reasoning's for that later.  All that is to say that the blog will be featuring more cooking, frugal living, knitting, living simply and whatever else might come up.  For the time being you wont be seeing chickens or goats although chickens are allowed in our town (just need to work on our landlord...).  I appreciate any one who is still reading.  Thank you for understanding that life happens and not always (or most times) how we plan it!

I'm dreaming of...chicks!

Happy Tuesday! I can't believe how fast time is flying. At the end of the month I will be back in Maryland and back in my house. Sgt G (my husband) and I were talking about our goals, and our farming goals came up. We realize that we don't want to jump back in with all the animals we had before, at least not while we try and work on things together. We did decide that we wanted chickens. We ordered 25 chicks that will be delivered in April. They are an assortment of egg layers and I can't wait to hear little peeps again! We still have all our chicken equipment, which is one of our reasons for starting right away with chickens. There will not be a huge start up cost other than the chicks and feed. When we left the house, we sold all of our fencing, gates, and goat equipment. I would love to have goats asap, but realize financially they will have to wait. I am hoping that as soon as I get back, we can get a garden started for the year too. We are catching up on mortgage payments, and paying 1.5 payments until we are caught up so the budget will be super tight. My goal is to grow as much as possible to try and cut the grocery budget down. The chicks will not start laying until they are about 5-6 months old so we wont have eggs right away. Hopefully we will find other frugal ways to increase the homestead and save money in the long run. I am so excited to be getting chicks. Sgt G and I had fun picking out what breeds we wanted. Here's a picture from one of my favorites from last year...