Slight Change of Plans

Change is one of the few things guaranteed in this life.

When Wifey and I originally talked out our plan of moving to the country, we pretty much agreed that it would take about two months of me living in Oklahoma to set things in motion before I could move everyone else out there with me from Arizona. Easier said than done.

Staying as positive as I could, and I'm a pretty optimistic person, I slowly began inching that deadline shorter and shorter. The more days I was away from my family, the more I missed them and wanted to go pick them up sooner. I made it a goal to go back and get them within one month's time.

In retrospect I can see that this caused me more stress than I was already under. Every time I thought I had a homesteading plan in place (doublewide, rental house in town, etc) and it would slip away for one reason or another, I would become increasingly frustrated until one day my optimism turned into pessimism and I posted a negative blog post.

Boy did I get the wrath of the readers that day. I was a little shocked at all the "tough love" I was receiving...until...

MysticMud.blogspot.com

A reader suggested that I go take a look at the blog of Mystic Mud. Some of you are fully aware of MM's trials and tribulations but I was blissfully unaware. Then I read her blog from the beginning. OMG. I guess I AM being a bit soft.  Due to sudden hardships (of which I'm still not quite certain as to what exactly happened) she, her husband and TEN KIDS all had to leave their home. They relocated to the country on four acres and started over with a 600 sq ft cabin. 600 SQUARE FOOT CABIN!

That is the size of the farm house I am staying in right now. Yes, we could all fit (of course, my family of eight seems small compared to her 12) but it sure wouldn't be easy. Nonetheless, MM proves it CAN be done and she even blogs about random happiness during the whole thing. Now I've only read the first couple of months of her ordeal, and she has been at it now for about 18 months it looks like, but things are coming together for her and her family. They've added a trailer house to their livable buildings and have a large outdoor garden growing.

So I shared this blog with Wifey and it renewed our faith. With family together, anything is possible. I can't get a home loan for a doublewide trailer without $10,000 down. But I am now working on a deal to get a "bumper pull" trailer that will sleep all eight of us for $3,000 down. We figure we can pull it up next to the farm house and utilize both structures for six months to a year until we save enough money for a down payment on something we want to live in forever. Call me soft for these plans if you want but I'm sure MM would have taken this option had it been available to her at the time.

So thanks to everyone who comments and reads this blog because you are an integral part in helping us figure things out along the way on this crazy journey. After a few requests for a Donation button, I finally put one up to see what would happen. To our surprise, someone made a generous donation that will help us get down the road a little further. We'll just call him Saint Paul. When I offered to repay he simply said "Pay it forward."

I shared with Wifey that it will take me a few more weeks to come get them and it was obvious we were both disappointed. In her own loving way, she responded "Well, at least I have a few more weeks to pack up our stuff." We both shared a laugh and began recanting what all we were thankful for in our lives.

God Bless you All,

~OJD

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New Farm Rules

22) if you are buying a replacement part because something broke, buy more than one...because it probably will break again! (thanks to the commenter on my How to Replace a Sediment Bowl video who said "You did buy more than one, right?" My response: "Doh!")

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Back Home Report

School has started back in Arizona and some of our girls had shoes with holes in them. Wifey took them to Ross and picked out some affordable but cute shoes.