On the Blog Again

Well, as you can see from the dates, we have been quiet for quite awhile. Much has happened since I last posted before our move so this post will hopefully catch some of you up on the "fun" we have had since leaving New Mexico.

For starters, just before we left NM, I found out I was expecting. I didnt tell Steve until after we got to Alabama because I didnt want him to worry. I had miscarried 8 weeks before that. Although I felt terrible for the first approximately 20 weeks of this pregnancy (some moving stress related I am sure) things seem to be going better now. I am due the week of my birthday (end of January).

This move has shaken up a lot of things for us. First off, both Steve and I realized very quickly that we do not like hot weather. From the day we got here until about 15 days ago, it was over 100 degrees every day. Most people just stay in the air conditioner (atleast that is what we have been told) but its kind of hard to farm when you are indoors...

Secondly, finding food here is difficult. The coop that usually serves this area went bankrupt the month we got here. There are no large organic food stores here either (we were very spoiled in NM). For several months until I was able to get in on a grain order we mail ordered everything-not a cheap venture. We have been able to get pastured organic meats by special order through the commissary and fortunately will have our first set of chickens to butcher in two weeks. We tried mail ordering chickens but that was way too expensive. We have still been mail ordering raw milk cheese as I learn how to make it (I have successfully made mozzarella so far). We still have our dairy goats so milk is not a problem, and have also acquired a Jersey dairy cow and her calf.

Our animals have done fairly well, our beloved Patty who we had for 10 years died after we got here- she was bitten by something. Also, some of our baby goats died, including our one Oberhasli breeding male, from eating something poisonous we assume.

In addition to that, our house plan didnt work too well- we still havent sold our house in NM so we are all pretty crammed in 2400 sq feet right now. However, we are thankful it didnt sell yet because God is causing us to rethink many things and we would have wasted a lot of money adding on to this house that would have been hard to resell.

So, at the moment we are looking at:

1. Where to move permanently (we are seriously looking at Missouri right now).
2. When to move (we are looking at the kids and I moving earlier in order for this house to have a chance to sell).
3. What Steve can do for employment that will allow him to be home as much as possible so we can start the family farm business.

So, thats a summary of what has been going on with us. Like I said above, although this move has been very hard on all of us, we believe God is showing us that we need to change a few things which we would not have realized had it not been so difficult.

We appreciate your prayers as we sort through all of this and we will try to keep you updated more often...