Being Parker’s Mom has taught me a lot of things. To be truthful, some of the greatest lessons I’ve ever gleaned have come from being the Mom of a medically fragile child with special needs.
Like how it is not true that in order to live an abundantly joyful life you have to have a lot of money.
And how so often we allow unimportant things to drain our time and energy from what is really important in life, like our families. Our eternal relationships and what we have learned are all that we really take with us when we leave this mortal existence.
You don’t need the biggest and most expensive house on the block in order to be happy. You simply need a house that meets your needs.
I know that there are those who have lost their ‘sub-prime-loaned McMansions’ in this economy that might agree with me.
Don’t get me wrong. There was a time, not too long ago either, when bigger and better where my goals too.
I’m learning to live by the quote “Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without.”
I’m thankful for a husband who has mastered the skills needed to do the upkeep on our home. Â His ability to do this stuff has saved us so much money.
Our family eats at home. I cook the vast majority of our meals from scratch. I’m thankful for the principal of food storage, it has kept us going these last few years.
I don’t shop conventionally. I shop to replace what I’ve used up from our food storage. I buy in bulk and on sale. And I coupon. So, when you see me in the checkout line at the grocery store it wouldn’t be odd to see my cart filled with only what was on sale that week.
I also garden. I’m becoming much more interested in being as self sufficient as possible. This means growing and preserving as much food as we are able.
A garden and a bit of work can really cut down on a girl’s grocery bill.
I have a freezer full of pumpkin puree, red pasta sauce, shredded zucchini, and sliced peaches and plums. All organic. All grown within walking distance of my home.
There is just something so wonderful about feeding your family with food you’ve grown and preserved yourself. It is truly time well spent.
This year I’m upping my game and harvesting more of my own garden seeds. Organic seeds are pricey. And I love the feeling of saving the money I’d spend at the store by doing it myself instead.
These are just a few of the ways we are choosing to live an abundantly joyful life.
I’d love to hear some of yours.
Wow the squash looks awesome. Way to go on the gardening. I used to garden and had one about 2 years ago. Isn’t it the most amazing feeling:) And it tastes so much better.
Your ways are the same as ours! I’m starting to harvest seeds this next coming season.
I’d really like to move more towards this way–food storage is SO appealing to me. My green thumb is decidely brown, though. I have work to do in that department.
great post! You inspire me so much! I wish I knew how to garden, I have always wanted to do it.
Twitter: therextras
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I’m thankful for Tammy & Parker. Also.
Wow, that is all so amazing. I really want a garden, but have a little backyard. I also want to learn to make all this great stuff I read that everyone freezes. I am very impressed.
Wow… you are amazing! I too love our food storage. I use it up more quickly that I can seem to fill it… but that’s what it’s there for, especially during these rough times.
Thank you Tammy, you and your family are such an inspiration!!
I quadrupled our garden space this year and also planted some peach trees. Gardening here in southern Texas has proved very difficult. We had a 3 week spell of 105 degree days and no amount of watering saved my plants from burning up. Arghh! I have a better plan for next year. I cook home made meals in bulk and freeze family portions. I recycle old jeans into other items like skirts and dog beds. I try and be as creative as possible. I taught myself to make home repairs like pulling up and replacing a toilet and patching drywall. It’s an uphill battle to take care of things around here but I get great enjoyment doing it myself!
Living off of food grown off your own property (or almost there
) is such a wonderful feeling! This is the first year we have been able to do that and it is amazing. We are still harvesting tomatoes, lettuce & peppers from the garden. Since our family is so big, we planted quite a few plants of each thing that we planted (like 54 tomato plants, haha). Hopefully next year we can expand even more.
One of the biggest ways my family lives self sufficiently is by having our own goats, pigs & cow. My 15 year old sister milks 12-20 (depending on the time of year) milk goats twice a day. That brings in about 8-12 gallons of milk a day. All of which we easily consume! And, the milk we don’t drink she makes cheese out of. The pigs are very economical to raise, since they can run our pasture and drink any extra milk (mainly from the cow). We don’t drink the cow milk, but we make butter out of it. A gallon of cream will make about 2 lbs of Butter. Then with the Buttermilk we can make pancakes or biscuits. And the skimmed milk can either be used for baking or given to the pigs.
Qadoshyah
- Family of 13