The Big White Farmhouse

intentional living, little by little

No.770: One Quarter Left! // A Review of My 2023 Goals

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I’m a little earlier than last year, but thought I would check in on my 2023 goals as we enter into the fourth quarter.  This should be interesting…

#1. START A BULLET JOURNAL AND USE ALL OF THE PAGES.

My original intentions: Instead of purchasing an expensive planner, I’m creating my own in a bullet journal style and I’m determined to fill up the entire thing!  I am notorious for abandoning half-filled notebooks.

How it’s going: Done!  I finished the last page in my journal at the end of September and quickly purchased a second one to keep going.  It’s quickly become a prized possession – I have everything from reading notes to garden plans to inflation trackers inside.

My plan for the rest of 2023: I’ll be continuing on in journal #2 and definitely can see myself using it through 2024.

#2. WRITE DOWN MY GRATITUDE EVERYDAY.

My original intentions: There is so much to be thankful for, if only I seek it.

How it’s going: Giving myself half credit on this one.  I have started and stopped with daily documentation all year; clearly, consistency has been a struggle for me in lots of areas!  In September, I created a specific gratitude page in my journal and that seemed to help encourage the habit.

My plan for the rest of 2023: I just made another gratitude page for October and hope to continue in this way through the rest of the year.

#3. SUPPORT THE MAN BEFORE THE COMPANY.

My original intentions: So many of us are starting little side hustles as a way to further our goals or just make ends meet.  I want to look toward the farmer, the reseller, and the artist first before heading to the big box stores.  

How it’s going: Yes!  I’m really happy to have created a habit where I look at the small businesses first before going to the big box stores.  It’s not always possible to find what I’m looking for (I just made an Amazon order last week!), but a quick search through Ebay, Poshmark, or Etsy is always my first stop.  We also love supporting our fellow farmers, especially the smaller hobby-sized ones like ours.

My plan for the rest of 2023: Keep on, keepin’ on.  I want to do some browsing to see if I can find some unique things for Christmas.

#4. WORK ON HOMESTEAD SYSTEMS.

My original intentions: 2022 was a big building year.  2023 will be the year where we think smarter, not harder: tweaking our systems for better efficiency.

How it’s going: Hmm.  This was an interesting season at the farm and so many things did not go according to plan.  I thought about creating better systems (ha!), but I’m not sure those things actually came to fruition this year.

My plan for the rest of 2023: We are in the process of building multiple permanent pig paddocks, which will be very helpful long term.  Considering that enough for this goal and one small project checked off of the homestead system list!

#5. READ FROM MY BOOKSHELVES.

My original intentions: I have a lot of unread books.  While this doesn’t stress me out (I see them as a plethora of possibilities!), I do want to prioritize these options over any new ones.  The money saved will be an added bonus.

How it’s going: I started the year with 207 unread books.  As of this writing, I’ve read 74 books and my unread shelf holds 201.  Obviously, I’ve been replenishing my shelves just as fast as I read them!  I blame our amazing used bookstore where you can find like new hardcovers for $2.  Oh well, a good problem to have.

My plan for the rest of 2023: I’ll still be reading from my shelves, but there may be birthday and Christmas gifts in my future!

#6. CULTIVATE A WARM, WELCOMING HOME.

My original intentions: More decluttering of the extras and figuring out how to make a cozy home with the rest.

How it’s going: I have spent very little intentional time on my home this year.  I have missed puttering around and making my home cozy and welcoming!  But things are looking up – I created my decluttering schedule and have been slowly checking off the list.

My plan for the rest of 2023: Fall is here and winter is right around the corner.  I’m looking forward to pulling out all the warm blankets, candles and records for the player.  We’re ready for fires in the fireplace and books everywhere!

#7. KEEP WORKING ON THE MORTGAGE REDUCTION.

My original intentions: We’re making progress on this huge goal, little by little.  Since there’s only so much you can cut from an already lean budget, we’ll be executing a few side hustles for some added cash.  (Shameless plug to buy me a “coffee”!  Just kidding.)  I’m excited to see what kind of a dent we can make in 2023.

How it’s going: This goal is another one that has been inconsistent.  As the year has progressed, we’ve had to lessen our extra payments to pay for the farm and just everyday life.  Thankfully, I’ve been able to continually sell our unneeded items on ebay/Poshmark/Pango and all of that money goes straight to the mortgage.  We started the year at 15.4% paid and as of this writing are at 18.9% paid off.  Not spectacular, but moving in the right direction.

My plan for the rest of 2023: With birthdays and Christmas on the horizon, I don’t think there will be any big lump sums significantly moving the needle.  We just keeping moving forward, little by little.

No.769: September in Review & Goals for October 2023

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

FIVE THINGS I LOVED
  1. putting the garden to bed for the season
  2. monthly sushi and prayer group dates with my husband
  3. the beginning of birthday season for our family
  4. the A/C off and windows open
  5. slowly starting to feel like myself again
THREE LESSONS I LEARNED
  1. The older I get, the less I know. // Ahh, remember those teenage years and 20’s where we basked in our confidence and knew just about everything?  Fast forward to today: I’m almost to 40 and now can’t get over how vast the world is and how much I still don’t know!  So much to learn and research and figure out.
  2. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. // At least when we’re talking about cortisol!  “There is very good scientific and medical evidence to show that chronically elevated cortisol levels are associated with obesity, hypertension, diabetes, fatigue, depression, moodiness, irregular menstrual periods, decreased sex drive, and Alzheimer’s disease.” – The Cortisol Connection: Why Stress Makes You Fat and Ruins Your Health And What You Can Do About It, p.46
  3. Teaching children self-control is important. // “These researchers concluded, ‘Childhood of self-control strongly predicts adult success, in people of high or low intelligence, in rich or poor, and does so throughout the entire population, with a step change in health, wealth, and social success at every level of self-control.'” – The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our Kids When We Treat Them Like Grown-Ups, p.123
TWO “LITTLE PEOPLE” WE SUPPORTED
  1. Farm goods from a farmer friend
  2. Books from the local used bookstore
FIVE GOALS FOR SEPTEMBER REVIEWED
  1. ✔ Try to publish a blog post at least every Monday. // 2023 has been a terrible year for me and consistency.  Here’s hoping this routine becomes a regular habit again.  I don’t feel like I have anything interesting to write, but I’m trying.
  2. Vacuum out the cars. // I definitely procrastinated with this goal!  I’ll probably ask one of my kids to do this for me this week.
  3. ✔ Transition Sammy to adult dog food. // Done!  Thankfully, it was a super easy process.
  4. Prep winter pig paddocks with woodchips and housing. // Oof.  This project is nowhere close to being completed!  We’ve purchased all of the materials, but need to start construction.
  5. ✔ Plan out fall birthday presents/plans and start thinking about Christmas. // Done!  Feeling a lot more confident and peaceful about what’s coming up.
FIVE GOALS FOR OCTOBER
  1. Stock up on vitamins, medicines, and tissues for winter.
  2. Finish building the permanent pig paddocks.
  3. Return to the habit of making homemade bread.
  4. Take our own family pictures.
  5. Create a junk journal.

Help me transition away from “traditional” blogging income streams while still keeping the lights on at the BWF!

No.768: What I Read in September 2023

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

#65. BLACKOUT by Marc Elsberg // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop)

First line: “Piero Manzano hit the brakes as hard as he could and braced himself against the steering wheel with both arms as his Alfa hurtled toward the light-green car ahead.”

I started off the month with a “techno-thriller” about a European electrical grid collapse.  Hackers have infiltrated the grid’s technology, putting most of Europe in the dark.  It doesn’t take long for chaos to ensue and one man must try to solve the problem before it’s too late.  Definitely a scary thought experiment!  3.5 stars.

#66. PIONEER PRIESTS AND MAKESHIFT ALTARS: A HISTORY OF CATHOLICISM IN THE THIRTEEN COLONIES by Fr. Charles Connor // ★★★★☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “In the mid-nineteenth century, Blessed John Henry Newman gave a series of conferences to his fellow Birmingham Oratorians.”

My Mother Culture focus this year is on American History and this book was a nice tie-in to the time period I’m currently reading about.  Very eye-opening to learn about the way freedom of religion was encouraged within the colonies, just not for Catholics.

#67. SUN DAMAGE by Sabine Durrant // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “It was the English voice that caught our attention – the sub schoolgirl French, grappling with an order for a demi-carafe.”

This book is “a compulsive psychological thriller…involving gorgeous grifters on the loose in the south of France who prey on a group of unsuspecting vacationers . . . and each other.”  I was so intrigued by the conman/woman angle and couldn’t wait to dive in.  The pacing is uneven and you have to suspend your disbelief quite a bit, but still a fun ride.  3.5 stars.  (And thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.  Sun Damage was released on August 1, 2023!)

#68. THE COLLAPSE OF PARENTING: HOW WE HURT OUR KIDS WHEN WE TREAT THEM LIKE GROWN-UPS by Leonard Sax, MD PhD // ★★★★☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “I knew what I wanted to say.”

Parenting books always tend to be hyper-polarizing, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.  (Obviously.)  The main thesis of Sax’s book is this: “Over the past three decades, there has been a massive transfer of authority from parents to kids.  Along with that transfer of authority has come a change in the valuation of kids’ opinions and preferences.  In many families, what kids think and what kids like and what kids want now matters as much, or more, than what their parents think and like and want.” (p.7)  His big issue is with disrespect and since respect is a huge part of my parenting philosophy, I was nodding my head with a lot of this book.  Not perfect by any stretch and some parts may be a bit too simplistic in the “this is the problem with today’s society” argument, but definitely a lot to chew on.  I’ve been feeling some “parenting teenagers fatigue” lately and this book was very encouraging for me to stay the course.

#69. THE SECRET DIARY OF ELISABETH LESEUR: THE WOMAN WHOSE GOODNESS CHANGED HER HUSBAND FROM ATHEIST TO PRIEST by Elisabeth Leseur // ★★★★☆
(amazon // bookshop)

First line: “For a year I have been thinking and praying a great deal; I have tried unceasingly to enlighten myself, and in this perpetual labor my mind has matured, my convictions have become more profound, and my love of souls has increased, too.”

This was a good example of reading the right book at the right time.  I had picked this up months ago, but set it down a few days later for no good reason.  I started again in August and whew!  I was copying passages left and right!  While our stories are not the same, her thoughts and resolutions toward suffering were so helpful to me.

#70. A MURDER AT ROSAMUND’S GATE by Susanna Calkins // ★★★★☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “A great pounding at the door startled the chambermaid bending to light the morning hearth.”

There was a readathon this month called “Series September” and I wanted to participate in a small way.  This book is the beginning of a new series about a young chambermaid who is a bit like Nancy Drew: she discovers clues regarding a serial killer who is attacking young women around London.  While I did feel like the overly-comfortable relationship between “the upstairs and the downstairs” was unrealistic for 1600’s Restoration England, I still enjoyed the story and want to check out Book #2 sometime in the future.  3.5 stars, rounded up.

#71. TRICKSTER’S POINT by William Kent Krueger // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “The dying don’t easily become the dead.”

Another addition to the “Series September” readathon with book #12 in the Cork O’Connor series!  This one was heavy on flashbacks from Cork’s past and while not my favorite, WKK still knows how to write an interesting story.

#72. THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK by Carolyn Keene // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

First line: “Nancy Drew, an attractive girl of eighteen, was driving home along a country road in her new, dark-blue convertible.”

My daughter has just discovered Nancy Drew and has been devouring the books.  It’s been ages since I read one myself, so I decided to go back to the beginning with Book #1.  Action-packed in every chapter!

MY UNREAD SHELF PROJECT

Unread Books as of January 1, 2023: 207
Books Finished in September: 8
Finished Books Donated/Sold in September: 0
Books Added: +12
Unread Books Remaining: 202

No.767: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Two Things Can Be True at the Same Time

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the juxtaposition between hard and good.  Lately, I’ve found myself saying that many parts of my life are “hard:” Farming is so hard.  Homeschooling six kids is hard.  Trying to take care of myself and feel better is hard.  Life is just…hard.  But – at least in these instances – does hard necessarily mean bad?  The first two have been so fruitful for our family and the third is a not fun, but completely necessary task to improve the quality of my life.  All three are beneficial.  All three are worth the struggle.  All three are good.

Hard and good.  Good and hard.  Two things can be true at the same time.

I had plans to participate in the Top Ten Tuesday linkup this week, but that just didn’t happen.  The prompt was “books on my fall 2023 to-read list” and these were the ten possibilities I pulled:

  1. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
  2. Dracula by Bram Stoker
  3. Ruthless River: Love and Survival by Raft on the Amazon’s Relentless Madre de Dios by Holly Fitzgerald
  4. West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
  5. A Merciful Death by Kendra Elliot
  6. Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande
  7. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King
  8. Motherless by Brian J. Gail
  9. The Carnivore Code: Unlocking the Secrets to Optimal Health by Returning to our Ancestral Diet by Paul Saladino, MD
  10. Gold: The Race For the World’s Most Seductive Metal by Matthew Hart

In science, the little boys learned about mushrooms, especially the super deadly Destroying Angel.  We have some mushrooms around our property but will probably leave them alone until someone with way more experience can teach us proper identification.  Did you hear about that mushroom poisoning case in Australia?

Like most people, one of my stressors right now is money.  I’m feeling the tug to intentionally seek out new frugal accomplishments.  We still regularly do most of the things I’ve mentioned in previous FA posts, but I need to think more creatively and outside the box.  I need some fresh inspiration!  Starting small, but two accomplishments from this week:

  • My second youngest was in desperate need of bigger sneakers, so I dug around in our hand-me-down bin and thankfully found a pair his size.  A quick cleanup with a wet rag and Magic Eraser and they look good as new.  (And it saved me at least $30.)
  • The air conditioning is officially off for the year and the windows are open everyday.  Praying this saves us a bit on our electric bill since this year has been ridiculous.

We had a scary experience with Sammy, our eight-month-old Great Pyrenees/Golden Retriever mix.  We’re still not exactly sure what happened, but he suddenly became unsteady on his feet, stumbling around with his head shaking.  He looked like he had Parkinson’s disease.  His personality completely changed and he just looked awful.  It was absolutely terrifying, but after about 12 hours of rest (and 12 hours of worry for me), he was right back to his silly self.  His symptoms matched up pretty well to vestibular disease and we’re assuming he must have done something to mess with his eardrum, therefore disturbing his equilibrium/balance.

Less Materialism, More Intentional Living

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