The Big White Farmhouse

intentional living, little by little

No.789: My One Little Word and a Few Goals for 2024

“Do not fear what may happen tomorrow. The same loving Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.” — St. Francis de Sales

On the fourth day of Christmas, we’re talking goals!  I’ve never been more excited to say goodbye to one year and welcome in the next.

MY ONE LITTLE WORD FOR 2024

I can barely believe it, but this is my twelfth time choosing one little word for the new year.  (Previous words include Intention, Brave, Thrive, Learn, Slow, Roots, Notice, Gratitude, Light, Simple and Endurance.)  I love this practice and the way you can see the trajectory of my growth as a woman/wife/mother.  Anyway, for 2024, I decided to go with abundant.

abundant | [adj] // [uh–buhn-duhnt]
present in great quantity; more than adequate; oversufficient; well supplied with something; abounding

When I initially started brainstorming this word, I saw a lot of affirmation-type thinking.  My goal is not to manifest prosperity or wealth, but to change my attitude into one of gratitude.  We live in one of the most prosperous countries in the world.  We have never known homelessness or hunger.  We have so much!  Instead of focusing on hardships and financial challenges, I’m seeking a mindset change toward the good.  Really excited to see how this will affect me in body, mind and spirit this year.

A FEW GOALS FOR 2024

+ “She is clothed with strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future.” (Proverbs 31:25)
+ Focus on frugality. // Let’s bring frugality back in style!  It’s not something to be ashamed of!  Using what we have wisely used to be considered a strength and I want to return to that thinking.  We have big financial goals and this mentality will help us achieve them.
+ Ramp up production on the farm. // We’ve spent the past few years intensely focused on infrastructure and I think this will be the year when we start to cruise.  We hope to increase our meat bird production and diversify our farm offerings.  (Maybe even dabble in flowers!)
+ Read a lot of non-fiction. // So many books and not enough time!  I want to create a “Mother Academia” program of study and work through the books.  I’m sure there will be lots of random rabbit trails along the way too.
+ Create beautiful things. // My soul truly feels alive when I’m being creative.  I want to remember that, even during the busy times.
+ Learn to play the piano. //  My parents recently brought over my childhood piano and it’s already seen a lot of use.  I haven’t played since elementary school, but I’m going back!  Super excited about this one.
+ Go on a family vacation. // It’s been over seven years since we’ve gone on a summer vacation!  The years have gone by quickly: we were “gazelle intense” on Dave Ramsey’s baby steps, COVID happened, and then we started the farm.  This is my oldest son’s last year at home so we really want to make this happen.

No.788: A Poem for Christmastime

A Christmas Carol

by Gilbert K. Chesterton

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s lap,
His hair was like a light.
(O weary, weary were the world,
But here is all right.)

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s breast,
His hair was like a star,
(O stern and cunning are the kings,
But here the true hearts are.)

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s heart,
His hair was like a fire.
(O weary, weary is the world,
But here the world’s desire.)

The Christ-child stood at Mary’s knee,
His hair was like a crown,
And all the flowers looked up at Him,
And all the stars looked down.

Art is “Adoration of the shepherds” by Gerard van Honthorst

Wishing you a very blessed Christmas from our family to yours. xo

No.787: Better Me Diaries // Month 1 Recap

Welcome to a new series where I share all of my inadequacies and my attempts to fix them, ha!  Just kidding.  I’m a broken record at this point talking about my roller coaster year and the culmination of years of poor stress management.  (I’m annoyed at the constant reminders myself.)  Hopefully, this new challenge will set me on a better path.

I’ve spent the last five months reading and researching and dipping my toes into behaviors that may help me feel back at 100%.  And for whatever reason, Monday, November 13, 2023 was the day I decided to finally get to work.  My biggest goal is that I’m committing to six months of workouts.  It doesn’t matter if I lose a pound; I’m really hoping to make long-term positive changes.  The habit is the ultimate goal!

A little disclaimer: Before I started this new adventure, I watched a lot of Youtube videos and read a lot of blog posts, learning what worked for others.  I immediately rejected about 75% of the advice and jotted down the rest to try myself.  And that’s okay!  We’re all wonderfully, uniquely made and what works for one may not work for another.  The same goes for my notes below.

EXERCISE

Did you know that we start losing muscle mass after age 30?  As I prepare for my big 40th birthday next fall, I want to avoid frailty as I age and weight training is the best way to accomplish that.  So for Month One, I completed the four week Beginner Workout Plan from Nourish Move Love.  Heavy on the strength with just a little cardio, but completely doable and accessible for beginners.

Other wins:

  • Lost 0 lbs, but I’m choosing to see this as a win that I didn’t gain anything new!  I remembered to take my body fat percentage about halfway through, so will have to retest sometime next month.
  • Advanced from 5lb to 8lb dumbbells for all exercises
  • Sleep! Regardless of the time I went to bed, I would always wake up between 4-4:30.  I’m finally sleeping in to around 5!  This is huge.

A TED talk that I found interesting and has helped me to keep going, even when weight training feels hard: The Midlife Muscle Crisis: why we’ve gotten obesity all wrong by Gabrielle Lyon

NUTRITION

Since I started this challenge right at the beginning of the holiday season, I knew that I didn’t want to create unrealistic expectations by completely eliminating sugar.  So a few sweet treats have been consumed, but my main focus has been making protein a key component to my daily diet.  This seemed really stressful for me at the beginning, because how?  My husband follows a carnivore diet, I have three teenage boys (and three littler ones with big appetites too) and protein sources are expensive!  I’m making good hearty dinners and finding workarounds for the rest: peanut butter protein balls, plain unsweetened Greek yogurt, collagen in my coffee, etc.  Not perfect, but a decent start.

Bummers:

  • My dairy and egg intolerance/allergies have returned!  One step forward, two steps back.  Both came on suddenly after my later pregnancies in 2012-2016 and I had finally seemed to kick them early in 2023.  Not sure what’s going on (other than maybe hormonal changes?) but I keep pushing forward.
OTHER NEW THINGS

After a recommendation from a crunchy friend, I started trying a liver castor oil pack from Queen of Thrones.  I’m using it as a way to combat inflammation and support my hormones.  Is it snake oil and all in my head?  I guess time will tell.  This Youtube video provided a DIY option and I found her results interesting as well.

No.786: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Advent Abundance

I’ve been thinking a lot about the past year, what I’ve struggled with and where I’d like to improve in the future.  I’ve already shared quite a bit about putting myself back together after falling into the hole of high cortisol/out-of-control stress.  (I apologize to everyone who has had to read those depressing ramblings!)  Needless to say, even though I am a mother who is spinning more plates than she feels ready or qualified to spin, my health demands a change.  Not only in physical health, but also in perception.  I have to become a better version of myself in mind, body and spirit.

So as I’ve brainstormed ways to achieve this in the new year, one word continually came to mind: abundance.  Spoiler alert: I think this is my one little word for 2024 and I’m breaking it out early!  I want to battle the overwhelm and disappointment of life with the idea of abundance.  I already have so much!  Even when things go sideways, finances are strained and the world is dark, I want to remember there is good where you seek it.  I’m determined to start looking in every nook and cranny.

Around here, abundance looks like…

+ watching our town’s annual Christmas parade.  I felt full to bursting seeing the streets lined with neighbors, all watching and cheering for people in our community.  We’re a tiny town and everyone from the volunteer fire department to the high school band to Johnny’s Towing showed up to drive down Main Street.  Such a great way to begin the season.

+ free cross stitch patterns created with leftover linen and thread.  (The website is chock full of patterns that she created for free – what a blessing!)  The plan is to turn them into ornaments.

+ used bookstore Christmas records for 99 cents each.  The Nutcracker one is from the 70’s and its hippie vibe is so cool.  Another interesting find was the 1984 Christmas choir music from a Croatian Catholic Church in Kansas.  I’ve never heard traditional Croatian carols before!

+ wrapping gifts with last year’s clearance paper.

+ reading the same Advent devotional for the fourth time and still finding new nuggets of wisdom throughout.

+ the most generous donation and comment on my Ko-fi site that made me tear right up.  (Thank you, Natalie!  I appreciate you more than you know!)

+ making dinner using random leftovers that miraculously came together for a chicken pot pie.

+ finishing my first four week exercise program.  I don’t have much to show for it – no huge gains or weight loss – but I didn’t give up!  That means something and I’m going to keep going.

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