Settling or Learning to Be Content......

[Soror]

With dh's Grandma passing it opens up a possibility that we had discussed. His Grandma lived on 30 acres about 15 min from us. This Spring we talked very heavily about how when she passed we would like to buy the land and build again, we even starting make house plans and researching into different building techniques we were interested in. However, come Summer and Fall we talked again and we thought we should just be content where we are and as we thought it could be years we didn't want to just be waiting(and waiting for someone to die to plan your life seems a horrible thing to do). Well, obviously things kind of took a drastic turn.

 

There has already been talk of what to do with the property and dh mentioned that he said something about how he wasn't sure if we could swing it now that we have been finishing the basement. I was thrown aback because I thought it was entirely off the table. I had been working hard in my own mind to be content where we are but now I wonder if it is just settling.

 

So- here are the options:

Stay here-

Pros-

1-House paid off in 4y11m(not that we are counting) very small mortgage

2- We are close to dh's parents- this means the kids get to visit and we help each other out(which is going to be even more needed as his parents age)

3-Our house is *this* close to being entirely finished, basement and all, we are so tired of building

4- We love our house, love the location, it is home, the view is beautiful

5-We want to be more self-sufficient and we can raise rabbits, chickens, goats, hogs and bees were we are currently

6- We have planted an orchard(but our waiting on it to mature enough to bear fruit

 

Cons-

1- We only have about 5 acres, which would be fine except our land is on a hill and not laid out the best- we cannot have cows on our land, which would be nice(there is not any acreage around us to buy we are surrounded by National Forest)

2-We live rurally but still have a fair amt of traffic

3- Although we tried to adopt energy efficient ideas into our home there are a lot more progressive ideas that we would have liked to have done had we not been under stress to rebuild from the fire

4- We don't have any springs or creeks on our land- although we have water in all 4 directions from us from 1/2-1 mi away. We have a well but it is so deep it would be difficult and expensive to put on a hand pump. There was a spring on the land at one time but it was filled by the Railroad company(railroad runs behind our house) with trees and I don't know if we could dig it out even if we wanted it would take heavy equipment.

 

Pros of buying Granny's land:

1- We could build exactly as we wanted building with an eye towards being off-grid and self-sufficiency- some of the things we would like to do would like to do would require significant

2-We would have considerably more land, with forest, pasture and natural spring and creek on the property. There is also a small orchard, grape vines, asparagus patch and some pecan trees already established. She has a barn on the property(albeit an old one).

3- We would have more privacy and more room

 

Cons

1- We would likely have to borrow more money to finance the land and the building

2- We would have to go through the whole building process again, which would likely take years(at the rate we would want to spend money and dh has the time)(there is a house there but it is in no shape for a family). dh is soooo very tired of building and we are as well

3- We would be 15 min or so from his family, meaning it would be harder to help each other and the kids wouldn't get to visit as easily

 

 

I didn't even plan to be discussing such things and especially not so quick BUT as I said evidently there has already been discussion of what is going to be done so it is something we need to be considering now. We are of course discussing this ourselves but I was thinking some other view points would be good because I cannot get my mind around it.

 

I've always wanted to live more sustainably and dh have talked about it a lot. However, the thought of leaving my home makes me sad. I worry that I am thinking of only the good things and what if I don't really want what I think I do.

 

Then I wonder if not taking a chance and going for it is keeping us from living the life we would like to live. Dh has always said he would love to be in the middle of 100 acres. We are very debt averse though and hate the thought of possibly extending our mortgage. We also hate the thought of building again. We know the excitement will wear off long before we are done. Dh works good and cheap but he is not fast! Of course with finally finishing up the house maybe we'll have more time to devote to other activities. I just feel like we're making not much progress where we are at.

 

I have a friend who moved to a homestead and I'm jealous to be honest. I know that is horrible. I'd love to be at a place where a lot of things were already established it is a lot of work and money to build from scratch. However, her mortgage is also 6x what ours is and the thought of owing that much money for that long is not something we could do.

Edited January 1, 2012 by soror

[jhschool]

If I could move and have more land,

I would do that in a heartbeat!

[Starr]

It sounds a bit like you might get the granny house all built and land working by the time the kids start moving on. Then you'll have more to take care of and the folks 15 minutes away. You are also tired of building. Hmmm Unless you definitely feel the work is worth it I would stay put. Or if you are up for gambling wait and see what kind of offers actually come through on the property. Maybe it won't cost as much as you thought.

[Audrey]

It sounds a bit like you might get the granny house all built and land working by the time the kids start moving on. Then you'll have more to take care of and the folks 15 minutes away. You are also tired of building. Hmmm Unless you definitely feel the work is worth it I would stay put. Or if you are up for gambling wait and see what kind of offers actually come through on the property. Maybe it won't cost as much as you thought.

 

 

:iagree: with the above and add that borrowing money in these unstable economic times is something everyone should avoid whenever possible. Instead, pay off your current house and enjoy being mortgage-free!

[Mommyof4ks]

I would stay put, because the thought of not enjoying the kiddos while they are young would make me sad. We have had my dad doing work on our house, and i know if we were doing it ourselves we would not have time for fun stuff with the kids unless we worked while they slept.

 

For us in our stage of life we would not taken such a huge project, but I know other people have had their kids spend their childhoods working on building a house with family very slowly, and they enjoyed it. Maybe I am just not cut out for building things, because I would rather be on a beach building sand castles with my kids lol. Lazy, yes. :D

[Soror]

I talked to dh, his list and mine are about the same. What good would it do us to buy all this land if we cannot have the time to work on it for another 5-10 yrs. We are just now getting to the stage we can do projects more, we've just been so busy it was impossibility. We've lived here 12 yrs now and as we had to rebuild after the fire we've been working on this house pretty much most of the time.

 

I wish some of those who voted move would give a why- Does the debt not bother you?

[amy g.]

I would borrow the money for the 30 acres.

[LisaKinVA]

I didn't vote. Mainly, because I'm not you.

 

I'm sitting here in a home that is 95% complete, after living in a 50% complete basement for 10 years. We did most of the finish work ourselves. As we got to the dry-in stage, we got a huge shock... dh is going to be transferred in the next 1.5-4 years. Pretty much as soon as we "finish" this house, we'll be doing it all over again, and THAT excites me. Mainly because we'll have a nicer house and a smaller mortgage (we'll be relocating to an area with a lower cost of living... where I can build a house on a smaller lot, I don't *have" to build a basement... be closer to the kids' activities... etc., etc.) Does the thought of laying another 1000 sq.ft. of tile, painting, finishing stairs, building cabinets, etc. exhaust me? YUP. But so does the thought of having a main-floor master bedroom, with the kids' bedrooms and bonus areas up (so as they leave, I can just let the upstairs "be," and only be concerned about cleaning the main floor, and we can do some of the things we couldn't do here, like solar hot water, radiant floor heating, and SIPS because of the more expensive land, the more expensive foundation, etc, and because we'll have more money to put down. We have about $125k in equity right now, even IF we had to sell fast)

 

Just the fact you aren't really "dreaming" about a house on the 100 acres makes it sound to me that you don't want it. If you did, I think your question would be different... you'd be a bit apprehensive, but you'd also be very excited.

 

As far as the debt goes... that really depends. If I were 55 years old and looking to retire (haha!), I would not take on more debt for a house. We've seen this play out in dh's family, and it is just not pretty. If I were in my mid-30's, the debt probably wouldn't bother me quite so much. House debt in high cost-of-living areas is pretty much a given (grew up in SF Bay Area, and have been living in DC pretty much since 1990), so the amount of house debt I'm comfortable with will be completely different than someone who grew up in Poteau, OK.

[black_midori]

I said move, but really I would say "other". The debt would bother me - but when I first read, I thought the debt was for building the house. Is is for the land, too? I assumed that it was going to be inherited. If the debt is for the land, then how much are you talking about? What benefit was it for it to be Grandma's?

 

The main reason I said move is because I would LOVE LOVE to be able to move to such a fabulous place that was still close to relatives (15 mins is NOTHING, imho - I drive more than that to get to work) and sounds like it has so many of the assets you want in the long term.

 

I wouldn't plan on actually building on it for another 5-10 years, though. It wouldn't bother me that the kids would be gone when you build - it would just give you something else to aim for (personal use, maybe a separate building for when your kids grow up and have kids and visit?). They are going to grow up and move out eventually, like it or not, so to me this would have to be a life-goal for YOU not them. If your in-laws needed assistance, you could have a separate place for them to live up there with you as well.

 

I guess I say move because your dreams sound so much like mine - and I'd love to be able to follow them! :D We have a nice house that I am comfortable in (although def not my dream-house & not my long-term house - and not nearly close to being paid off!!), young kids & in-laws living with us. I'd love to live on 10-50 acres and be energy-self-sufficient & have a house pre-built with solar panels & other energy components. My dh wants to build a house underground to be more energy efficient! :)

 

A lot of it would depend on the cost of the land itself. If you are getting a fabulous deal on the land because it was Grandma's, then absolutely buy it and hold it for your dream. If you have to pay a lot, or if you have to pay full price, then I guess... it is the same as me driving around neighborhoods I like & ogling big acreage - fun, but not monetarily worth-while.

[Soror]

Details, I am 32 dh is 35. Kids are 7.5, 4.5 and 2 we are expecting to continue having children.

 

As to the debt, we would expect to be cut a decent price on the land but no, we won't be inheriting it. We figure we will have to take on debt to buy the land and build a house as the land itself- even at a good price would take about half of the amount we could expect to get out of the place we have now. It would not be enough to build a house on- I don't think. We were looking at building an inground house as well- but I won't start going into all of those plans and dreams :)

[Lang Syne Boardie]

I would regretfully pass on pursuing Granny's land. I would be very regretful and wistful-for-life, but I would definitely pass.

 

You have a fabulous home on which you have paid your dues, your sweat, and all but 5 years of your mortgage. Time to enjoy it! And you have a good-sized (and growing) family. College and retirement might look very far away right now, but you'll be astounded how quickly those moments begin advancing toward you as your children hit the teen years. At least, we've been surprised by that.

 

This is the season to save and invest, not to borrow.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Tibbie Dunbar

[Heather in Neverland]

:iagree: with the above and add that borrowing money in these unstable economic times is something everyone should avoid whenever possible. Instead, pay off your current house and enjoy being mortgage-free!

 

:iagree:

[zaichiki]

I would borrow the money for the 30 acres.

 

:iagree:

 

And there's the idea of keeping that land in the family.

There's the orchard, vine, and whatnot already established. That's huge.

 

Long term? This is what we're thinking for our property:

 

1. More energy efficient heat/electricity.

2. Room to bring parents to live with you if necessary. (It will be for us.)

3. Kids could also inherit the property in the future.

 

[Laurie4b]

How old you are is one consideration; if you are young, with years ahead of you in which you can physically work hard, then I would be more in favor of moving.

 

Also, how much sentimental value is there to granny's land? I've had family members regret not purchasing the "old homestead" because it wasn't financially the best move, but they hadn't been counting the emotional cost of not buying it.

 

ETA: Oops. I answered after reading the original post, but didn't see your ages posted. You are right on the borderline of when I would say move or stay put, so that doesn't help much!

Edited January 2, 2012 by Laurie4b

[Scuff]

The debt would bother me. But, if you can afford it, I'd rather pay a little more for something I really wanted and could stay forever than less for something I was still dreaming about leaving. This is family land. Once it's sold out of the family, you can't get it back. How much does that mean to you? How much do you want the big land? How much of a financial burden would it add? HOwever, the peace of mind of having less debt and being done with construction can't be underestimated, either.

[JessReplanted]

Your "Pros" list sounds wonderful - I voted stay.

 

(actually, just the fact that you LOVE your house is reason enough then add in the fact that it's almost paid off... oh baby! ;) )

[LisaKinVA]

Okay, now I voted... I'd probably be looking for a way to move.

 

DH and I lived with my folks during the construction phase of our house. We didn't have any extra mortgage hanging over our heads to worry about. In your situation, this is what I would do. We won't have this option when we build again, so we will be looking for as inexpensive (and small) a home as we can stand to rent for 2-3 years.

 

I guess I wouldn't wait 5-10 years to start building, either. From where I'm sitting (which is a bit like where you are), I figure we've already done most of the figuring out. We know a lot more about what we're getting ourselves into, and what must be done when & how.

[QuirkyKapers]

What a tough decision. I can see why you are having trouble. I would really want to move because of the acreage and the land being kept in the family. However, I voted no, because I think there are more benefits to being debt free.

[Truscifi]

I voted stay to be mortgage free in a house you love in less than 5 years. BUT I would change my answer if the family homestead has a strong emotional pull for you and/or your dh. Though if I were going to buy the land I wouldn't wait to start building.

[Soror]

I've read and re-read and I'm going over each point.

 

The land doesn't have a strong attachment to me. I've been in the family 12 yrs now but it isn't like it is my land. Dh loved his granny but he isn't the type to think such way either.

 

However, we feel hugely attached to our own place, which I think, along with the debt, the crux of the issue. After losing the house and then rebuilding and going through that together, it was huge for us. We had never planned on leaving. But we have both had yearnings for more land. Although, we also both wonder if that is what we really want, more land and such also means we want more responsibility.

 

We couldn't live with his parents or mine during building. We did that some after the fire, we really, really couldn't handle it(we love both our families we really do but it was stressful especially with kids and such we do things totally different). We would rent a travel trailer and do that before we did that. That is another issue. We'd have to get something livable before we could move, which we could I *think* get something under roof with the amount of money we have but it would be vastly unfinished.

 

The reason for waiting to build is mostly because dh is burn-out with building right now. He has been at it most any spare minute for nearly 5 yrs. We did a ton of things ourselves and he has worked a TON(lots of 6 and 7 day weeks) in the last years, so he has had little free time as it is. We are both wreary of him being busy with building and such. With the kids ages they are not really old enough to help much and have kept me busy keeping them out of his way for the most part. I like to help when I can but with a baby it is had to do much, especially on inside jobs, outside jobs are considerably easier to do with the kids.

 

Someone mentioned having enough space for parents to live with them in our current house we would(with finishing the basment- which we hope to have done in at least 2 months time)- we still have to lay tile(starting today) put up baseboard and finishing plumbing in the bathroom. However if we build again likely we won't be building quite as big but who knows.

 

I'm wondering now if we could in some way do this debt free, either by receiving some inheritence(we know Granny has money but have no idea if we are receiving any or it is just going to her kids) or revamping design. If we could do it somehow debtfree would we? Even then it is not a slam dunk for me. UGH! If we could just transplant 10 acres or so of land over here it would be swell.

[Mergath]

I think you should just learn to be content with what you have. Most people would be thrilled to have five acres and a house they love that will be paid off in five years. Honestly, if you're not happy with that, you're probably not going to be happy with thirty acres, either. There's always going to be a piece of land bigger than what you have, or a nicer house, or whatever.

[Harriet Vane]

I don't think you'll get *that* much more from Granny's land. The small gains from that parcel of land do not seem enough to weight against the work and debt.

[Shellydon]

What about purchasing the land and NOT building. Hold the land for a few years and pay off your current house and pay down the note on the land. When 5 years has passed, if you still want to build on the bigger acreage, then do so at that time.

[Soror]

I got to say dh and I are both voting to stay put. It is not that we aren't happy here, we love it. Like a lot of people though we've had ideas about things we want to do. I worry that we are just being lazy and settling instead of working harder towards our goals. But the more I think of it I think we are/can live out most all of those goals here.

 

Dh did say something about just buying the land and building later but I don't see the point. I don't want to wait to do things here and then I don't want to put the hard work into establishing things and leave it either. If we wait as well by that point dh's parents will likely really need us and I especially don't see us wanting to leave then.

[Parrothead]

What about purchasing the land and NOT building. Hold the land for a few years and pay off your current house and pay down the note on the land. When 5 years has passed, if you still want to build on the bigger acreage, then do so at that time.

:iagree: I'd do this.

 

Your house will be paid for in a few years. It now becomes a working asset. You can do all manner of things with it. But land values will always be a good bet. Your children may want to build there. One of your children may want your current house and you build something small on the land. The possibilities are many.

 

If it were me and I could swing it I'd have both. I could always sell later. (And make a profit.)

[CalicoKat]

I voted to buy the land. I admit I didn't read through all your pros/cons lists. I think you can over think things too much. If it's a dream, then the discussion is irrelevant.

 

My one caution is this, "Don't go into debt."

 

You may have to revise your dream a bit, buy the land. Pick up a used double-wide and live in that for a while and save your money to build your dream house. Cows & a barn usually come first in all the old stories, right?

 

From what you said, it's the land that's drawing you there not so much the desire to build.

 

Don't regret not taking a leap of faith when you have the chance. That's one of the most common end of life regrets.

 

Some dreams aren't common sense.

[HSMom2One]

I've read and re-read and I'm going over each point.

 

The land doesn't have a strong attachment to me. I've been in the family 12 yrs now but it isn't like it is my land. Dh loved his granny but he isn't the type to think such way either.

 

However, we feel hugely attached to our own place, which I think, along with the debt, the crux of the issue. After losing the house and then rebuilding and going through that together, it was huge for us. We had never planned on leaving. But we have both had yearnings for more land. Although, we also both wonder if that is what we really want, more land and such also means we want more responsibility.

 

We couldn't live with his parents or mine during building. We did that some after the fire, we really, really couldn't handle it(we love both our families we really do but it was stressful especially with kids and such we do things totally different). We would rent a travel trailer and do that before we did that. That is another issue. We'd have to get something livable before we could move, which we could I *think* get something under roof with the amount of money we have but it would be vastly unfinished.

 

The reason for waiting to build is mostly because dh is burn-out with building right now. He has been at it most any spare minute for nearly 5 yrs. We did a ton of things ourselves and he has worked a TON(lots of 6 and 7 day weeks) in the last years, so he has had little free time as it is. We are both wreary of him being busy with building and such. With the kids ages they are not really old enough to help much and have kept me busy keeping them out of his way for the most part. I like to help when I can but with a baby it is had to do much, especially on inside jobs, outside jobs are considerably easier to do with the kids.

 

Someone mentioned having enough space for parents to live with them in our current house we would(with finishing the basment- which we hope to have done in at least 2 months time)- we still have to lay tile(starting today) put up baseboard and finishing plumbing in the bathroom. However if we build again likely we won't be building quite as big but who knows.

 

I'm wondering now if we could in some way do this debt free, either by receiving some inheritence(we know Granny has money but have no idea if we are receiving any or it is just going to her kids) or revamping design. If we could do it somehow debtfree would we? Even then it is not a slam dunk for me. UGH! If we could just transplant 10 acres or so of land over here it would be swell.

 

I was leaning towards buying the land until I read what you said here. If you have room for more children in your family in the house where you are, then why in the world would you want to give up the house that you love and a paid off mortgage? I'm voting now, and I say - BE CONTENT!

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[TravelingChris]

I voted stay put. I voted this way because according to your own pros and cons, it looks like staying put is what you all really want. While some people do like building all the time, it seems that your husband doesn't. Since it is his grandmother and he doesn't feel strongly tied to the place and also doesn't want to do any more building, I would have to vote no. Thirty acres is a lot to maintain if you aren't farming, actively. You have small children. It seems that the five acres gives them plenty of land to roam and raise animals without having to set up an actual farm. Also, I think that since you almost have the first house paid off and you all like it, that is a much better choice financially.

[katilac]

I would stay put. You love your house, it's nearly paid off, and grandparents are nearby.

 

Financially, you need to consider that tweens and teens are way more expensive than younger kids. My 13-yr-old is in adult clothes and shoes now, and it costs 3x the amount to outfit her than her 11-yr-old sister, who is in kid sizes - *not* due to designer clothing, I promise you! Activities get more expensive, high school texts tend to be more expensive, and we're going to be paying to outsource some high school classes, like foreign language and probably upper level math. There's things like the PSAT and some subject tests she'll be taking that each cost money, and so on.

 

And time - I can't believe how busy the last year has been! School work and planning takes a lot longer, and that will continue through high school. Their circle of friends has widened, and they have new interests, so we are out of the house much more than when they were younger. You would be building and taking on additional work on the land just as your kids are getting to that stage.

 

All of those things might be manageable if it was THE one thing you and dh always wanted to do, but honestly it sounds like you could be quite happy either way. On another note, being very close to the grandparents makes it more likely that you can help them on daily basis (when/if it's needed) in their own home, rather than having them in with you. I love my parents and dh's parents, but that's a big plus in my book!

[zaichiki]

Dh did say something about just buying the land and building later but I don't see the point. I don't want to wait to do things here and then I don't want to put the hard work into establishing things and leave it either. If we wait as well by that point dh's parents will likely really need us and I especially don't see us wanting to leave then.

 

If you buy the land now, but don't build on it, you can still use it. It's only 15 minutes away, so you can harvest from the orchard/vineyard and asparagus garden several times a year. You would also have the land to keep in the family... maybe for kids in the future.

 

And if you want cattle...

There are farms in our town that are "split" in that they have land/barns in two locations and the owners work both. An example is a dairy farm we know. They live on one plot with a small house, barn, small livestock holding, but also have cattle across town on the other acreage. There's a barn and hayfields there, too. They do visit it every day, but it's only 10-15 minutes away, so they've built it into their daily habits. If you were every dying to have cattle, the grandmother's land could make that possible, even if you don't move there.

[Ottakee]

Could you buy the 30 and acres and then sell off 5 acres or so to give you a bit more cash/wiggle room? Depending on the lay out of the land and zoning that might work.

 

We would LOVE 30 acres, or 20 or even 10. We have 5 though now.

[hollyh]

I'm thinking stay put.... kind of.

 

However, how much debt would it cost you just to buy the land? -assuming you do NOTHING with it for now. How much longer would you be paying off the mortgage? I'm thinking that once you are done paying off the mortgages, then you can simply start saving that money to plan out your dream homestead and slowly build while still living in your current house. Then sell your current house and invest all that money into the build out of the new house. That would give your hubby 5+years of a break from building, the kids would be older and could possibly help and it would become a family project.... but I don't know how much debt this would be adding and how much you are comfortable with.

The impression I get is that you love what you have done with your current home, but it doesn't quite fill all of your future goals. This other property could... and it's not like your future goals are frivolous. They are responsible goals, so if there is a responsible way to reach them, I think it is a good idea.

[LibraryLover]

I am very sentimental! I would want to but my family homestead, even if I did nothing with it for many years, or ever. Not to mention, unless you are near volcanic activity, nobody is making new land. ;)

Edited January 3, 2012 by LibraryLover

[Carol in Cal.]

You have two good choices available, maybe three, and that is an excellent position to be in!

 

I vote for buying the land, but not necessarily building right away.

 

I have a feeling that it will become increasingly important to you to have that heritage--it's the kind of thing that tends to grow on people as their children grow up, especially when they start to have kids of their own.

 

Right now it can be your farm land, while where you live is your home in town. Later it can be the homestead, or not. Jump on it now while you can; land and home prices AND interest rates are really low. I'll bet that in the long run, no matter where you end up, you will be very glad if you do this.

[Soror]

I love hearing all the reasons people give. It has helped me/us think through this. Dh and I are not the sentimental types. I/we love the land because it is beautiful but we don't have a great attachment in that way. All get togethers are always at his parents house anyway and that is where we have always visited Grandma.

 

About 5 yrs back his Grandpa(father's side) moved, he lived across the road from us. At the time we wanted that land as well and we loved the house. I/we had much more attachment to it and it was hard at the time not to(we didn't want the debt then as well and didn't have near the equity or savings). Anyway, looking back now we are not sorry that we passed it up. When I worry about regret I think doing something that I'm not 100% sure about would cause more regret. I have regretted not listening to my gut and making decisions I think I should make. Even if we came out money ahead neither one of us want to really move. I guess the conflict is more about what we want, what we think we want and how we think we can accomplish that.

 

We've had dreams of a homestead and that generally seems to mean many acres traditionally but being honest with ourselves I don't think we want the upkeep of that much. I don't think we have the time with the hours he works. We'd both like it if we had built super energy efficient with lots of different designs but at the time it just wasn't a possibility. However, we did put in super insulation. I am very adept at reducing use and there are many things we can retrofit, like a solar water heater could be done fairly easily just for example. There are lots of people that are being sufficient on 5acre, 1 acre or even less. I told dh we are hardly traditionally in most things so we shouldn't look to start in this regards either.

 

Then there is the issue of money. We/I have had some financial goals for several years and we are on the cusp of meeting some of those very soon. We've put a lot of work into that. Buying it would mean pretty much starting over in that regard as it would wipe out the money we've been saving and then some. I don't think we are in the place to look at investing on anything, we are finishing up our 6 mo e-fund, car fund(vehicles are 11, 17 and 18 yo) and healthcare fund(high ded policy). Those are non-negotiables and I don't want to compromise our work in building that and future financial security for some what-ifs.

 

So, instead we are talking more about what we can do here, we already had some pretty big plans for this spring. We are looking to add chickens and bees and maybe expand our rabbit operation. Hopefully expand our garden as well, realistically those things will be more than enough to keep us busy.

 

Another part of this I figured out was that I felt some pushing away from a friend when we decided that the big homestead was not our goal this fall. It made me think that perhaps we were being lazy and I see some of their plans and such and think that could be us, that is what we say we want. However, their goals are not our goals. Her valuation of my/our life doesn't matter. In the scheme of things none of any of that matters in what kind of people we are and the things that God finds of importance.