I Wouldn't Trade it for the World!

I don't know about the rest of you, but my life really didn't turn out the way I expected.  When I was young and still living at home with my parents I always imagined my life would include lots of money, a well-ordered house with EXTREMELY well behaved children (mine were never gonna act like the ones I usually saw in Wal-mart or the grocery store :).  A maid to help out 3-4 days a week, every recipe I tried would turn out simply awesome, I would always be the perfect weight, I would only work on projects that I personally chose too, we would live in the country, but I would never really have to get my hands dirty (unless I wanted to).  You get the picture, right? 

Well, my life did not turn out like the dreams and fantasies of a young girl.  We don't always have money for the things I want (or even some of the things I think I need), but I've learned a lot about patience and working hard for what we have.  I've learned to appreciate it more for the time and effort that goes into earning it. 

My home is definitely not always well-ordered, but it's full of love and quite often full of people.  I've been in houses that were VERY well-ordered and clean, but I felt SO uncomfortable there, because there was no true hospitality.  

My children have not always (and still aren't) extremely well-behaved.  They're human and they have me for a mother, enough said.  

I never could afford the maid, but I have hard working, intelligent children that know how to cook, do laundry, clean house, tend babies, change oil and tires on the car, milk goats, butcher rabbits and chickens, mow the yard, build fences, and the list goes on and on (and yes, I know all of that doesn't fall under the category of maid, but I also dreamed of gardeners, chaffeurs, etc.  If you're gonna dream, dream big, right?)   

Quite often my recipes do NOT turn out as planned, I'm definitely NOT the perfect weight and I consistently work on projects that I don't personally choose.  Sometimes I think my hands are dirty more often than they're clean and I've done things I never could have possibly dreamed about. 

Things like milking goats, butchering chickens and rabbits, shearing sheep, changing oil and tires, bringing baby goats into my house and warming them in the oven of my stove to keep them alive, bottle feeding orphaned animals (kittens, puppies, goats, rabbits, etc.),  stacking hay, building fences, sewing clothes, homeschooling, managing an old time gospel all acoustic band, making homemade soap, learning to cook gluten, dairy and egg free, and the list goes on and on and on. 

You know what I've discovered along the way?  I love my life!  It's not uncomplicated and it definitely requires hard work.  There are always unexpected interruptions and projects that require immediate attention and sometimes it still blows my mind that, by todays standards, my chosen homesteading, homeschooling, hardworking lifestyle is referred to as simple.   Then I get to thinking maybe it is.  Maybe if I look at my life the way other people do, it really is simple.

During my daily activities I can take the time to appreciate the little things, like the smell of clothes hung on the line, the sounds of the rooster crowing in the morning, and children giggling in the yard.  

I'm not bogged down with committees or club meetings.  I don't always feel like I have to look picture perfect, because of who I am going to be seeing or what I'm going to be doing.  I don't have to be at an outside job five days a week to pay for my new car or the wardrobe that I need to do my job.

We have no outside school activities unless we choose for there to be and I can spend time sitting on my porch in the evening listening to (and sometime participating in)  the music my children play.  I can enjoy watching my grandaughters play in the yard with our dogs, goats and rabbits and later cuddle with them while reading a story together. 

I have time to do special things for my family (like oven drying freshly painted car parts, Lol.  (And yes, I have done that :). 

I will never be rich and it's pretty much a given that I will never have it all together.

 I am a simple person with a simple life and I wouldn't trade it for the world.