Dreams, Passions, Styles

This title seems a little all over the place, but I am hopeful, it is really what this post is all about. I have been trying to figure out my dreams, my passions and my style. What I have realized over the last couple of weeks, probably more like months, is that I love the whole rustic, farm style look. That being said, it goes along with my hope that I can actually live a more suburban homesteading lifestyle. I really want to get back to upcycling, minimalistic living, living and eating healthy and naturally, and basically just living a holistic lifestyle that will keep my body, mind, and soul healthy and happy. We finally got the garden in place. I think we may still have some things to plant, but we have the bones of the garden in place. We have beans that are growing from seed along with peas, cucumbers, luff plants, kale, Swiss chard, spinach, and collards. We have a lot of tomato plants that we grew from see, but we hav4 that we bough from the local nursery that have a better start than the ones that we grew from seed. We have pepper plants that we also started from seeds as well as some ghost peppers that we just bought. Ghost peppers are really hot and we are using them as an animal deterrent (hopefully). We forgot to add eggplant seeds to our order, so we had to get all our eggplant plants from our local nursery. I also have some purple potato plants growing. The other thing I did this year was to add potted herb plants. I am hoping that when the cold weather comes, I can bring these pots in the house and we can have potted plants all year long.

I am hoping that I can really take my idea of suburban homesteading to heart and really utilize my garden and do some canning and some freezing so that we can enjoy home grown food through the winter. I am hoping that we can get better with planning and growing our garden on time. I love the idea of growing our own plants from seeds. My problem is that I am not a good planner or organizer. I love being organized and feel so much calmer when I am, but unfortunately it is not a skill that comes easily for me, which is one reason why I sometimes think I have some issues with ADHD. I have almost completely decided that I love the whole rustic farmhouse idea of life and style, which actually goes along with my desire to be a homesteader. I would love to own a farm with a few animals, but that is not going to happen anytime soon. I would love to try to decorate my home in that farmhouse rustic style, and maybe even add that into my career choice. I would love to have a creative shop that utilizes my love for the rustic farmhouse style. We've been watching Fixer Upper on HGTV and I am so inspired by what Joanna Gaines does. In love her style and her farm and shop. I will be looking at her blog for ideas and inspiration! Being a homesteader also makes me think of eating healthy and home cooked meals. Yesterday, as we do every Saturday, we spent the day at our town's farmers market. I tried mujadara from the Lebanese vendor, and it was so delicious. Today, we spent time going to Todd Farm, a local antique/flea market and Tendercrop farm which was just down the road from Todd Farm. At Tendercrop farm, we bought some grass fed local steaks and ground beef. The meat was absolutely delicious. I was also inspired to attempt to make my version of mujadara. It was great to eat great tasting home cooked food that was inspired by our farmer's market. I am trying to remember how nice it is to eat home cooked meals when I am uninspired, and I need to spend some time looking for inspiration so that we eat at home more often instead of mating someone else to cook for me. I am hoping that, one day, my design loves, my idea of being a homesteader, and my other passions with become part of my professional career. I do like being a social worker, but I really want to do something more fun and creative and less medical or regulated! Happy dreaming, Amy