It's official!

     February 6th. That is the day I'm picking up my 6 chicks! I've started gathering everything I'll need and even though they won't need it for weeks, I am putting the coop together the next warmer day. I am getting really excited and I already have names picked out. I have 3 Easter Eggers and 3 Buff Orpingtons! I can't wait to post some pictures of the new additions.
     Not this spring but next spring I'll start my beekeeping adventure. I have my supplies all picked out and where I'll be getting the bees from. I figure I will have my chickies well established by then and it will give me more time to learn about what I need to do to keep them healthy.
     In addition to doing what I can to help the bee population I have switched to bathroom products that don't have packaging. I'm using Lush's Honey I Washed my Hair naked shampoo bar and Big naked Conditioner bar. Also using their naked shower gel. I've ordered the toothy tabs, the mouthwash tabs, and the charcoal face bar. All packaging that is created I will recycle in my new recycling bins.

     I am making as many changes as I possibly can to help the environment. We already create so much less trash since I started really paying attention to what we consume in this house. 

     My husband got a government job and he has his last week at his current job next week. It is bittersweet, but much needed. No more 12 hour days, no more holidays, no more weekends, no more getting up at 5 AM. Plus with most of our debt gone and the extra money we are finally going to be able to get some work done on this house. This is a huge blessing for our whole family and came at the perfect time. He'll be finishing up his Master's Degree this summer and then life will be so much less hectic. I know that is going to reduce his stress level on a massive scale. 

     Well I guess that is about all the new I have for now. I'll post against once I have the chickies!

Thanksgiving /Christmas

     I wanted to try something new and make jellied cranberry sauce (the kind you slice) from scratch and can it for thanksgiving this year. Unfortunately while what I made was tasty it did not gel properly. It's more like a jam than a jelly. It was great on toast and I actually found a good use for it. I've decided to try my hand at making macaron. I'm going to make a red cookie with a ring of whipped frosting and the cranberry "jam" as the filling. Very festive and cute. Hopefully also tasty.
     I also made a caramel sauce and that did turn out pretty well. Not as smooth as I would have hoped but it looks mostly like it should and tastes great. I found a recipe for salted caramel popcorn macarons so I'll probably use it as filling for that as well as dipping apples.
   

     I'm starting my Christmas baking this week. I'm making 2 (maybe 3) kinds of macarons, sea salt vanilla caramels (which I made last year and were very popular) and peppermint patties. I will make the peppermint patties first and freeze them until Christmas because those will do well frozen. I'll make the macarons probably 2-3 days before Christmas and store them in the refrigerator. The caramels will be a day or so before. They are super quick and easy.
     I've got 95% of my Christmas shopping done, wrapped, and under the tree. What I have left to buy is gift cards and I can buy them all at Target and put them in little gift bags. We are decorating today and I can't wait until my kiddos see it. This is going to be a great Christmas.
     I will definitely have a new post next week because I'm going to a hockey game and we got a suite! It will be so much fun!

How is it already November?

     I have been far busier than I could have predicted. I have been making and canning a lot of pepper jam. I'm making some with habanero peppers this week and then I will probably be done for the year. I didn't get enough green beans to can. We've learned quite a few things that will (hopefully) help improve what we are able to harvest next year.  Here is a look at a small portion of what I've canned since my last post:

     I have decided to get my chickens next year instead if waiting until my youngest goes to kindergarten. I've purchased my coop and working on a set up where they can roam, but still be safer. I am getting really excited about getting the chickies!
     In addition to chickens I am leaning heavily towards beekeeping as well. I like the idea of natural honey. The biggest factor though is to help the bee population. I found a local beekeeping store. My biggest question right now is where to find flowers for the bees that haven't been treated with anything that could hurt or kill them.
     It is also my racing season right now. The Cardinals Care 6K in September was cancelled, but I had the MO' Cowbell and Blue Note 5K in October, as well as the Hot Cider Hustle 5K this month. Next month I have the Hot Chocolate 5K. My next race after that is the Run for Chocolate in February.

     I also made a long weekend trip to upstate New York in October to see my bestie. It was my first time flying by myself in my 30+ years. I flew from Lambert to Baltimore and then on to Albany. My flight back from Albany to Midway was delayed, so there was only about 5 minutes after I arrived at my gate and boarding for my flight home back to Lambert began. I had so much fun. We went to Cooperstown, Herkimer Diamond Mines, and Utica Zoo. I took a lot of pictures. I missed my family so much though! Definitely glad I went. 

     Well I guess that is all for now. I will try to write more. I kmow nobody reads this blog, but I'm writing for me even if nobody reads what I write.

It has been a while...

     Although the new car is working out great, other things have been less than fantastic. I had insurance issues to deal with for the better part of the last 6 months. Turns out my son getting an official diagnosis has hurt him more than helped. I think I've finally got it all taken care of though, so that is a big relief.
     Not all of the busy was bad. Got to go on a family vacation in Branson last month and I picked up a cool sign for my chicken coop. Took my oldest to Dixie Stampede for his first time. Although technically he did go "in utero." Went fishing, swam in Table Rock Lake, but the best is spending a whole week with the family.
     Gardening is going ok. We had a couple weeks in a row where the temperatures were over 100, so they didn't fare so well while I was on vacation. I've got some good cucumbers though.
      I am glad the first half of August is over though. August 8th was 10 years since my miscarriage and August 14th was 15 years since ALS stole my grandma from this Earth.
     The kids went back to school Wednesday and my oldest is actually really happy in school. They have Monday off for the eclipse, so we're going to enjoy the day as a family.
     I guess that is all for now. I'll hopefully get some corn and green beans canned this weekend. Between that and the eclipse I'm crossing my fingers that I'll have more to post early next week.
   

December went to hell in a hand basket

     December 4th we hear our car/brakes making a squeaking sound, so we call the next morning and get it in to get checked out. The rotors aren't gripping properly or some such nonsense and the vibrating is causing the sound. So nearly $250 and one day later we picked up the car.
     December 8th. The garage door is broken, won't close and my husband has to work until after Lowes is closed. I was able to make it close, but I knew as soon as it was opened again the problem would return. He was able to leave work long enough to get supplies and then fixed it after work. it was only meant to be a temporary fix until we could get a new door, but then the next day happened.
     December 9th. I was headed to the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K race expo to pick up my race packet. I went to make a stop and wait until it was my turn to make a right turn. Unfortunately my car had other ideas. I hadn't driven since the brakes were worked on and it didn't stop the same. That led to an accident and the passenger of the other car instantly got out and start yelling at me like I had done it on purpose. My 3 year old was in the car with me, but with the low speed everybody was fine. My front end crumpled like a wet sack, so I instantly knew it wasn't driveable. I called my husband at work to pick us up. Police were called, information exchanged, and then we sat and waited for the tow truck. After the police and other car left, I pretty much lost it. Lots of crying, pretty much for an entire hour. I've been in 6 accidents, but this was the first one where my insurance was listing me as "at fault." As soon as the Civic was dropped off, we went and got the rental and my hubby drove me to pick up my packet.
     Fast forward a week and I find out my 6 year old car has almost $6000 in damage and they are writing it off as a total loss. When we got the car it had 16 miles on it and it had just overy 91,000 on it at the time of the accident. Fresh tank of gas and relatively new tires.
     We start looking at options for a second car. The FIL has a free car, but it's in Michigan and not something we could get to for at least a month. So I start searching for used cars. I found one that was everything we needed and for a really great price.
     After nearly two weeks, a ton of phone calls, and some drama we got our Pilot. Thanks to the settlement from the Civic, we were able to put $3000 down and reduce our payments.
     Holidays were great though and I got to see my bestie when she was in town from New York. I hadn't seen her in two years. I really need to get up there and visit her, it's just not feasible right now.
     I'm so glad 2016 is over, but I'm also worried about what will happen in the future.