Catch up on all the homesteading updates from this year! You can either click on the “Homesteading” category on my blog or you can click on any of these posts below:
Our Homesteading Journey – March 2020 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – April 2020 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – May 2020 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – June 2020 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – July 2020 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – August 2020 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – September 2020 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – October 2020 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – November 2020 Update
Our Homesteading Journey – December 2020 Update
Today is New Year’s Day of 2021 and last night I was looking through old pictures from the past year and beyond. As I was enjoying my time of reflection and seeing just how much we have done and how far we have come I stumbled upon an old text message from my husband that I had screenshotted.
It was from a few days after we were engaged, July 2019, and read: “We could pay off our house and then get a small place on some land up north…cheap cost of living, raise chickens and make babies have a dog or two fishing stream or pond, some land to roam on…”
We both had no idea that that was the moment our dream had first started and been verbalized! I assumed it was the beginning of this past year in 2020, but apparently, it was something that God had been molding in our hearts for a long time.
It was at the beginning of the year that we started making extra payments on the house. We wanted to be debt-free asap. In March we purchased chickens, realized our love for the homesteading life, and decided to go all-in!
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THE START OF THE JOURNEY – REFLECTIONS
You know, when I started writing these homesteading updates it wasn’t for others, but for our own family. It’s amazing what we can forget when we don’t take the picture or write the memory down and I didn’t want to forget the details of our journey.
I know it will be so fun, and beneficial, to look back on this journey that we are on in the future. I wanted to remember the complete journey that our family went on and I also wanted to share it with others as a source of encouragement and a “learn from our mistakes so you don’t have to make the same ones.”
Consider this our scrapbook of family memories that we want you to experience right along with us!
Now, as we start a new year, we want to look back at the last year and be reminded of all that God has blessed us with and reflect on His goodness through the good and the bad. Here are some of the highlights!
March
This month was marked by the start of my researching everything I could know about homesteading. I wanted to do all the things but knew it would take baby steps. Some things, like a garden, chickens, and rabbits, were things we could do now.
But, most of our big dreams would have to wait until we own more acreage in the country!
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April
COVID-19 hit hard at the beginning of this month as states started locking down and more people began to realize the need for sustainable living. There were supply issues all over and I am so thankful we started prepping for our garden, chickens, and rabbits before we were faced with these issues.
We really learned so much about raising our food this month and how to properly care for the garden and animals. And we also realized we couldn’t seem to wait to move to true homesteading land, so we started scoping out properties on Zillow in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
May
Right at the beginning of May I missed my period and took a pregnancy test. We found out we were expecting our first baby!!! That marked one of the greatest days of our lives.
We had already planned a weekend trip up north to look at properties but now that we knew a little one was on the way, we were ready to grab some acreage and buy the land! We came upon our dream property at the end of the weekend visit – 80 acres just south of Houghton, MI and called the realtor immediately.
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June
The land became ours officially, but we wouldn’t move immediately. There was no home on the land yet, so Landon would need to start building a tiny home for us to move into after the baby came. There is a barn on the land that we plan to eventually turn into our “real full-time” home over the years.
Plus, it made more sense to give birth in our current home as we were planning a home birth with a midwife in the area.
During this month, we were still learning more and more about the animals we were caring for, almost lost our dear Brookie (border collie) to a frisbee accident, and having more fun adventures together as a family!
July
In July we were able to spend a week on our land and enjoy it to the fullest! We also explored Houghton, the nearby attractions, and so went on so many hikes. It was so fun to start planting our roots.
We also shared our pregnancy with our family and close friends which was such a joy! We then posted it on Instagram and Facebook and loved celebrating with everyone.
Lastly, we bought a trailer and Landon began making the trip up north each weekend to built us a home from scratch! The work truly began and it was not always an easy season of life; however, we could see the finish line in sight and remained hopefully.
August
Landon was still traveling a lot up north and once Wi-Fi was installed, he was able to work for weeks at a time to get more done. While he was working up north, I was busy doing a major overhaul of decluttering our house. I want to live a much more minimal lifestyle in the future, and it began here.
September
We were able to spend some more time up north and our tiny home was complete just in time before the snow came! Our first eggs, our first ultrasound, and our first-year anniversary were also this month making it a very special time.
October
This month we started our Bradley Class for pregnancy and started getting supplies needed for the baby. We also started fixing up our house and packing everything up. We sold a lot of our things on Facebook marketplace!
And we can’t forget to mention our crazy adventure with our first labor and delivery of baby bunnies! We were not prepared and lost all but 2 of them; however, we learned so much during that time.
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November
All of our stuff made it up north! We moved everything in and only kept a few items back home for when the baby arrives. It was such a fun weekend with our friends and very productive! Our tiny is actually starting to look like a home ah.
We also celebrated our birthdays, Thanksgiving, and then our baby at the baby shower my parents hosted, despite COVID-19! We have felt so loved this past year with how much support, prayer, and encouragement we have received from friends and family.
December
We finished the year by fixing up our current house and getting it listed on the market. We also had our first full-size litter of bunnies be born and now we are just ready for our baby to arrive and to move up north to our land for good!
P.S. one of my favorite homesteading books of the year is The Weekend Homesteader: A Twelve-Month Guide to Self-Sufficiency because it made homesteading feel attainable to me, starting right where I am at!
NEXT YEAR – THOUGHTS FOR THE FUTURE
We have so many changes coming our way for 2021 – learning how to be parents to a new baby, learning how to live in a tiny home effectively, learning how to care for our homestead, learning how to form a new community, and make new friends, and so much more that goes along with all of that!
It’s so easy to let all of that become overwhelming, and I am sure it will be at times, but we have a God that never sways. When we rest in Him, we have no fears, worries, or doubts because He is the one that provides for all our needs!
Next year will be a year of a lot of selfless sacrifices as we are on a tighter budget yet have so many hopes and dreams for the future. It will require us to learn patience even more and simply enjoy what we have been given so far.
We do have some goals that we still want to accomplish next year, and I will share them below for accountability and maybe to inspire you to set your own goals that are similar.
GOALS FOR 2021
-Dive deeper into the Bible and learn the true meaning of selfless sacrifice
-Give birth to a healthy baby!
-Sell our current house and move to our homesteading land in the UP for good!
-Grow our income through this blog, Young Living, and homesteading produce
-Install a septic system in our land
-Declutter each month and make our tiny home feel like a getaway vacation destination despite the small space with a baby and dogs
-Grow our knowledge in homesteading, gardening, and raising chickens and rabbits
-Pray for baby number 2
-Become close to paying off our mortgage and being completely debt-free
-Put in the time and energy to stay close and grow relationships with old friends and family
Leave us a comment below and thank you for being on this journey with us!
-The Adventuring Alberts
Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma
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