Good morning, my dear friends! I hope you have had a wonderful and beautiful season of holidays with your family, and are enjoying the rest and peace that January brings after the rush of the holidays.

Our family is still growing and changing…our Littles are drawing near to double digits (HOW is this possible??), and I am in shock that we are about to celebrate TWENTY years with our oldest, determined slip of a daughter. The last two years have been challenging, as I have walked through living with a disorder that turned our life and home upside down….and yet here we are, counting our victories, enjoying the small moments, and focusing on the things we CAN do instead of what we can’t.

I guess to me, that is what I am focusing on this coming year.

At the end of 2019, so many many people, me included, were posting about a new year…and a new decade. About things we needed to look forward to, and things we needed to let go of.

For me….I needed to let go of what used to be…the things I used to be able to do…and look forward with determination and anticipation to what COULD be ahead….to release myself from the expectation of “getting back to how things used to be” and instead laying that to rest.

Isn’t that human nature? To focus on what SHOULD have been, or COULD have been, and USED TO BE….and then striving to get back to that? When in reality, life is fluid, and changing all the time, and each day has new blessings and challenges all wrapped into one?

This is not to say, when you are walking a path like mine…where an auto-immune disorder, or a million other things, crash the path your life is on, that you should not spend some time seriously mourning and grieving what has been. We are made to grieve…and to let go. We are made to move on, in what ways we can…and I have found the way to do that is to walk every day laying my expectations at the feet of the Lord, and moving past my own heart’s frustration one minute at a time.

It probably won’t surprise you that we are still doing many of the things we were doing before MCAS came in to rock our world. I still run the pressure canner and water bath everything I can, every single month. But I have taught my oldest to help me with that chore…both as a life experience and because I want her to have the skill when she leaves our home (which sadly will be sooner rather than later as she looks forward to starting college this fall). We managed to get our rabbitry up and running after the first really tough year of my illness hit and receded, like a tsunami, leaving us shaken in its wake. We welcomed three litters this last year, and now, as per the norm, our pantry is full and waiting to be used in some of our favorite recipes.

In the days ahead, I am not going to set expectations of myself when it comes to blogging…other than promising you I will be here, and when I can, I will be sharing what has been laid on my heart in the last two years….or the day I post. I do have some wonderful new patterns to share with you if you are one of my crocheter lovers, new recipes, and believe it or not…am almost finished with TWO new books….one a pressure canning recipe book, and the other a wonderful step-by-step guide to learning how to live frugally, but without missing anything, in abundance for those seeking the simpler, older ways. 😀

How has your year ended and what are you enjoying in the new year? DO you have something you are looking forward to, like a baby or a new adventure? I would love to hear about it. If you comment, I promise I will be watching so we can chat. 😀

Our newest adventure will be one I was already doing years ago, and which has had new life breathed into it. Our Etsy store is up and running again, and new items are being added weekly to bring a little fun and joy into the lives of our readers, friends, and family. Its been a funny journey as every time I would get ready to upload something I would end up putting a pic on FB, only to have it purchased by someone before it every hit the store. A wonderful blessing and encouragement….and as my friend Marcie says…a great problem to have! But this year I have determined to just bring that back to life and let God do what he is super good at….running things without my help. <3

Wishing you the very best year ahead,

Blessings to you and yours,

Heather