A Simple Prairie Life

No more student loans…

March 18, 2011March 17, 2011 Gretchen

Randy and I have been on a mission to pay off our debt and become completely debt free (including our mortgage). We have reached yet another milestone in our mission. We managed to pay off our student loans approximately 5 years ahead of schedule. Each time we make the final payment on a loan there is such a sense of accomplishment. We try to treat ourselves to dinner or something fun to celebrate the achievement.

We honestly tossed around the idea of going to see the Lincoln Lawyer (Matthew McConaughey’s new movie) in a theatre….something we NEVER do. However, there is too much on the schedule for this weekend to prepare for lambing, so we will have to do something a bit closer to home.

The best way we have found to pay off our debt ahead of schedule is to use the techniques Dave Ramsey recommends. Pay off the smallest debt first. Take any extra money you can to pay extra on that particular debt. Once that debt is paid off take that payment and roll it onto the next smallest debt. Eventually these payments snowball, so when you get to something like your mortgage, you are able to make a significant payment and pay off something that before seemed completely unrealistic before.

With this comes sacrifices of course. Randy and I don’t and haven’t had a car payment in years. Which also means are cars may turn heads, but not for the reason you would like. We try to wear hand-me-down clothes whenever possible. We eat at home the majority of the time and cook from scratch…hence why our reward for paying off this loan is lunch out : )

What keeps us motivated is knowing once our home is paid for…when we actually “own our home”…we will be able to choose our path in life. We will be able to choose what jobs we have based on what we enjoy, not what makes the most money. This keeps us driven. This keeps us from driving the car of our dreams, buying the latest fashion in clothes and shoes (mostly me, haha), and buying all the handy gizmos and gadgets we don’t really need (mostly Randy).

We have reached the point where all we have left is our mortgage. This is so exciting for us. We still have a ways to go before we are totally debt free. The unexpected could still hit us and set us back. For now we are enjoying where we are and what we have accomplished. We will celebrate a little and then get back at it.

I’m not saying this to boast. I’m saying this to let you know you can do it too. It is possible to live debt free in America. With all the employment and financial problems this country is facing, there is no time like the present to buckle down and get rid of your debt.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Current Events & FYI

Nuclear Power Reactors in U.S.

March 17, 2011March 16, 2011 Gretchen

Nuclear Power Reactors in U.S.

U.S. Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors - Years of Operation

Okay, I am the naive American. I had no idea there were this many nuclear power reactors in the US, let alone one in my home state. Bring on the alternative energy! Or here’s a thought…take it one step further and go manual. Randy and I have begun to replace worn out electric gadgets around the house and plan to continue those efforts as our appliances quit working.

Check out Lehman’s for some back-to-basics gear and have a great day!

Current Events & FYI, Inspirational, Nutrition

John 3:16

March 16, 2011March 16, 2011 Gretchen

Today is March 16th….3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. -John 3:16

With everything going on in Japan right now and the threat of radiation headed this way as early as this week I need this right now. The jetstream filled with radiation will hit the west coast first, but will follow its usual path across the country, including Kansas.

Here are a few great articles on what you may not be hearing via the mainstream media and things you can do to help protect yourself:

www.naturalnews.com/031715_iodine_radiation.html

http://blog.imva.info/medicine/treatments-nuclear-contamination

I always tell my husband I don’t want to be the freaky conspiracy theory chick, but I also don’t want to be the naive American who has no clue what’s going on in the world and just believes the media and government is telling us the whole truth and will take care of us (i.e. the Gulf Oil Disaster and Katrina).

Randy and I were fortunate enough to already have a nice supply of iodine containing supplements and foods and metal detoxing supplies on hand…thank you Natural News newsletter and store.

Kelp

Chlorella

Spirulina

Clay

Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda)

Magnesium Sulpate (epsom salt)

Just to name a few of the ways you can protect and/or detox from radiation exposure. However, these are just all around good things to keep on hand in your natural health medicine cabinet and to take or use regularly for good health, which is why we already have them on hand.

Pray for the people in Japan and now for the people all across the globe who may soon face the same dangers as the Japanese in dealing with the radiation the nuclear plants in Japan have created.

Around the Homestead

Merry Christmas….

December 25, 2010December 27, 2010 Gretchen

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I also had a photo from our family Christmas to share here…..

It’s not every day you catch your brother with a poodle on his lap : ) This is my cousin, Kendra’s dog, Lucy.

Have a safe and happy holiday season. God bless.

Around the Homestead

Thanksgiving….

November 25, 2010December 27, 2010 Gretchen

It has just become a tradition that every Thanksgiving my cousins and I snap a few pictures to update our picture frames at home.

So fun!

Oscar, my cousin, Sheryl’s, adorable little dog taking a nap on my aunt’s bed.

I think everyone could have used a nap after all the good food and laughs. It was such a fun day with everyone.

Animals, Around the Homestead

Time to Relax and Play…

October 23, 2010December 27, 2010 Gretchen

We did take time to relax and even enjoy some time with friends at the end of summer.

We spent a nice Sunday afternoon with friends at a nearby river.

We anticipated it to be our last warm day for the year and took full advantage of it just incase.

Even the animals took it easy.

Cat fight.

The big guy was victorious.

Chance, our pole cat, he has the longest tail ever.

Murphy

Pudgy in the strawberries.

Aren’t they sweet!!

Summer is winding down. Soon we will have to buckle down for winter and the long cold months ahead. For now we are enjoying the sunshine and warm air.

Around the Homestead

Summer Projects….

August 30, 2010December 27, 2010 Gretchen

These summer projects don’t actually include anything of our’s, but Dad’s stuff.

Randy was nice enough to refloor Dad’s car hauler for him. Randy has drug home many a vehicle on this trailer, so it was a fair deal.

It turned out really nice!

Next on our list was Dad’s drill discs.

The old discs had to come off…

and the new discs had to go on.

What else was there to do on a Saturday afternoon….really?

Around the Homestead

Quick Update…

August 26, 2010January 17, 2020 Gretchen

Just wanted to post a quick update on what’s been going on around our little farm.

Our well has been giving us problems for quite some time now. We had changed out our really old pipe with a flex pipe and used a sand-bucket to try to clean it ourselves…remember this. Well, it never fully fixed the problem and finally went from bad to worse and something had to be done. We needed professionals! After talking to the really nice guy from the well service place near our home we decided to try to save our existing well by air lifting it (cleaning the sand and tree roots out of it) and digging a second well. The second well will have a hand pump to water the sheep out in our east pasture, the flowerbeds in that area, and as an emergency water source if we ever lose power for any length of time. We will always have water available to us as long as the farmers in our area leave some behind after irrigating their crops.

I was at work, but Randy was nice enough to take a few pictures of the process.

I believe the new well ended up being about 75 feet deep. Not quite as deep as they expected which is a good thing since they charge by the foot : )

This is all the sand they got out of our existing well. Yummy, huh! Thank goodness for our Berkey, but it only shortens the life of our Berkey filters running visibly yucky water through it.

Our well was stirred up quite a bit from the air lifting, so we have been hauling in drinking water from mom and dad’s. It’s just safer and a lot easier on our Berkey to not have to filter the murky water coming out of our faucets. Our faucet heads are going to need some new parts in the kitchen and bathroom from the months of sand and little tree roots coming through them. Maybe a new showerhead, but everything else seems to have weathered the storm fairly well.

In sheep news….every three weeks we garlic drench our sheep. This will go on for six sessions and then we will be on a 5-6 times a year schedule. This is in an effort to step away from chemical wormers as much as possible and transition to a more natural approach for controling parasites in our flock.

Here are the girls freaked out by the fact I’m coming out in what seems like the middle of the night to them to get started. It was so hot the day we needed to drench them, we had to get up really early to try to beat the heat of the day.

It really is a beautiful, peaceful time of day. Working and handling the sheep is something I truly enjoy. I talk to them constantly during the process, rub their little wooly heads, and eventually one-by-one they are all sent out to pasture with the smell of garlic on their breath.

As you can see they are not impressed at all or in any hurry to fill the shute and get it over with.

I’m really horrible at taking food photos. Someday I may get better and maybe not. Anway, here is our dinner from last night. We had acorn squash baked and filled with a seasoned brown rice/wild rice mix and a salad made of Asian greens, red bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and some organic salad dressing. It was so good.

I realize it is not fall yet, but the cooler weather has me back in the kitchen and loving the thought of putting together yummy meals again. In the summer even our propane stovetop puts off too much heat to make it enjoyable. We try to grill and do cold sides and salads in the summer, but now that cooler weather is upon us the oven can comfortably be fired back up.

Tomorrow Randy and I have reservations to rent kayaks at a lake a little over an hour from our house. This something I have wanted to do for a long time. We finally just decided to go for it. It may be a little chilly first thing in the morning, but I’m so excited to be out on the water in my own little “boat.” Randy being from Michigan where there are lakes around every corner, and both of us living 1/2 block from the ocean in Myrtle Beach and then just a short drive to the Gulf in Alabama….we miss the water. Kansas has very few bodies of water, so we will be soaking it all in tomorrow morning.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.