country daydreams.

I've been spending a lot of time daydreaming lately.


My daydreams mostly consist of me weighing about 15 pounds less, twirling around barefoot in a field wearing a sundress with tan shoulders and flushed cheeks, and red hair to my waist.
...Gonna keep waiting for that one to happen.


My dreams these past couple of weeks involve our move to West Virginia.
I want to make some major life changes when we get there. And I know, I know all about how easy it is to say "My life will be better when..." and that there are lots of things that I can be doing now, but in all honesty, I just don't have the motivation to start yet. Everything is still quite daunting.
Anyway, here they are. Not new year's resolutions, but maybe new house resolutions.


1. Our house is right across the street from campus, where they have a brand new gym that is available to me 24/7. for freesies. there will no longer be the distance/price/weather excuse to not exercise. There will still be a monthly excuse, and you do NOT want to see what happens if you try to make me do something I don't want to do that week. So don't even try. But I also want to train myself to go for runs to get to know the area. What better way is there?


2. We'll have a large fenced-in backyard, so my first big project will be to plant a vegetable garden! We'll have a couple of raised beds with everything from corn to parsley. I've been doing lots of research on this, and I think it'll be worth the extra effort to save money on buying all of our produce at Walmart, and this way I'll know exactly where all of our produce is coming from.


3. Don't laugh- but we're planning on having chickens. 3 or 4 laying hens. I want to be able to walk outside in the mornings and grab a few eggs to make breakfast. The main challenge with this will be keeping the chickypoos away from our crazy dogs. But we'll figure something out.


I recently read this book written by this blogger, and I cannot stop thinking about everything I've learned. I'm so motivated to live a cleaner, greener, more sustainable life. I am completely and totally infatuated with the idea of homesteading, and I'm currently consuming every bit of information about it that I can get my hands on.

4. I'm going to commit to learning my banjo. I can do this. I sort of let that actual New Year's resolution fall by the wayside, as resolutions are wont to do, but I'll have all the time in the world to sit on my back deck, fingerpicking away.


Excuse me, now I must retreat back into my country fantasy, complete with gingham tablecloths and candles in mason jars and the scent of corn on the cob roasting on my grill, all set to a soundtrack of crickets chirping, dogs snoring, and bluegrass on the radio.



flickr photo credits, from top: unknown, nessadear, sjs1947, jude_bird_86, blue perez photography, bunny spice, country living magazine.