Living My Dream

In January I did a workshop where we determined our vision, and I had a really hard time seeing it.  I didn’t know how to verbalize my dreams because I just didn’t think it was an option so I kind of just made stuff up.  Some of what I envisioned stayed the same, but there are some additions.

This is my real dream in life (has been since my kids were babies):

To homeschool my kids in a relaxed and minimalist way using mostly Charlotte Mason method.

To travel and camp with my family.

To eat in a way that nourishes our bodies.

To hike and do yoga often alone and as a family.

To live in a way that is beneficial to the environment.  Real plates, cloth napkins, recycling, composting, using reusable bags and containers when possible, etc.

To use essential oils and natural meds when possible, but also being okay with the meds that I take.  They are what help me to thrive.

To thrive and not just survive.

To have less anxiety because of relaxed, slow, simple living.

To have the kids use electronics less and play more.  I think they will be less anxious and angry.

The homeschool thing is the biggest part.  This is what I thought couldn’t happen.  I thought I would never homeschool again.  I got rid of all of my homeschooling stuff between last year this time and about a month ago.  I kept all of my favorite books, luckily.  Fortunately I don’t care too much because I’m trying to be minimalist in my homeschool.

I wish Karis wanted to homeschool but she doesn’t right now.  She loves her friends and teachers at school.  She has been going back and forth.  We’ll see what happens.

I’ve decided to focus on eating better again because all of the processed food has been making me feel badly.  I was in survival mode for a while so I was eating and drinking whatever I wanted (few veggies and fruit, mostly processed carbs), but I want to get back to whole foods again, making things from scratch, and natural living as much as I can.  I ordered from Grove Collaborative again and ordered some things like raw honey and sucanat for baking and Schmidts deodorant from Walmart (they have lots of those things online).

I plan to do more hiking and yoga (with the boys).  I bought the boys yoga mats so we can do it together in the afternoons!  Also Karis loves hiking so when we’re home on the weekends, I hope to include her in that.

Robert is totally on board with all of this and thinks it’s a great idea.  He notices a huge difference in me when I live in a way that nourishes my body and mind and when I’m moving more in a way that I enjoy.  He told me he likes when I want to live a “crunchy” life.  I was trying to shed that label recently, but I think it was so I could justify the soda intake that I was having and living in survival mode.

Robert and I dream of all the ways we can travel cheaply and camp in places that we love.  We are hoping to go to national parks this summer, but we’ll see.  I think it’ll depend on how much Karis’s braces cost.  We badly want a VW Westfalia.  Maybe one day.  Haha.  We may get a rooftop tent soon.

I love living at the camp where we live.  We have 1400 acres to explore, a river to swim in, we can hunt axis deer (so we have a freezer full), and we can even backpack in our back valley.  Hiking is literally right outside our door.  Our view is amazing and we love our simple home.

Life is so good.  I’m feeling extremely blessed at this point.