The gal darn truth.

Did you know that this house is the thirteenth place Mike and I have lived in in ten and a half years of marriage?  Because we had done it so many times, I figured the move wouldn't be so hard - especially since we were finally getting the house and property we had yearned for.  Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Before we moved I was seriously emotional about it all - stomach churning, hair falling out, tears...coupled with excitement and happiness about what lay ahead.  And then I started getting sick the day we moved out of our place in Utah - and stayed sick with some sort of infection or illness for the next 5 weeks.  My body was depleted from all of the stress and it was awful.  And then once we moved in, Spokane had the coldest November ON RECORD!  Yup, that's right - it was seriously seriously cold.  And dark.  Did you know that we live farther north than the entire state of Maine?  I didn't realize we were so far north until we got here and the sun was DOWN at 4:15 in the afternoon - and didn't come up until after 7:00 AM the next day!  That's a LONG night, my friends.  And I didn't know anyone - not one person.  And by the time I wasn't sick and made it out to church and other things - it was nearly Thanksgiving.  And most people aren't really in the reaching out, making new friends state of mind during the Holidays.  Not because they're jerks - but because they've got family in town and so many things to get done.  So I was lonely.  I was so sure that I would be able to steer clear of all of that - that I knew the tricks of moving and assimilating in a new area.  So I was humbled as I saw myself being ridiculously needy with my new friends(I still am) and as I felt like I was having an identity crisis nearly once a week.

Huge frozen puddles at the bottom of our road - at least three inches thick of pure ice - perfect for "ice skating".

Isn't it pretty?  For sure, winter isn't all bad - it has been beautiful.

Why am I writing this post?  Because the sun is now staying up until nearly 5 PM now - and when Mike goes running at 6 AM he says he can see some light on the horizon.  That means the long winter is ending - that each day is brighter and warmer and longer than the one before.  And it reminds me that everything has a season - all things must pass.  It's yet another reminder that when things are hard if we just hold on, they will get better.  Before we moved I knew that it was be a test of my faith - that I would truly have to trust the Lord during the move - that He was leading us and aware of our needs through it all.  It may sound cliche but I have found relief in repeating the psalm:


Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.


Another scripture in James that I came upon last week made me feel better too...

Know this, the trying of your faith worketh patience.

And then a couple verses later:


If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

So, I hope I haven't lost you in my churchiness but I really want to say that I know this is true - and I'm grateful for it.  I have gotten to a time in my life when I can no longer lean unto my own understanding - it's not good enough.  So, I'm acknowledging the Lord's hand in my life - and that He truly has comforted me - and sustained me through the last few months of upheaval.  And I know he will continue to do that as I turn to Him.  And I also know that he will do the same for you.  Go get on your knees and let Him in.

One of my favorite talks/articles ever by Elder Holland.


&

And here's a link to my favorite scripture passage E-V-E-R - it's in the Book of Mormon.



p.s.  The days are getting longer and I am happier now too.  I just can't wait for spring already!

Here piggy piggy....

So, yes, we got ourselves a couple of pigs.  We actually bought them a couple weeks ago but they weren't weaned yet so we had to wait until this week to get them.  We were so anxious to get them that when the day arrived and the owner said we'd have to wait to get them because she had to make an emergency trip to the dentist we were pretty bummed.  OR she said we could just go on our own without her and get them.  So, we loaded up, made the drive to Colville, WA and got those pigs.  And it was great.

Wait, no, it was actually really really REALLY awful.  It actually was so terrible that on the drive home I was sure I had made a mistake about pigs and actually being a farmer in general.  Speaking of which, having your dreams come true on days when you are really hormonal is a bummer.  Here you are finally doing the thing you've dreamed about for years and all you feel is rage rippling through your body every time your child whines followed by the desire to cry.  So, ya, that's where I'm at.  Anyhow, getting the pigs...

We pulled up and I left three of my four kids in the car while my oldest and I climbed into the pig "pen".  This pen was a little shed built out of plywood with about 8x8x8 dimensions.  Inside there was a VERY large lactating sow and probably ten or so piglets - all laying in sticky, wet, slightly frozen mud...mingled with pig poop.  In this instance I am tempted to use a stronger word for poop because "poop" sounds cute and slightly clean and flowery compared with the stuff that was several inches deep in there.  It was foul.  So we started by trying to corner the piglets so we could grab them.  Which created LOTS of squealing.  Have you ever heard a piglet squeal?  It's LOUD.  Try having 10 piglets squealing in an 8x8 plywood dungeon of poop.  It's disturbing.  And mother pig agreed that it was disturbing that there were two humans terrorizing her babies and making a chorus of blood curdling squeals.  So she started in on the fun by grunted loudly - more like a growl - then charging us.  So as we are sliding around in this hell hole trying to grab these 30 pound piglets we also are being chased by a 300+ lb momma.  It was impossible.  It actually terrified and humbled me so much that I turned to prayer.  I can't remember if that was before or after I screamed at the momma, "I AM GOING TO EAT YOUR BABIES!!!"  After my prayer was uttered I remembered that we had some french fries on the floor of the car - you know, naturally - we had just had lunch at McDonald's.  So I sent Elijah for a few.  When he got back I had him feed very hungry and very mean momma while I grabbed a piglet by it's back leg.  Grabbing it by it's other back leg, I lifted it into the air.  At which moment it stopped squealing and Elijah, momma pig, and I stared in silence...for a moment.  But then the piglet starting squealing EVEN louder and flailing all over the place and momma started to charge - so I grabbed that thing like a football(pigskin?) and jumped out.  Shakily I shoved the crap covered baby into the cat carrier in the back of my car, and walked back to the pen - noting that several goats and a couple horses had come over to watch the show.

I should mention that at this point the dream of being a farmer had left me.

I climbed back in and did it again - this time finding that momma didn't give me a moment before charging.  It felt like slow motion.  My heart was pounding, I was weak and as I jumped over the wall I noticed that I could see the whites of momma pigs eyes VERY clearly.  Elijah followed as I shoved pig number two into the carrier.  After which realizing that I was C-O-V-E-R-E-D in poop.  Disgusting, green, thick, sticky poop - everywhere.  Since there was no one home to let us in to clean up, we shoved our hands into the snow and tried scrubbing them off that way.  I also remembered I hadn't finished my water from lunch and poured about a quarter cup of ice water onto my hands to "clean" them.   Unsuccessful with getting clean, we got into the car and got out of there.

The drive home took over an hour and a half.  The car reeked so badly that my stomach was churning, Asher cried the entire way home and I had no strength left in me.  Except for that rage I was talking about.  I didn't even want to bring the pigs home.  I didn't want to see another pig ever again.  EVER.  Elijah summed it up when he said, "Mom, I am going to have no problem killing those pigs."

Luckily, when we got home and let them into their clean and comparatively palatial pen - they looked cute.  They snorted around, rooting through the dirt, and looked happy.  So we were happy.  We had ourselves some pigs.

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas A. Edison

We bought this place so that we could be gentleman farmers.  And it is a great place to do that but not without a little work.  We know that come spring we've got to reinforce the rafters in the barn and replace most of the roofing.  Once that's done we can start cleaning out all of the old horse poop and miscellaneous junk.  And then we need to add on a pen for the pigs and a coop for the chickens.  Next there is the fencing.  We've got fencing surrounding our entire property but some of it is leaning pretty far to one side and some is hanging so loose that the deer and Yogi just hop right over or under it's barbed wire.  That won't do - if we were to put a couple rambunctious milk goats in there - they'd be trotting down the road in no time.  At least that's what we've heard.  We keep saying maybe we'll put off getting those goats because we just don't know where to start.  Then there are piles of rotted wood to remove or chip, apple trees that haven't been properly pruned in decades, an eight foot deer proof fence that needs to go up around our proposed garden area, and then that spring that I mentioned needs a little work.  It runs into an old bath tub in the front pasture.  It's always running but we need to get to it's source and clean it out all of the mud and mineral build up to make it run even faster.  What that means is that 50 yards uphill of where it comes out is a holding tank underneath a "floor" of boards.  If we get those up we can get down there and get that done.  

But before all of that gets done we need to build a treehouse.  We have been talking about and promising a treehouse to our boys for years and years.  And this spring we really need to make good on that.  We figure we'll start simple and over time add on to it.  How are we going to get all of this done?  Who knows.  For now, we wander out and pick up pine cones.  They make the perfect kindling once they dry and gathering them makes us feel like we are playing "farm" or at least like pioneers.

 It is a lot of work - especially when there is a lot to do inside the house as well.  But there are days like today when the snow has melted and the breeze is high and the eagles play and roll in the sky above us.  A few days back we sat on our deck as the sun set and watched a bald eagle circle - and each time he turned toward the sun the white on his head and tail caught the bending light and glowed bright pink.  It was truly breathtaking.   And today we found hundreds of lady bugs camped out all over a tree trunk in the sun.  And my boys get to grow up seeing things like that all the time.  I can't wait to see how that will affect who they will become.