Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Hopes for the Future

I know it's the holidays that always bring about these thoughts and feelings.  Time with family and friends, reflecting on the year passed, giving thanks, hopes and aspirations for the new year, the hustle and the bustle and the twinkling lights..... I find myself questioning my life.  What am I happy about? Where would I like to see change?  What are my dreams for the future?  I always have the same answer about the future and that answer is always followed by laughs from family and friends when I share it with them.  But people, I am for SERIOUS!!!  When I think about what I want my future to look like I see a cozy, rustic house and farm in the woods.


                                 (photo credit)

Not a crop or livestock farm or anything, just a little farm with some chickens and goats and maybe a horse and lots of dogs and cats.  After living in the "city" for over 5 years this girl is ready to head back to rural Missouri just as soon as our bank account allows!  I long for a piece of land with enough room for a barn, a huge vegetable garden and a little orchard.  I want a wood burning fire place and I want to blister my hands cutting the wood for it.  I want to plant a garden and get my hands dirty.  I want to gather eggs in the morning and scramble them for breakfast.  I want to milk a goat and make amazing cheeses and soaps.  I want to hike the wilderness and explore. I want to lay on a blanket in my backyard and stare up at a sky full of stars that are not dimmed by bright city lights.  I want little children running around with faces marked with dirt.  Kids who are rough and tumble and who have more fun catching bull frogs and fireflies then watching television.  I want to sit on a porch and stare out at beauty while listening to Bon Iver and just forget the rest of the world for a bit.  I want to make things with my hands.  I want to smell the earth, I want to nurture nature.  Sounds crazy, huh?  I just feel like these are the types of things that will make my life and heart full.  Not paychecks and possessions.  Although we will need the paychecks to get there!  I feel like the world would be a better place if we all just took a little time to simplify our lives...get out and enjoy the earth a little.  Make a gift instead of buy it.  That kind of stuff.  I guess I'm just a bit old fashioned and nostalgic.  I'm just craving earthiness, simplicity and homeyness i guess.