Holiday Ramblings & Moving Ahead

The holidays are coming to a close, but it's been wonderful spending two weeks relaxing with the husband. While we didn't take a road trip like we'd discussed (especially since we're still paying off our Thanksgiving weekend trip), we did take several day trips and were able to see some newer areas of western Louisiana and eastern Texas. While neither of us are big on exchanging gifts, we did acquire another pet during the holidays. We'd been talking about trying to find a second dog to keep Anna company and hopefully out of trouble, and so two of our trips were in pursuit of another dog. After visiting the saddest looking humane society on our second trip, we headed home with another pooch on the backseat. She is the jolliest little creature you can imagine coming from such a sad place and after needing a full visit to the vet. We're still working on house training her and are home remedying a sore foot we noticed after the vet visit. She appears to be an Australian Sheppard mutt mix and is estimated to be about a year old also. We named her Roxi.....

So our days are back to revolving around the pets (well and currently attempting to run off the extra 10 lbs I've acquired in this place!!)...taking them out and instituting a better feeding schedule. Major, the cat, is pleased that Anna is now entertained by Roxi rather than by him. And I'm hoping to make some more of those homemade treats for the dogs, as the oatmeal really helped Anna's coat when we first got her. With two dogs and less humidity currently, I'm hopeful we can get through all the treats before they mold---as the last two batches I made a few months back molded within 2-3 days.

We had some fabulous care packages delivered to us during the holidays as well. The husband had a cooler-full of meat arrive from his father---I never knew as a vegetarian that I'd be so happy to discover meats on our front stoop! My parents mailed us decorations for the house and tree (including LED lights and old school decorations!!), yummy goodies (it truthfully didn't feel like Christmas til Mom's cinnamon rolls arrived!), and a couple of packages for us to put under the tree. My granny sent a box of goodies for us and the pets. My sister, brother, and their families sent holiday cookies & fudge, great smelling Slab soap, homemade washcloths, homemade laundry detergent, & other goodies. Everyone's contributions were not expected but so appreciated....and made it a bit easier to be so far from home for the holidays.

We also have done a bit of shopping after the holidays to use some of the gift cards that we had and to get other items that were needed (aka replacement bras for me; a kennel for the new dog). My sister included a gift card to Target as she knew that my husband has been wanting to acquire a breadmaker or crock pot....so we picked one up the other day. His first loaf was made last night and it's pretty delicious! Its been fun seeing him excited about his newest gadget, and this gadget can apparently make jam too! This breadmaker gives me hope that we really will get to a more self-sufficient stage eventually. Sometimes it feels like moving here and integrating my life with someone else's has made it much more difficult to live as simply as I used to want/was able to do. However this has been good for me in many ways as I've learned how difficult it is to live a more sustainable existence when the system and resources are not available to help you, and I've learned to beat myself up less for the areas where I "fail" to be green enough. Slowly, I'm realizing that we'll get to those greener pastures of a few acres, grow a lil' garden, bake some bread from scratch, and beat down our debt....but it will probably look different than I ever would, or even could now, imagine.

My mom also pointed out to me in a recent conversation that while I might not currently be able to live as "green" or "authentic" as I'd like....my influence and interest in these areas have boiled over to other individuals, such as my family and friends. Every little bit helps..... So here I am headed into the new year, open to the fact that who I am is constantly changing, hopeful for the future and what it holds on multiple levels, and enjoying the little moments that I am currently granted....while continuing on that journey of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Good night :-)