2016 Goals Update!

I have to brag a bit, mainly because I am so proud of ourselves. 

We paid off three of our student loans! 

When I first set my 2016 goals I was hoping to pay off some of our debt by end of year. Mainly pay off our two credit cards and half of one student loan (we had four student loans of various amounts).  

Then we paid off the credit cards so quickly I changed the goal to paying off one of the four student loans. 

Through serious budgeting and gift money we managed to pay off three of the four student loans! 

Sadly the remaining loan was the most expensive and was more than all the credit cards and other loans combined, but the excitement of paying those off makes it more bearable. 

We are following Dave Ramsey who says to snowball your debt so the little wins give you motivation, and he is so very right about that! 

It will take longer to pay off this last loan, but we are so happy with the progress we have made that its not as daunting as it used to be. 

Being debt free seems to be achievable and not just a crazy dream! 

Goals 

1. Landscape Back Yard
2. Pay off Student loan #1  YAY!!!
3. Reduce Plastic Use/ Created Less Waste 
4. Walk 10,000 steps a day, 3 days a week. 
5. Special Secret Goal

We Got Baby Chicks!

We got baby chicks!

Its been a while since we had baby chicks, and we really had no intention of getting baby chicks this year. Human babies are a lot of work and we thought that'd be too much. However, Penguin decided that we needed chicks and went broody. Really, really broody, so broody I couldn't break her of it, so we found fertile eggs and let her give it a try. I kinda thought she’d give up, which is why Vince was hesitant to give her eggs, since he didn't want her to sit on them for a while and then abandon them and the chicks die. 

On a whim I called a woman about eggs and she gave us six and told us to bring back any chicks we couldn't keep. I was expecting a low hatch rate, so after I dropped and broke an egg I was only expecting two of the five to hatch. Honestly, I told Vince if we got one chick I’d call this a success. It was both Penguin and mine’s first try at hatching eggs (I’ve always bought baby chicks). 

So I gave her the eggs, marked my calendar for three weeks later and left her to do her thing. 

Fast forward to hatch week and I am “preparing” for baby chicks. I got the brooder ready incase she didn't want to care for the chicks and I frantically tried to schedule our Father’s Day Visits around chicks. Based on my math they were due to hatch Thursday or Friday before Father’s day. I invited my grandparents to come visit the Amish with us that Thursday so my Grandfather could be here when they were supposed to hatch. It was like a thousand years ago but his grandfather raised chickens when he was a boy and I thought he’d enjoy it.  

Wednesday evening I go to get eggs and check on Penguin. I decided to candle the eggs and the first two have little wiggling shadows, the next two have tiny holes and cheeping chicks, the last one is half hatched! I was not prepared at all and I didn't sleep at all that night. I was more nervous than I was when I was in labor! I’m not even kidding. I had experienced midwives and doulas around me so I knew I was in the best hands possible, poor Penguin was all alone and it was our first hatching. 

I was so relieved when I saw the first two chicks staring at me the next morning. I had been worried what the other hens would do, but they didn't seem to even mind the chicks. I found Daisy and CoCo in the nesting boxes with Penguin and the chicks like nothing happened. 

All five chicks hatched, but one sadly didn't make it long, and before they were a week old we had lost another. Thankfully the other three seem to be very healthy and happy and Penguin has turned out to be a wonderful mother. She is a natural and she makes it look so easy! I seriously don't know how she does it. 

When I got the eggs the woman had Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Sex-linked, Leghorn and silver and gold Wyandottes. I really wanted a Wyandotte and I really didn't want a Leghorn (I didn't want white eggs). Well since Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Sex-linked, and silver and gold Wyandottes all lay similar eggs it was a toss up on which eggs had which chicks, and none of them were pure bred so that made it harder. Let me tell you, Mother Nature and I have an odd relationship. Well its hard to tell but it seems that we got a Barred Rock chick and two LEGHORNS… and the two that passed away were probably Wyandottes. 

My mother laughed and said thats what I get for trying to control Mother Nature. Oh well as long as they are healthy and good layers I can’t complain. 

Now we just have to hope they are girls so we can keep them :) 

Going Plastic Free

I recently finished reading Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too by Beth Terry. And let me tell you, it was both extremely enlightening and a bit horrifying! 

I had already been trying to lessen the amount of plastic we used simply to reduce waste and we had decided not to allow Isaac to have plastic toys, but plastic sneaks into your life easily and in ways I didn't even think about. 

Baby bottles were the first things to sneak in. I registered for glass baby bottles but we didn't receive any and since I am a stay at home mom and breast feeding we didn't bother buying any. Then I got a free bottle in a sample pack from the maternity store, then one from a sample in the mail, and a third one came with the pump. Three bottles was perfect for the few times I have had to leave Isaac with Daddy or my mom. I didn't think anymore about the bottle besides filling them when we needed them and washing them. 

After finishing the book I went straight to the kitchen to stake stock of what plastic was left in there. At first I was so proud of myself, there wasn't that much and most of what was left was not needed and could go away. Then I opened the freezer and saw the bottles. Plastic! What was I thinking, I had been saying for months no plastic for Isaac but I was allowing him to be fed from plastic. So I sat down at the computer and ordered him glass bottles and packed up all the plastic from the kitchen to be donated. 

Confession: I couldn't bring myself to throw out the three bottles of frozen milk, those were a lot of work for this mama to make. I just finished feeding him the second to last bottle as we drive to visit my parents. 

So since finishing the book I’ve been making a mental note of everything plastic in the house and as they wear out Ill be replacing them with non-plastic options. 

The book opened my eyes to the way landfills and recycling plants work, how plastic is made and the waste associated with it, as well as discussing the toxins in plastics. My favorite part was it idiot proofed the science so I could not only understand but also explain to others when they stare at me like I'm crazy (I get that stare a lot so I'm used to it). 

The other nice thing was Terry gave realistic ways to change and repeatedly told the reader that it took her years to get to the point that she was. And that was very encouraging to read.

 This is a journey where each step matters as much as the final destination.