Hello everyone! Grab a coffee or drink of your choice and come chat with me please!
Today I’m enjoying a nice homemade iced chai latte with almond milk! I’ve found a few chai mixtures at the stores so I’ve been trying them out! Let’s get to chatting!
If we were having coffee I’d tell you, that I need to give you a huge THANK YOU for joining me for BirthMay last month! It was super fun to post everyday, although it was slightly stressful to change plans constantly due to the quarantine canceling a ton of plans that I had originally thought I was going to be able to blog about. In case you missed any of the BirthMay posts, feel free to visit my wrap up post for links to all of them!
If we were having coffee I’d tell you, that life in the Q is still going well! Actually, the restrictions started to ease up with Illinois reaching Phase 3 (of 5). Most places still aren’t fully open and some have chosen not to open at all until later, so I’m expecting to remain mostly at home still for June. However, with trips to grocery stores, Target, and going out for walks, I don’t have a problem with that!
If we were having coffee I’d tell you, that I’ve really been thinking about the Black Lives Matter movement after recent events and the murder of George Floyd. I do think the rioting is terrible and does cause real issues, for example, my sister has been truly struggling getting to work because of the protests in Chicago and can’t call off because she works at an animal shelter – the dogs and cats can’t be taken care of remotely or take care of themselves. However, I totally stand with the peaceful protesters and their movement. I may not have a particularly loud voice on the internet, but I wanted to add mine nonetheless.
If we were having coffee I’d tell you, we started our garden for the summer! My dad and I went to the store recently for the plants and I’ve been watering them on days when it doesn’t rain. So far, it’s rained a lot but I know that soon I’ll be out there everyday! I can’t wait for the plants to grow and for us to have fresh, homegrown food. I really wish we had nicer climates year round so we could grow stuff all year.
If we were having coffee I’d tell you, that because of my desire to have fresh, homegrown food year round and a desire to have chickens for fresh eggs, I’ve started to learn about homesteading! I’ve watched countless hours of homesteading videos, read multiple articles about buying land, and researching a ton into this. My goal would be to buy some land, probably in Texas, in the next few years even if I won’t do anything with it quite yet. Some of the stuff I’m learning is just crazy though. Apparently land can be sold even though it might not have road access! You’d have to ask your neighbors for permission (and usually pay them) to go through their property to reach your land, which is insane. Also, if you want to build a house and there’s not water access, you either need to pay to put in a well (if possible) or pay for the nearest city to put in pipes to supply you with water. If none of those options work for you, then you have to pay to truck in water. This is all so weird to me. On top of that, you can’t just do whatever you want even if you own the land! You’d still need to get your building approved or make sure you’re allowed to start planting or raising animals before starting. Oh, and don’t get me started about how the area could be contaminated or secretly a trash dump site and no one will tell you unless you ask. While this might not ever actually happen and I might decided that farm life isn’t the life for me, it’s really interesting to learn.
If we were having coffee I’d tell you, about how I’m continuing to save money in the Q. You might remember that I’m currently unemployed, so because I have a limited income (unemployment) for the time being, I’ve been hyper aware of how much I’m spending. I’ve had to lower the amount I’m paying on student loans (technically payments/interest are suspended for federal loans) but I’m still paying over the minimum because I’m lucky to be able to do that right now. My monthly spending is less than 10% of what it was prior to everything going on thank goodness! Even so, I’m hoping to find a job soon.
If we were having coffee I’d tell you, that the job hunt is still well underway! I’m not having much luck, unfortunately, but I have a feeling it’s about to go much better soon. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!
If we were having coffee I’d tell you, that I’d love to update you on my goal for this year, to live with intention! I’m really enjoying this goal. I do feel like I’m still learning a lot about this goal and what it means for me but overall I think I’m doing well. For example, recently I was doing yoga and realized I wasn’t into it, so I had to ask myself why I was doing it. I concluded that I wasn’t doing it to “do something” because that’s not good enough. My reason was because I’ve noticed I’m getting stronger. I love that! I love being able to hold a plank longer or balance in tree pose longer. Same for ballet, I love having better turns or being able to lift my leg higher. These, in my opinion, are much better reasons!
If we were having coffee I’d tell you, that even with the best of intentions, I’m also balancing that out with forgiveness. If I just watch Netflix with the only intention of being lazy, I recognize that there’s a need for downtime. Especially with everything still going on. It is stressful to be out of a job at the end of the day, so I am trying to be kind to myself too.
If we were having coffee I’d tell you, positivity is still going strong! Yes, there’s plenty to be down about but overall, it’s about moving forward and adapting. I fully believe that the opportunity for growth during this period and that we’ll all be stronger after everything is said and done so no matter what, we’ve got to keep going and supporting each other. We can do it!
So that’s what I’d chat with you about if we were having coffee. What would you tell me?
Thanks for reading!
Pamela
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