Parsons' Prairie Farm

Photo by Ashley Givens

I have been thinking about doing a Goodbye 2012/Hello 2013 post for some time, but until the last few days, I guess I just haven’t had the heart to get it done.  Jeff lost his job just a couple of weeks before Christmas and it seemed to send our world reeling!  But we are doing better now, feeling stronger, more positive and ready to take on 2013 for whatever opportunities and challenges it has in store for us.  We still have the same goals for ourselves, our family and our little fiber farm, but we will just have to work smarter, leaner and be more creative.  I just finished reading a book called The Feast Nearby (Mather, 2011).  It’s a wonderful book of essays & recipes, the author’s year-long journey of preparing local, seasonal home cooked meals, all while facing a radical life change and healing her heart.  In the book Mather said “I elected to be grateful even for life’s challenges, because we often don’t grow without a push” (Mather, 187).  While we feel like we were pushed (maybe even shoved) into a 2013 of uncertainty, we will count our blessings every day and see where this new year takes us.

As I looked back on 2012 I realize that we have a lot of reasons to celebrate.  I am pretty anal about some things, for example my month-to-month to do list, broken down daily with tasks assigned to each day.  Sounds crazy, I know, but with everything we have going on, it keeps me on task better than anything else I have tried.  Sometimes when I look at my To Do List it seems like I am never able to get enough done.  But I have to tell myself to look at the big picture, an entire month or even better, an entire year. When I look back at that big picture, it is amazing what we have accomplished in our first full year on Parsons’ Prairie Farm.  Look for my 2012 recap post tomorrow.  Happy New Year!