Life Goals and Being Green

     For the first 8 years of my life I spent many of it in a place called Modjeska Canyon. I wrote a post about Modjeska with pictures a while ago, you can probably still find it! Modjeska is a magical place. Its also the place that set me up for my love of nature and art and 'different'. Everyone there was an artist of some type even if it wasn't their main job it was what they did on weekends. You could find people making pottery, gardening, quilting, painting, making music...all of these sounds and sights and smells were mixed with the scent of dust and trees and animals.

       My parents were no exceptions. Both played guitar, both were artsy by nature despite 'normal' jobs, and both loved gardening. LOVED it. I remember as a tiny kid watching my dad plant plum, peach, and apricot trees along our fence. When my parents had first moved into the tiny house they planted a grape vine, only to realize too late that it was a wine grape, and the green grapes were small and sour. They were (and still are, because the vine is still there!) my favorite grapes in the world.

      Whenever we moved my mom had plants. My dad bought 28 acres of land. My love of food and growing things myself comes from them and watching them. While some people want to run away from the cities and suburbs and buy huge amounts of land and homestead I'm about balance.

      Would I love to drop everything if I won 2 million dollars and run away to the mountains to grow my own veggies and chickens and build a quaint Victorian looking cottage complete with a stone fireplace and a horse? Sure! As long as I can keep the internet and TV and be 15 minutes from town. 10 would be better. I love gardening and being 'green'. But I also love ice cream and movie theaters and PEOPLE. I'm about balance. Balance is good!

      Now that my book is getting closer and closer to being published (2017 is going to be an interesting ride you guys!) I have little hopes and dreams popping up. Mainly dreams of buying a cute house with 1 to 2 acres of land so I can garden and own Irish Wolf Hounds and a pony. And wildflowers. That's always been a dream of mine since I was 13, but now it seems that if things go well, I can make it a reality!

Isn't it cute!? It just needs wild flowers and it'll be perfect!

     I'm not big on huge houses. I'm big on houses that fit your lifestyle. When I'm not being an author I'm nannying other peoples kids and usually that's for the rich. I can't tell you how wasteful those large homes are. 10 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, 3 living rooms, a kitchen the size of a normal house....and 2 kids. Maybe 1. That's it. The houses are huge and filled with expensive furniture and no one uses any rooms except the kitchen and the family room. I'm not about that.

       I just want a normal sized house with lots of land to grow food and flowers and next to a strip of trees so the kids I'll someday adopt can run around and build treehouses in them. And of course I need chickens. Who doesn't!? But regardless of the amount of money I make off of my books I just want nature. I miss being able to build raised beds and harvest my own food and grow pumpkins for Halloween (i've done it!). I want to be more earth conscious which is why I'm now learning to can my own food! I want a garden again.

    So I'm going to do it. The money I make from my books will go to not only travel (because lets face it the only thing I want more than a garden with chickens is to travel the world and collect friends and story ideas and eat food. So much food.) but to saving up for a nice little house I can fix up and some land I can grow things on.

     Life goals are different for everyone. Mine are simple. Get books published so I can help teens and adults escape the world for a while and learn something about themselves, travel the world to see and feel and eat, buy a small house with a bit of land, and adopt kids. That's all I want.

     Fame is something that's secondary for me. I don't NEED fame of massive proportions. If I get it, it's a bonus and I'll take it. But my life goals are to just enjoy life and help people. That's really what it comes down to. Well, and chocolate. Chocolate is a big thing too.

     I don't know what my life will look like 5 years. Hell, I don't know what my life will look like in THREE years. But I hope it includes me traveling the world and making friends and putting down roots in a home where I can my own food and grow my own things and have artsy neighbors. Really, I hope it means that I move back to Modjeska. Or at least somewhere very green with nice people.

    In the mean time, enjoy this picture of linen. Because it's calming right? RIGHT!? We won't think about how it'll probably be stiff when it's done. Oops.