Next Steps

Chad and I have written our mission statement as a couple. We are going to be working towards being prepared. I know it is a scouting thing, but it fits in with our goals as a couple and helps calm our fears. We are going to go back to our homesteading goals we started work on 2 years ago. We know that our yard is not big enough to do it all, but it is big enough to get a good start as we pay off our debt and work towards getter jobs or the possibility of owning our own business. 

After watching several YouTube videos, we made a garden plan and bought some seed for a few items that we learned needed to be planted in January inside because they have a longer germination time. We will also be clearing out some of our backyard for raised garden beds over the next few months and deciding what we will be starting as seed and what we will buy as starters. All I know is that I do not see a time of me ever trying to plant tomatoes from seeds again. I was really successful with the starter I got last year and am hoping to duplicate that result this year. As we wait for our garden, we will be buying extra canned fruit and vegetables to build up our storage. 

I am also going to finish some of the unpaper towels that I started a few years ago. I like the group that I made 2 years ago, and I don't know why I stopped midway in the batch I was making that had a towel on one side and fleece on the other side. They will be completed soon. To go with that, I am also working on making some hot pads to replace my old, ratty sets and an apron to match. When I finish all of that, we will see if I still feel like sewing. Unlike my daughter, I don't always love sewing. 

Of course, bread making will always be a cooler weather hobby for both Chad and me. We are currently working on baking twice what we need for the week so we can freeze some to have in the summer when it is too hot to bake. 

Lastly, we were given a 10-gallon water drum a few years ago when a friend of ours was moving. We will be filling that when the temperatures get warm enough that we feel comfortable hooking the hose up to the house. Then, we will look into other options for water storage. 

Things are getting scarier and more uncertain. Every day the news is filled with horrifying images and stories. The only way to combat the fear is to prepare for the worst. This is our start of that preparation. 

Trying to Write Mission Statements

Chad and I have been reading 7 Habits of Highly Effective People together. He has it on his Kindle, and I bought a 30th Anniversary Edition on Ebay a few months ago. Since we were each in the middle of other books, we agreed to wait until January 1 to start. Since then, we have been reading about 10 pages a day. At times, I have to read more because the anniversary edition has some bonus material at the end of each chapter, but I don't mind because it gives more clarity to the concepts.

Earlier this week, we read about mission statements when reading about the second habit, begin with the end in mind. The point of a mission statement to give you, your family, or an organization direction. It helps set priorities that will guide you. We both read this concept and just kept reading on thinking we could get to this step later. As we moved on to reading about the next habit, put first things first, and it became obvious that we needed to work on our personal mission statements. I finished mine but was not completely happy with it. Chad didn't finish his because he got overwhelmed and didn't know what direction he wanted to go with it. As we talked about our issues with trying to wright our personal mission statements, we realized that we have similar values and goals (no wonder we are so good together). We have decided that tonight or tomorrow after church, we will sit down and decided a couple's mission statement. The hope is that aby working on a mission statement as a couple, we can make personal mission statements that we are happy with for a while. 

I'm not sure if we are doing this properly. All I know is that we need to have focus as we continue on our journey self-improvement. We let so many things go in the wrong direction over the years (finances, cleanliness of the house, our weight). It is time to get things cleaned up our lives and environment.