I'll soon be a composting fool - and worked in the garden

Oh my freaking heck! dug up a TON of dandelions out of the garden, more to be weed whacked. I raked up all the leaves from the back yard and my wonderful Scott went to Lowes to get me a Composter! I have a ton of stuff to go in it, so it should be good to start my journey to a new future as a homesteader by tomorrow.

moved some hosta, planted some flower bulbs in the front garden and I am looking forward to planting my veggies this week.

99 days left!

Oh if only that 99 days was until the day we leave to go to Texas, but it's even better than that! 99 days left until I marry the man of my dreams.

Wedding plans are coming along. All I need to do now is get my gown altered, pay for the cake and reception, order our knife/flute set and pay for my makeup/hair. Oh, and find a car to take us to the ceremony etc. . . I made all the silk floral arragements including bouquets, I made my hair accessory, my invites are in Alaska being printed by my friend Megan. We even got my ring and have had Scott's ring for a while. The only concern I have is my gown. I hope it can be altered b/c I don't want another gown, I want to wear this one! (I also don't have money for another gown either!)

I am so thrilled to be looking forward to the future. The next Countdown Clock will be until the day we leave for Texas - approximately 380 days. Lots of work to do and saving to do as well. I can't wait!

Plans and Dreams

My New "Rosie's"

Today was another great day. I worked at the Soup Kitchen and really got things clean, (the deep fryer and some oven racks) which made me feel like I had accomplished something. I only need to do 6 more hours and I will be done with the community service I owe, but I enjoy it so much that until I find a full time job, I will continue to go and help. I am so blessed to know that my family doesn't have to rely on a Soup Kitchen to eat! I wonder what they would do if that was all that was available to them and they didn't like it. I guess they wouldn't eat, huh?

My "Rosie" Coveralls arrived today. (see above) ADORABLE and I have plans to get a few more plus some overalls, work boots etc. . . all in due time.

Right now I have a wedding to plan and pay for. I am really excited b/c I FINALLY found my wedding band on Ebay - less than $100- for solid 14K gold! (plus I got an extra 10% off just for using paypal!) I was at the jeweler yesterday and they wanted $375 for something similar!! Sorry but that's my budget for my entire wedding reception at a very fancy restaurant! (yes, a VERY SMALL group of friends!)

I still can't believe I'm really getting married, we have been together almost 2 years and it's actually happening. I love Scott so much. We have been to hell and back together and it hasn't always been easy, but in the past 5 or so months, we have come together as a real couple, I almost fainted when he asked me to marry him - he has always been happy to just live together and I was content with that even though I knew I wanted to be married. There is a certain security I find in "belonging" to someone. (not like "property" but knowing that we belong together in a committed relationship).

I even prepared my wedding registry on Target.com - so funny - ALL camping stuff!! Ok, so I did go to Pottery Barn too, but it is almost not worth the space to even think about anything from there. I am so looking forward to my future with my family and the future we have planned.

So, tonight as I prepare to crawl into bed, I am satisfied in knowing where I am heading in the next 3 1/2 months specifically and for the next year in general.

I decided to make up a group of envelopes to do my budgeting with, ie: wedding ring, wedding cake, wedding reception, alterations to gown, all the way down to the sand ceremony items and my cake cutting set that I fell in love with! After that - I only have 2 things left to save for, the move we are planning, and our future home, (as in building supplies) ok, 3, my "PRINCESS" .

I want a modest little home, 2br, and a GREAT room that is kitchen, living room and dining area all in one, plus a big pantry and naturally, a bathroom, then a loft for an extra room (maybe not right away, but eventually). I even have the colors planned (Red or Burgandy,White and Blue/Denim).

So, now that it is getting to that time, I will sign off and head to bed, if I can't sleep again tonight, I may just take time to clean our room a bit. . .or if I am really lucky, I will dream of the future we are planning.

I am so blessed!!!!

My wonderful mom!

Was talking to Mom today, she is really getting on the bandwagon about food storage and a little worried about where we will all end up. She mentioned something to me and I told her I already knew about it (FEMA Camps). I told her I am ready to go to Texas and get a piece of land and start a homestead. SHE DIDN'T TELL ME I WAS CRAZY!!!!! I am not afraid about what is to come, God is in CONTROL and that's the important thing. I just want to make sure I can take care of my family. Nice to know Mom is finally hearing stuff that I have been saying for YEARS and believing it. What is happening in our Country can be scary, but again, I am trusting my Heavenly Father to take care of me and my family. If only we could move to TX sooner than this time next year!

Soooo READY! Did you hear about school lunches?

Ok, so the weekend at work wasn't what I had hoped it would be. I really screwed up - I'll admit it, but not as I was being treated by the end of the night. I will know tomorrow if I still have my job, or if I can be grateful to look for something else. Maybe I am just too disabled to do this kind of work, maybe my mind really is a mess and I can't do it. FINE! Give me my Rosie's overalls, boots and a shovel and stick me in the heart of Texas on a piece of land! I would go tomorrow if I had the money to accomplish what needs to be done! (ok, so a tiller would be a huge blessing in addition to just a shovel). I will compost and create great soil, and grow all sorts of healthy foods. To make matters worse, my cat is in heat - have to take care of her soon! I can only hope I will be able to go back to school in the fall and get the funding I need for another year, then we will be able to save most of it and get out of here. My car will be paid off and more for savings. I can't wait! And now I read on the internet news that Chicago schools are banning home made brown-bagged lunches? What in the world? Forcing kids to eat school lunches or go hungry? NOT MY KID! I can remember growing up and having my mom bring me a shrimp salad sandwich just before lunch period so it was still fresh and cold, and the best tuna sandwich in the entire world. Even cream cheese and jelly was a great sandwich. But now they are saying no processed sugars, no white flour, no, no, no!!! The lunch in the article was PROCESSED CHEESE FOOD, NOT REAL CHEESE (I don't ever use that "cr**), canned pears loaded with sugar, a hot dog roll made from white flour, not whole grains, a piece of turkey, again processed and full of salt, oh and of course, strawberry milk to top it all off. First of all, if you go by the Government Standards for WIC, none of that garbage would pass muster with them. So why is it ok in the school lunch system? Not for my kiddos! They may like their school lunches of chicken tenders, but soon it will be homemade lunches with REAL ingredients and no preservatives! The article stated that kids are obese, not my guys!!! underweight is more like it! (good for them, not having to live with the problems I face every day being obese). I am ready to say goodbye to Big Brother more and more each day. Everything I hear and read on the news scares me, but fortunately I have my Heavenly Father to calm me and I know HE will protect and take care of me and my family. Hopefully my business will take off soon when the advertising hits, then I will be able to work for myself and at my own pace and earn the money I am worth so I can save for the future we so deserve.

A new day great for dreaming!

Oh how I wish it would warm up already. I so want to go out and play in the dirt! I have bulbs to plant in my garden for flowers, and seeds to plant for what I hope will be veggies. I had saved seeds from my peppers for about 5 months, but none of them germinated so they were no good, have to get some heirloom seeds soon!!!! I'm reading more each day about gardening and farming. Can't wait to get our feet on some good land of our own and get some chicks and a goat or two. I am so ready to put this hectic life behind me and move to a place where I set the pace, wake up with the sun in my eyes, and garden and work on MY goals and dreams. The first thing will be to make sure the soil is good, and if not, fix it. I forsee LOTS of composting in my future. Then, for the first few years, the regs say 3 years before you can call your produce "organic" to sell, growing for our family and maybe have a roadside stand if we can. Let the Chickens free range, hope to eventually have at least 50 in 3 years or less. For now though, I would be happy if my garden grows enough for us to enjoy SOMETHING this summer! If that happens, I will feel like I can accomplish the life I so desperately want! I know it won't be easy, nothing worthwhile in life ever is. Raising kids is like working in a garden, you feed them, coddle them, love them, tend to them, and pray they turn out ok. Sometimes you fail, but it's not for the lack of trying. I look around me and see things to dispose of that won't work in our new home/life. I dream of a home that is rustic, no carpeting, just wood floors with rugs, bricks in front of the wood stove, I can't wait to bake my first loaf of bread in a wood stove. Hmm, maybe I should make a loaf today to start getting the hang of making bread from scratch. I have never had good results, but it takes practice and lots of patience. (and for me self cotrol not to eat the bread!). Off to work!

3 months, 26 days, 13 hours and counting

Hurray, spring has finally arrived! And, along with that the countdown to our big day is getting shorter. Before I know it, I will be Mrs. Finnegan! Well, Mrs. De Rosa-Finnegan. I am working at the Soup Kitchen, and having a blast with my OCD in full swing, scrubbing stoves etc. . . hands hurt like heck, but as Scott said, "whatcha gonna do when we are homesteading and you get a cut, cry?" Nope, bandage it up and get back to work! I have been day dreaming about the house I want to build, but first and foremost in my mind is working to save the money so we can actually do this to begin with. I want Chickens, and a garden to start out with, so that means a lot of working on the land and building a chicken house (Scott will do that) and getting our house started and hopefully be in it before a chill starts to set in, even if it's just a shell with the kitchen and a compost toilet! After all, I will have my Pioneer Princess to cook and heat water with and with winter months there may be less to do on the homestead, not sure about the weather in Texas. In order to prepare myself, I plan on getting my tiny garden started this weekend, digging in the dirt will be fun! I just hope I have some good dirt and I don't have to go BUY compost to turn into the soil to make this work. Ok, so back to the countdown! The date went back to the original date so I am in the process of getting out my Save the Dates, and my guest list is growing too. I think I found a place to have the reception, Alfred's Victorian Restaurant in Middletown. I was originally planning on doing everything myself, but realized that although I have done that in the past, this is not something I want to tackle when I don't know where I can have the reception. So, I work on planning the decorations, ordering linnens, ordered the yummy cake we will have, got a special Willow Tree figurine for our table, and saving for the few things I want to decorate with. Oh, and saving for the actual reception too, I am so excited, I already planned the menu. Picked out some silk flowers, planning the decorations is lots of fun since I get to be creative, and working on loosing the weight to fit into my gown (THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF ALL!). Was surprised when Scott said he wasn't going to wear a shirt with "groom" printed on it! He wants a dress shirt and a new pr of jeans! HURRAY!! almosts "Court Clothes" as he likes to call them, LOL. Well, off to get more STD's in the mail and revamp my guest list, I love to see it growing! Now if I could only figure out the one thing that is a nightmare for me, the MUSIC!