In February 2004 we got married, had baby #2, bought a second vehicle and started house hunting. Within that first year, after a depressing tramp through the real estate market, we were proud home owners. Within a month of settling on our new home, Jason lost his job and took a leap into the wonderful world of self-employment as a tile setter. We were adamant about one of us being home with the kids, but we quickly learned how rough it was to live this life with one small income. We pushed on…keeping in mind the things that meant the most to us.
We turned to credit cards just to put food on the table and gas in the cars, which started to weigh heavily on us. In 2006 we welcomed baby #3 into our family about the same time as the economy started to struggle. There was very little work available and nowhere was really hiring, especially in the construction field.
Weeks would go by where Jason would have no work. We were broke. We struggled to eat. It was hard times. We sunk, but then something happened…we began to float. We noticed all of the lovely things that surrounded us each and every day despite not having any money to leave the house. We started to appreciate the family time spent together rather than stress over whether one of us should be at work or not. We started seriously simplifying our life and shedding things that we did not need. We started bartering for things we needed and helping out others in exchange for their help for things we needed. And the biggie…we stopped paying our bills. Again we were forced to see the things that mattered most to us…which turned out to mean that we were going to eat before any bill got paid.
Sadly, as the market deteriorated…so did our neighborhood. In 2009, we welcomed baby #4. With our growing family and our desire to raise our family in a peaceful environment, we knew that we could not live in our house for much longer. It was not conductive to how we wanted to live and raise our children. We felt cramped and suffocated…stuck in a house that couldn’t sell.
BUT, I didn’t give up hope. We kept gardening. I got out my journal and wrote and researched all that we hoped for. I read books on homesteading and raising animals on small pieces of land. I asked every power that be to guide us where we needed to go. I started thinking about grants and different opportunities that are out there for first time farmers and farmer wanna-bees. I got out my paints and treasure mapped out my visions. Then, like magic…things started to unfold for us.
In the fall of 2011, after putting our “seed thought” into action by actively searching for new opportunities, I got an email about an amazing caretaking/farming opportunity right in our home state of Pennsylvania. It seemed un real at first, so I tried not to get too excited over it. In January of 2012 we came up to check the place out and see what we thought….it was love at first sight. We went home and immediately listed our home for short sale. We decided to not let ANYTHING keep us from pursuing our dreams, and this felt so right.
In March of 2012 we moved. We up and left that house. Since it could not sell and we were facing foreclosure threats for the third time since we bought it, we decided to walk away from it…as in hand the keys back to the mortgage company and call it a day. As you can tell, I don’t let obstacles get in my way. They are there to learn from, but not to confine us.
What we did took a lot of faith in the complete unknown. We knew that we didn’t want to live confined as we were…so we jumped…and took a huge leap of faith. We trusted that we would be guided to where we needed to be. And, now we are here….living happily…living our dream. Together as a family.
Welcome to Hullabaloo Homestead.
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