A New Year

Hello All!

I have been laying low these last few weeks, and just trying to de-stress.   The last couple of months have been doozies, but I feel deep down in my heart that 2013 will be a stellar year for me, my family and my friends.

So first I am going to start off with some life updates from our farm here in the Northern Woods.

Keith officially got a paycheck on Thursday and it was our first one in over a month!  We made it, and now we can start paying off bills little by little.  Over the Christmas break, we had a lot of outpouring of support from the people in our lives, as well as a couple of anonymous sweethearts.  It was a good reminder to me that we have people in our lives that truly care, and that truly have kind hearts.  I hope there comes a day when I can pay forward the extent of what we received.  The verbal and emotional support is truly what meant the most to me.  A string of bad luck has a tendency to drag you down, and I had a lot of great people helping to pick me back up.  So with that I will say Thank You!

Christmas was nice.  We basically holed up at the farm here and had family time.  Lots of movies, books and cuddling!  The kids enjoyed their presents and I made them all their favorite tasty dishes that they are able to eat.  We did minimal traveling and I was able to get a bit more rest than usual.

Bo and Cote have been sick with a virus that has been floating around this entire Northern area, and Gage finally got it yesterday.  This house has basically been one big germ fest, but at least it has been during our Winter break. 

Other catastrophes include Gage getting bit in the head by Max on accident and needing to go to the ER, I broke the heck out of my middle toe and Bo burst my ear drums.  Best part?  It was during Winter break!  Lol.

I think that is about all for updates, so I will just continue on about the things that have been on my mind lately.

One of the major things is my hopes for 2013.  I truly think this is going to be a wonderful year for us.  I think we are going to reach a lot of amazing goals, and clamp onto some serenity.  These are some of the things I hope to accomplish this year....

1. Get Bo walking!
2. Get Cote crawling!
3. Get Gage reading!
4. Healthier eating and activity habits for our entire family.
5. Better organization in all aspects of our life.
6. Try and work it out so all three kids go into the school starting this Fall for 2 half days of public school a week, and continue with Homeschooling and Therapies.
7. Work on more socialization activities for our entire family.
8. Accomplish more farm renovation projects.
9. Landscape!!!
10. Work as a family on our relationships with each other.

I like to think a lot of these are realistic and doable goals, so I am going to just go with it.  The last thing that is a goal for me is something that is a bit more serious.  It is friendships.  At the end of 2012 I got out of what I will call a "poisonous friendship".  I will not go into detail, but this person had a tendency to let me know often all of the things she did not like about me.  Quite often my lack of religion was a point of conflict, and I was criticized for not being a Christian.  In the end, this was not the reason she and I quit being friends, but after the friendship was over, and I looked back over the things that had been said to me over the course of a few months, I realized I had let her bully me.  Because of what I dealt with, and having to come to terms with myself again, I am going to lay this all out there for you all.

I am not a Christian.  With that being said, let me also state that I am also not a Heathen.  I am a good person, and I wake up everyday and make a conscious effort to throw good energy out into the world.  I work hard to be a good citizen, friend, family member and parent.  I try to help everyone I meet and I always spread as much love and sunshine as I possibly can.  I do not in any way think religion is bad and I do not think Christianity is wrong, but it is just not my path.  I don't know what my path is right now, but please respect my decisions and my family.  We do not speak about religions much in our home, and we will not until the kids are old enough to learn about them all and can chose for themselves.  We will continue being a giving and loving family nevertheless, and I only hope that I do not have to deal with this being an issue in my friendships again.  I hope to never have to deal with anymore ridiculous friendship scenarios from now on.  I am 31 years old, and to be honest, I am just too old for this and I don't have time.  Truly, who does?

I also want to add, that I have in no way ever been offended when people mention God in their comments to me.  I am not a Christian, but I do respect Faith of every kind.  To include my family in your religious thoughts is extremely nice and I never turn a cheek to good tidings.

So lets see what sort of year we can make 2013, shall we?  I personally think it is going to be the best yet!

Love,
Rachel