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In My Head

Spring Equinox Check in

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

The Spring Equinox is Monday, not that the weather has gotten that memo. It’s been rather cold here, something like 5 degrees (F) in the mornings. I try not to think about it in hopes that spring is in fact on its way.

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March 17, 2017 March 16, 2017 Filed Under: In My Head

Things I do when I am Home Alone

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

This is kind of an indulgent post, all about me. It’s my birthday weekend, so I think I’m totally allowed. It is my blog after all, right?

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February 27, 2017 February 27, 2017 Filed Under: In My Head

This Year’s One Little Word

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Each year I pick a word that will set the tone for the year ahead. In 2015 it was BUILD, in 2016 it was BRAVE. Learn more about One Little Word.

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I think Brave was a really good word for last year. We took a lot of chances and tried a lot of new things. We learned, we grew and we gained. All good stuff over here….

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December 30, 2016 December 5, 2017 Filed Under: In My Head

I’m Coming Out about My Dreams

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Ok guys I have something to admit to you.

I don’t know if you’re necessarily going to be surprised by this but I feel like I need to get this thing off my chest before it eats me alive. I’ve been apprehensive about admitting this in a permanent place on the internet, you know because my parents and bosses can see all of this, but the reality is that I’m being silly. Dreams are meant to be thrown to into the wind and chased down.

So that’s what we are doing here; tossing it out there to see what the world has to offer us.

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I want to be a farmer. Not just a farmer, a homesteader, better yet a permaculture homesteader.

I know you’re shocked. All my time spent outside, home cooking, and natural living discussions haven’t tipped you off or anything.

There’s a little catch, however; it’s that we have neither the land, money nor knowledge to do this.

But, but, but you can’t hold down my dreams!

It sounds pretty anticlimactic, right? I have this big awesome dream and no way to make it happen. So now what you ask?

I’m still working on this part.

Aren’t we all?

I’m just happy to have a life goal again. There were a few years after college where I was just working, just getting a paycheck with no real idea of what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

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Slowly this idea of living off the land started to creep into my mind. I’ve always had a garden and grew up in the country but what I really wanted to do was go a step further and create a homestead where there are goats, chickens, maybe a pond with some fish and honey bees. It all sounds so right for me. I want to be outside everyday, even in the blistering cold and I want to grow stuff.

Luckily Chuck is pretty supportive of all this, though he’s not too sure about all the animals, he just wants the land to hunt on, and he really does enjoy the garden. We can figure out our happy medium when we get there, since we are no where near there yet.

So how does one attain such a lofty goal? Well, you work toward it slowly.

We are working to pay down the mortgage on our house, because equity will help us get the land. Learning more about gardening, raising animals and butchering them. Working on small projects that will help us get there. Reading all the books, watching all the videos and practicing, a lot.

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It might take us years to get there, hell we may never get there, but we are going to try.

Right now we have a good house, on a little lover a half acre in the burbs. We may not be able to keep all the animals but we can start with the garden. We can start to build this place up into a pretty awesome foodtopia. It’s already on its way after all.

I’ve been devouring permaculture books lately and am starting to get a really good idea of what I want to do with this little patch of earth that we have. I started drawing up some plans for what I’m hoping the future of our house will look like. I’m not sure how long we will be here but I’m hoping to make the best of our situation right now and look forward to the future.

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We have a lot to combat in this space, lack of sunlight in much of the yard, very bad soil, lots of wildlife and a tiny budget, but I have faith that we can make it work here.

I’m really excited to try.

August 22, 2016 December 5, 2017 Filed Under: In My Head

20 Laidback & Outdoorsy Date Night Ideas

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

20 Laidback & Outdoorsy Date Night Ideas

It’s no surprise that we like the outdoors in this house, so we try to work in some fun time outside every chance we get, including our dates. This is a list of some pretty awesome date ideas to help you get out and enjoy the sun with your loved one.

  1. Sunset stroll through town – ice cream is an obvious must.
  2. Go to the farmers market – shopping, sampling, chatting, all wonderful things.DSC04836
  3. Tour a local farm – Many local farms will gladly give you a tour or you can probably find a pick your own farm and bring home some berries!
  4. Go on a picnic – a blanket, some bubbly and a little take out sounds like a great idea. FYI the last picnic we went on was this one.
  5. Bike ride – Working out together can get those endorphin’s all going which is always a good thing.
  6. Hit up a park – strolling through the flowers can be relaxing and people watching is usually a good time also.IMAG0254
  7. Have cocktail hour on the patio – get a little extra fancy with the drinks and order some food.
  8. Hit the drive in – movies, snacks, and some even let you bring puppies! It’s the perfect date!
  9. Go tubing in a river – This might come in handy on this particular date.
  10. Take a class together – maybe you can learn to weld and he can learn to cook. Either way learning together always helps to build relationships
  11. Go skinny dipping – a little danger and excitement does a lot for a couple, if thats what your into.
  12. Have a game night – we play cards when we camp fairly often, but nothing says we can’t pull them out on the deck also.
  13. Go for a drive – maybe a little less environmentally friendly, but a drive along the coast or through the mountains is always a nice drive. I might suggest a motorcycle if you have one, but that’s just personal preference speaking.
  14. Stargaze – see how many constellations you can count, now that’s romantic.
  15. Go to a fun park – whether its batting cages, go karts, mini golf or roller coasters just go do something a little different because why not?IMG_5970
  16. Cook out & make smores – if you don’t have a back yard for a camp fire hit up your local park and enjoy an afternoon of hot dogs and marshmallows.
  17. Go boating – whether you rent a canoe, kayak or speed boat getting out on the water can be super romantic.IMG_5842
  18. Try hiking – again with that work out thing, but really hiking can be more like a slightly intense stroll with a really great view at the end.
  19. Go to an outdoor concert or festival – good music can heal.
  20. Go to a baseball game – it doesn’t have to be the big leagues, lots of towns have their own small time teams.

July 22, 2016 July 20, 2016 Filed Under: In My Head

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Hi, I'm Jessica. I'm an herbalist living in the great northeast with my husband Chuck, our two little boys, our dog Brody and a flock of chickens. I'm all about real, good food and good times with awesome people. I spend a lot of time outside, in my garden, and concocting potions and helping people feel their best. I also like tea, reading, and about a million other hobbies. I'm so happy your here on this adventure with me.

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