Hey friends! Let’s take a walk down memory lane. The lane being 2019 from start to finish. Below are some of my favorite pictures from the year, although not in any particular order. We’ll discuss each season and then do a wrap up at the end.

January-March: It seemed like this was the slowest part of the year when I first started thinking about 2019, but it wasn’t! I started the coffee and pie chat. Which led to me baking a lot. I attended a paint and sip class on my own. I would never have done that before. I had fun! But I also realized once and for all that painting is just not my thing. I contemplated the future of Chicken Librarian. I spent time with the animals and with the Mister. Anna and I enjoyed lots of walks through the snow. I made things from scratch. I also started One Moment.

April-June: I created one of the best pies ever-butterscotch with gingersnap and fennel curry crust, if I do say so myself. I love that pie. It is so good. I didn’t create it per se, but I tweaked it off the original recipe. I officially launched Chicken Librarian!! I also visited some farms local to me. Sigh…farms. Farm animals. Baby farm animals. It’s all so good. I peddled my wares at my first event. Taught my first classes. I knitted. a lot. I purchased my favorite raised garden bed–the hay wagon! And of course I made pies. lots of pies.

July-September: the summer was busy, busy, busy. We celebrated 18 years of marriage! We welcomed little Cornwall Stalker to the family. We took one trip this year-to the Hamptons. I taught a lot of classes. I started selling at a local farm market. I mowed. A lot. I made my biggest knitted item to date. My parents came to visit for the first time in about 5 years. We started decorating the house more. We hosted the 3rd annual river clean up and started finding our tribe. It’s because of that clean up and the organizer of the clean up that we now know most of the people we see on a regular basis. I got my second tattoo and am considering getting more! I entered my pie into the local fair and won second place in my category. I’ll do that again, for sure. I had time to can-not as much as last year, but I made some time.

October-December: I would have to say this was my best season of the year. I shot my first deer. We processed all the meat, skin, bones (into stock), etc. I started an online book group. I made a lot from scratch and really came into my own with this whole self-sufficiency thing. I wrapped up my 2019 classes and events. The Mister helped me with the business by being my bookkeeper and just helping out in general. It gave me some room to breath and focus. And for that I’m grateful. We had a beautiful snow storm. Actually the only one for the 2019-2020 winter season thus far. I’ve spent most of the winter on the homestead. We have been redecorating and putting our ‘stamp’ on the farmhouse and the homestead. I launched my favorite product-the class kit! That will be my main focus in 2020-the kits. I’ll add a couple more to the mix but when I set up at an event it will pretty much be me talking about my classes and selling the kits! I’m really excited.

I gotta say, 2019 has to be one of my favorite years thus far. I mean, it was hard, but it was good. I grew a lot as a person. I really, truly did. I faced some obstacles that seemed daunting at the time but once I was past them, I looked back and realized I could do it. I fought my normal negative attitude (yes, believe-you-me, I am a natural pessimist) and I think I’ve truly started the path to being more positive. I started my own business and grew that beyond what I could have imagined! It was hard, hard work. I wrote several classes from beginning to end, did all the photography for it, and started booking those classes. I look forward to adding more classes in 2020 and booking classes both on-campus (here at the homestead) and off-campus (out and about off the homestead). My passion, I finally figured out, lies in teaching. I’ll keep working towards that throughout 2020 and see where it leads.

I also learned that I can do anything that I set my mind to. I know this may seem silly but it finally clicked after I shot the deer in December. Before that it was something I talked about. Homesteading was something I talked about, but after the deer, it’s something I did. It opened my eyes to the possibilities of things that I could do and wanted to do. I want to be a homesteader. I want a homestead. And I have one. Is it my forever homestead? Probably not, but I’m homesteading now more than I ever have in the past.

I let go of a lot of things, a lot of the negative things that have affected me in the past. I was holding on to a lot of hurt and anger over situations in the past. I had a really horrible experience a couple years ago. It was devastating. I couldn’t see the way out or around it, but I’ve decided to leave it in the past. I’m here now. I’m living what I would consider my best life and those experiences lead me to where I am now. I’ve let the negative go. I’ve let those people and their negativity go. It’s not something I’m afraid of anymore, nor am I ashamed anymore.

Along those same lines, I’ve seen people come and go in my life for various reasons. I believe we have these experiences and situations in our life for a reason. They teach us. They show us how to be better people. I was surprised at the people who showed up and also sad at the ones who left. I wouldn’t have ever thought that I would have such a close tribe around me. We live in the middle of nowhere and I really thought I was ‘unfriendable’. What I mean is I always thought people were my friend because of the Mister. He’s cool. He’s laid back. People love him (some people don’t because he’s very assertive and doesn’t take any shit). But I thought they liked me because I’m his wife. What I now think is that people like me for me. I have social anxiety so I get kinda anxious around a group of people, sometimes even people that I know. I blurt stuff out sometimes and it sounds ridiculous! But I think people are able to see past that, especially those people who experience me one-on-one and then see the anxiety in that bigger group of people. And now I’ve got a tribe. And I’m more confident in my friendships and in myself, really.

I finally got a hold on our finances. Finally. I’ve struggled for years with creating a budget that works for us. I didn’t necessarily overcome that hurdle, but something worked. We ended the year with enough money in the bank that I don’t have to work as much. I am working super part time throughout the winter and spring. I have big plans for that money in 2020 and adding to it. It feels good.

I chose the word balance for 2020 because that’s the one thing I need to work on more. Setting boundaries, saying no, and taking care of myself, all the while working towards my business goals of growth and opportunities.

the many faces and phases of Chicken Librarian throughout 2019!

I’ll leave you here friends. It was a heavy post I guess, but I had a lot to share with you. Some of it I’ve never shared or mentioned before. But you, dear readers, are part of that tribe I was talking about. I’ve met some wonderful online friends this year–either through the blog or social media or both. And I’m looking forward to seeing where 2020 (a new year AND a new decade) takes you all! Let’s make it the best year yet, yes?