The House

I've been a little absent on the blog lately. At first it was intentional and then completely by accident. You see...I bought a house. I'm really quite proud of it actually. It's an adorable little white house that's the perfect size and shape for me. 

If you're a home owner you know the buying process is exceptionally stressful and time consuming, so you will forgive me for my absence. 

This major step in life is usually paired with other life events like marriage, or moving across the country for "big" jobs. I have accomplished neither but this was the needed next step in my life.

What this means now is that you'll get to look forward to lots of decorating, DIY, and emotionally overwhelmed homeowner posts.

I'm very excited! I hope you enjoy some of the very first pictures of the inside. Consider these the before photos.

I Had a Job Epiphany

A while back I read this wonderful blog post by Nina at the-littlenomad.blogspot.co.uk. It's about how our expectations about love change over time. Which probably leads you to your first question, "What does this have to do with a job?"

Simple!

On her updated list about what she wants in a man, one key point stuck out to me.

"Must have a good job he enjoys (non-negotiable)"

It got me to wondering... Why is this so important? Surely a man with any job at all would be a plus? It took me a while but I finally understood what she meant, or at least what I'm meant to take from it.

Just having a job isn't good enough. I've lived long enough to know that just having a job can get you anywhere from just plain miserable, to waking up everyday so excited just to see what you can accomplish.

Why does it matter?

It's the attitude. I'm  notorious for taking my "bad days" out on people around me. I come home in a terrible mood and almost anything sets me off. (Literally. I snapped on my brother once for trying to ask me something while the radio was on.) It's not fair to the people around me when I have a job I don't love or enjoy. It's also not fair when even now that I have a job I love my bad days always seem to destroy my attitude.

I guess what I'm saying is that it's only fair to be the type of person that I myself want in others. I've resolved myself to love my job, at all times. Even when I hate it. I'm going to do my best not to bring the bad days home with me.

We Went to the Zoo!

In case you don't already know, I have a little brother. My brother is ten years younger than I am. About a year ago I realized that by the time I was his age I had many more opportunities to do things than he's had.

So I decided I was going to do my best to help him do all things I had done.

#1 Take Sammy to the Zoo 

Here's a video of our adventure. I hope you enjoy! Many more to come.

Growing Up on a Farm: Untold Stories

If you grew up on a farm then you're probably going to know what I'm talking about. 

1. You are not allowed to be afraid of thunderstorms.

Sure, thunderstorms can get pretty scary at times, but you know who else is afraid of thunder and lightning? Those 800 lb cows standing out in the open fields. They know the real terror of lightning because chances are at least one of their cousins became toasty burgers at one point.

You know what else cows have insane talent for? Finding holes in fences. It's like intense Gay-dar but fence-dar, or hole-dar.......I'll stop now.

Back to why you're not allowed to be afraid of thunderstorms. Since cows are even more afraid of lightning than things they should be afraid of, (like slaughterhouses) and they are spectacular at finding holes in fences, you now have to spend all stormy nights fixing fences!!! Aren't you lucky?

2. Poison Ivy becomes an "I spy..." game.

Do you know what poison ivy looks like? I do! I know what it looks like all year around. I know where it's most likely to grow. I even know it's closest relatives....poison oak you sneaky bugger. Did you know that even if you aren't allergic to poison ivy now you can at any time without warning grow an allergy to it? Yeah...that one took a little longer to learn.

3. Everything is manual transmission!

Can you drive a stick shift? Me either....at least not well. I can drive four-wheelers, tractors, lawn mowers, and farm trucks (all manual transmission), but I CAN NOT for the life of me drive a stick shift "road worthy" vehicle. Red lights are a real struggle. It's a shame really.

4. Natural life cycles are a daily thing.

Congratulations! You get to learn about reproduction, life, death, and the digestive workings of all farm animals before the age of 10. Who needs biology in school? Pssssht, not you. You already know exactly what comes out of a cow after it attempts to eat ALL the feed you've put out.

5. I'd rather grow up on a farm than anywhere else.

In all seriousness, in all the time I spent growing up on a farm I learned more valuable real world knowledge than I ever did in any city. I learned that the harder you work, the more success you'll see. I learned that I can not only take care of myself but a bunch of people/animals who need me. I also learned that my vehicles will never be completely clean. It just won't happen.