It has been a seriously long time since I've written anything here, and a lot has occurred since then! I need to seriously revisit this blog, and do a lot of updating. Lets see; my life is full and busy, as always (I wouldn't have it any other way!) I'm just finishing up LPN school, with my goal still being to become a homebirth midwife eventually (lots of loans and higher education later,) and I've met the man who is my male counterpart (seriously Anders, could we be more alike?,) and I'm planning a big move out to Beanblossom Indiana, to my sweethearts' farm.
I also have a few doula clients due before I leave. I'm sitting on pins and needles, praying nobody goes into labor during my graduation ceremony or during my last few hours in clinical at nursing school! Somehow, it seems, everything works out. But most of the time, it seems like some type of miracle!
And what will I do in Beanblossom Indiana? My boyfriend's farm is currently off the grid, meaning there is no electricity, no running water, no plumbing, no modern conveniences. My nursing school classmates where teasing me about becoming "Amish," which is not too far from the truth! We are embarking on a grand experiment, to see just how "green" we can live. I hate the term "green" by the way, I'm only using it because it is such a widely used term that people kind of understand. Maybe a better term to use would be how low impact we can live, or how low carbon we can get away with? I honestly don't like any of those terms, because all of them are now being used by large businesses to sell more stuff, which is not helping our environment, but anyway, I digress.
Anders and I will be living with several other families on his 36 acre farm, and trying to raise our own food (meat, eggs, milk, fruits and veggies,) and also have extra to take to market. We will be building our own house, which frankly, scares the dickens out of me (I've never built anything,) but I'm also excited to make it from materials right on the farm, maybe make it like a hobbit house, by digging into a hillside, or perhaps out of cob, or a straw bale structure? We aren't sure yet, I feel like we need to do a bit more research, and really figure out what will work best in Indiana weather. But the possibilities are endless, for the house, and our lives.
In the meantime, Anders and I will probably be purchasing a school bus to live in, so we have a dry place until our permanent house is finished. We will rig up some type of solar shower, and a composting toilet, a greenhouse, shacks to house animals, but I know all of this will take time, and it may be years before we are living really comfortably.
Besides helping with numerous farm projects, I will need to get at least a part-time job as nurse. I have a LOT of federal loans to pay back, from Birthingway College of Midwifery, and now, also, from Marion S Whelan School of Practical Nursing, and besides that, we won't be living completely bill-free. I will have my phone bill, car insurance, gas for my car, any medical expenses for my cats and myself, food (until the farm is fully operational, which may take years, some of our food will be purchased,) and of course, all the other random expenses which are too numerous to list here. As time goes on, we hope to become more the more self-sufficient, but I am realistic and I know it will take years and years to be truly "self-sufficient." Well, we will never be 100% self-sufficient, but even coming close will take a long time, I'm sure. (Unless one of us wins a lottery or something.)
Anyway, lots of exciting things to look forward to! I'm also looking forward to going on in school, attending more births, having babies of my own, and getting married! I will never be bored, that is the one thing I'm certain of!
Well, I've got to go meet with a doula client!!!
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