Year In Review

Today marks the one year anniversary of Our Neck of the Woods! I'm really excited and thought it would be fun to look back over the past year and see what all we've accomplished. I was hesitant to start this blog, but my sweet friend Heather gave me the push I needed to put myself out there and I'm so glad she did. I've never been one for attention, so it was hard for me to express myself for the whole world to see. But now I can't imagine NOT doing it. Sharing bits and pieces of rural living through photos and words has become a passion for me and I am so glad I took the plunge one year ago. Here's what we've been up to this past year.

1) Discovered how much we enjoy exploring our woods and feeling like kids again when we discover amazing bugs and critters we've never seen before.

2) Learned more about foraging and went mushroom hunting in our woods for the first time. Figured out how to identify and cook puffballs!

3) Realized that it's important to take time every once in a while to treat yo self.

4) Made the discovery of a lifetime - banana ice cream!

5) Started a new tradition of Christmas tree shopping in our own back yard.

6) Waged a war on ticks with the help of a new flock of guineas.

7) Dealt with the worst heartbreak we'd ever experienced as homesteaders and learned to let our bad experiences strengthen us.

8) Eight new little pullets were added to our flock; one of which turned out to be a rooster!

9) Started a new series on the blog called Feathered Friend Friday.

10) Lots of progress was made with Duchess. She's so playful and happy now!

11) Started a facebook page for the blog and also registered a custom domain name for the blog.

12) For the first time ever, we witnessed eggs hatching and became proud grandparents!

13) Successfully completed the logging process on our 20 acres of woods. Still working on clean up, though!

14) Perhaps my favorite change over the past year - finally upgraded to a new camera!

15) Learned so much about gardening this past year and plan to use what we've learned to help us out with next year's garden.

This past year has been a wild ride. Can't wait to see what the next year brings!

~Tammy

Six Years

Six years ago today David and I said our vows in an intimate ceremony performed by my father in my parents' back yard. There were only a handful of relatives there. I didn't wear a traditional wedding dress and there was no processional or great fanfare.

It was perfect.

I'm not one for being the center of attention, so I knew a huge church wedding wasn't what I really wanted, even though my family hoped I'd change my mind. For both David and me, none of the tradition was important. What was important to us was just being married.

We also figured, why spend all our money on the wedding when an awesome honeymoon was what we really wanted? So that's what we did!

This was the last night of our honeymoon.

We stayed at the Ana y Jose resort in Tulum, Mexico and it was magical.

We spent our days on the beach and our nights on the balcony of our ocean front suite. We ate a lot of good food and enjoyed our time together before life as we knew it changed dramatically.

We got married just a few days after we both graduated from college. Right after our honeymoon we moved to St. Louis to start our lives together in the big city.

Fast forward six years and life is totally different. Along the way we discovered our dreams together and had the courage to make them our reality. And life could not be better. I can't wait to see where our dreams take us next!

~Tammy