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A little over a year ago, my husband and I bought a five acre homestead in Palmyra, NY to live out our dreams of a simple, more sustainable and self-sufficient life. This is how it began…
My husband, Jeff, and I both spent our growing up years in Farmington, NY, just a few miles apart. There was nothing extraordinary about our childhoods. We grew up in typical American families – a convenient grocery store and a quick meal were our working mothers’ best friends – and we went to church most every week (in fact, the church nursery was where we met as preschoolers). Fast forward…
It wasn’t until after we were married and contemplating our future family that we began to think differently about our lifestyle. We began to read (a lot!) and discover a desire we didn’t know we had.
In 2007, the week before my husband went off to Basic training, we moved into an 1890′s Colonial house in the village of Palmyra. We loved it! We put a lot of work into fixing it up, but always knew that it wasn’t the dream – it was our so-called “starter house”. We figured we’d live there long enough to get settled, save up some money, and put our profit towards “the dream”. Then one day my husband had a little extra time to peruse craigslist (a note to wives - this is always dangerous!). In a few short months we said goodbye to our house in the village and moved to our five-acre homestead!
We’re now over a year into our homesteading journey and loving it! We have acquired chickens, planted a garden, and are learning the homestead life as we go. It is definitely challenging, especially trying to make this lifestyle change while my husband serves in the National Guard. With Jeff being away frequently, I’m often left to manage our toddler and homestead by myself. More on that in future posts…. But we’d never give up the life we have and thank God everyday for our blessings!
My hope is that you’ll follow along as I chronicle what we’re learning as we seek a simpler, more self-sufficient life on our homestead.
Joey Norsen is a hopeful homesteader, military wife and mom. From recipes and organic gardening, to chickens and do-it-yourself ideas, Joey will be sharing her experiences (and challenges!) as her family seeks a simple, more self-sufficient life.
