Joy in the Journey

 Has grocery shopping gotten a little more stressful for you lately? It sure has for me! I shop with a budget and it is getting harder and harder to fit everything we need into that budget. The garden, greenhouse, and my daughter getting her buck surely helped this summer and fall, but I’m thinking ahead to winter and wondering how we are going to make Christmas presents and groceries work…not to mention gas! photo from iStock Earlier this year my husband off handily mentioned that since the prices of vehicles have changed so much, we could sell our Yukon XL for more than we bought it (used) 2 years ago.  This got me thinking...and guilting. The XL is my dream car. It's the vehicle I've always wanted: big enough to fit our family and gear and capable of going up in the mountains or onto the gravel bar without getting stuck. The heating/cooling seats are an extra perk, too, as well as all the other nice features...but did I really need to have my dream car? We have another vehi

 I'm having a hard time writing this one. I don't know if its because my brain feels like mush from lack of sleep or it's just a tough concept that I am still trying to grasp, but here goes... What do you think about yourself? My answers are a mix of positives and negatives. My latest crochet project is within my vision so I think about how I enjoy being creative. And I'm pretty good at the sewing and crocheting I do. That thought leads me to thinking about how messy my craft area is and how I'm terrible at keeping up with it. The window from my craft nook overlooks my garden and it reminds me that I also did not keep up with my garden as well as I would have liked this year...which reminds me that I am not very good at prioritizing things...then I remind myself that I should be thankful that I was even able to garden this year and I got more out of it than I have in the past couple years... I could think about myself all day, and honestly, I do. I need to be better

 We were really blessed yesterday.  It’s been kind of a rough hunting season here on the Oregon coast. Because of out-of-town trips and appointments and having three kids in soccer, my husband was only able to hunt for two days. I, on the other hand, put a lot of time and gas into trying to find a deer for myself and for my 13-year-old daughter. This was her second year of hunting and she was the only one of us who didn’t get a deer last year. It’s stressful enough juggling 6 kids with three in soccer and all the normal housework that needs to get done, but adding hours of hunting every day on top of that and a baby who is having trouble with his sleep schedule…I was just so exhausted by the end. And frustrated. And discouraged. I was pleading with God for a deer. I’d had a few opportunities but was not able to get the gun fired before the buck took off. It seemed like all I was doing was making mistakes and wasting time and gas. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. It was a real