Why we choose FAMILY

In our part of this westernized modern world it seems that family is chosen less & less. Consider just a hundred years ago how families would homestead together, how acres would be set aside & houses would be built so that the grand kids could run over to their grandpa & grandma’s house for afternoon tea & roam wild with cousins outdoors using their imaginations to play in fantastic worlds before dinner time. Not only do I think that for kiddos it was probably incredible to grow up with such a network of family literally next door or at least nearby, but also for the parents & all the other relatives. Having family near in proximity has seemed to be a priority (most of the time) throughout the course of history, but has progressively become less & less of one it seems.

Noah & I recently saw a house go up for sale that we love & jumped online to find out more about it. It turned out the house was not only amazing, but it also sat on 11 acres that were already zoned for 3 additional homes. Can you say homesteading dream?!! But with all that came a MUCH bigger price tag then we could ever afford, which is fine. We currently live in a small home that meets our needs perfectly, we are content in the coziness that it gives. One day we will outgrow it sadly, but at that time we can look into a bigger home on some land. Still, the idea, the daydream of living on 11 acres & building homes for our kids future families to stay close & have grand kiddos running across the land for tea time with us is a beautiful picture. Maybe one day.

With that said, we are SO blessed to live less then a mile away from my parents, my sister & her family live a mere 17ish minutes away (around the mountain) & my brother & sister-in-law live in LA, but travel up at least once a month to visit where we have giant family breakfasts complete with pancakes & rows of little girls. My parents have 5 grand girls, for now. FAMILY IS AMAZING. There is no where else in the whole world I would rather be then right here, near my family. It would be even more incredible if Noah’s parents lived here too. Our daughters are getting to grow up KNOWING their grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins, living everyday life with them. It is a dream come true. I never expected to end up settling in the county where I grew up, but here I am & I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Family is such a gift! There have been studies done that show living with family increases the levels of happiness & longevity within family units. I would wholeheartedly agree with that!

I hope you have family (near or far) that you are close with. People that you can lean on when you need to, people that can encourage you & bake you cookies. People that you can do the same thing for. We are designed for community, for fellowship with people & family is the perfect place to start for that. Begin in your home, with your spouse & little ones. Spread the love from there. If you don’t have family close by, make your friends family. It is so SO worth it. Maybe one day some of us can get back to our homesteading roots & physically live close by our loved ones & share daily tea times. But if that isn’t feasible, we can still Facetime, Skype, whatever! Lets make family a priority. If you have to start with “Friday Night Dinners” like on Gilmore Girls, go for it. But start somewhere! Investing in people IS THE BEST. It is hard, but it is the most rewarding.