Little Bits of Love

Hello again, friends! I’m so happy you’re here for this month’s Little Bits of Love post. I have so much to share! I’m not quite sure how we’re less than 3 weeks away from Christmas already… I kind of broke out in a cold sweat just saying that. #truth

So the big triumph for our family this month was finishing up harvest. Yay! In case you’re new to Love Grows Wild (by the way… welcome!), I’ll bring you up to speed real quick. My husband grew up on a farm and has wanted to be involved ever since he was a little boy. Over the years Jeremy has worked a variety of different agriculture jobs (hay baling, owned a livestock feed mill, worked at a fertilizer company), but he’s never had an opportunity to come home to the family farm and follow his one true passion in life… until this year. This year he worked side-by-side with his uncles, and we grew our first crop of corn and soybeans. I can’t even begin to tell you the joy it brings my heart to see my husband starting this adventure he’s always dreamed of, and although we still have a LONG way to go before we are where we want to be, we’re on the right path. We may not have much in our bank account right now, but we have big dreams and a hell of a lot of ambition and drive. I know we can do this.

If I don’t say it enough, I will now… Thank you so much for reading my blog. For being my friend, even if it is just virtually. For your sweet comments and encouragement. You may not realize it, but every time you stop by to see what my newest project is or grab that recipe you’ve been wanting to try, you’re helping me support my family. You’re helping us get by while Jeremy transitions into farming and I try to grow my business. In the spirit of Thanksgiving last month, I just wanted to say thank you for helping us make our dreams come true. I couldn’t do any of this without you guys.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, how was your holiday? Where did you guys go? What did you eat? Or maybe more appropriate, what DIDN’T you eat? We always head down to Southern Illinois where my little sister lives and crash her apartment for a few days. I’ve been cramming a ton of work in the past few weeks trying to meet deadlines and get things ready for the holidays, and the lack of sleep and stress finally got to me. I got SO sick. Not puke sick, just sore throat, total exhaustion, coughing my head off, doping myself up with NyQuil kind of sick. Not fun, my friends. But I powered through my short work week like a champ and packed the family in the car for a 5 hour road trip down South. Despite feeling totally miserable, I loved getting to spend some time with my sister.

In true redneck style, we started Thanksgiving with a little gun shooting. No, this is definitely not one of MY hobbies… can you really see me slinging a gun around? No, me either. Jeremy, however, is very fond of exercising his second amendment rights, and it’s important to him that I know how to use a gun as well for protection. I’ve had things happen in the past year that hit way too close to home, and even though I don’t enjoy the idea of shooting a gun, I’m sure as hell glad I know how to protect myself. It’s a crazy world out there.

But on a MUCH lighter note, we had an awesome Thanksgiving meal with my aunt’s amazing pecan pie and my uncle’s grilled turkey, and I ate enough food to last me about 3 days. But of course, it didn’t. The next day we planned a “Crazy Dinner” inspired by my pals, Six Sisters’ Stuff, that turned out to be the weirdest, most indulgent meal I’ve eaten probably since childhood. We all went to the grocery store together with $5 each to spend on whatever food we wanted. Each person could only spend the $5, and we had to share our food with the whole family as part of the crazy dinner. We made sure not to tell each other what we were going to buy, so it was a total surprise when we brought everything home. Are you ready for this craziness?

Our meal consisted of: macaroni and cheese, tatertots, ramen noodles, sausage patties, Reese’s Puffs, Cheetos, pigs in a blanket, Pop-Tarts, donuts, and mint chocolate chip ice cream. Total and utter junk food heaven. It’s definitely the most ridiculously unhealthy meal I’ve ever eaten, but in the spirit of starting a fun new family tradition (once a year only!), I enjoyed every last bite. The boys couldn’t believe I was actually going to let them eat all this garbage… it was pretty funny!

I had every intention of waking my mom and sister up at 3 a.m. to go Black Friday shopping, but when that alarm went off in the middle of the night, my NyQuil-induced coma was not about to let that happen. But once 9 a.m. rolled around, I got up, splashed some water on my face, drank a cup of hot tea, and loaded up with cough drops and eucalyptus oil. <