Tap. Tap. Tap. Is this thing on? {Catching up on Life since 2021}

Hello? Hello? Testing...1-2-3. Ahem. Hello. My name is Lisa and it's been awhile. Three years to be more exact. And what a three years it's been! When I posted last, we were still in the throws of the national Covid crisis which caused all sorts of crazy.

But here we are now in 2024. I'd like to say that time has been good to my family...but that would be a lie. We've had some dumpster fires since I last posted in 2021. So I just thought I'd take a time to resurrect my blog with a *brief* life update on what's happened here on the farm in the last three years. 

2021

2021 did not end the best for our family. Covid did hit the farm and while we weren't affected, my in-laws were. In September of 2021, both my mother-in-law and father-in-law contracted the disease. Very severe cases. And on September 12, 2021, we woke up to the news that my father-in-law had passed away in his sleep. Unbeknownst to us, he had the pneumonia version and it killed him. As you can imagine this threw the farm into instant chaos--he also didn't leave a will and we've been dealing with the ramifications that came with that ever since. 

But that week wasn't done with us yet. While he died Sunday, my mother-in-law was rushed to the hospital just 4 days later from her own Covid effects. She ended up almost dying with pulmonary embolisms. It was a very traumatic week for us, but thankfully she survived and with a lot of TLC was able to recover. But we still had to deal with the death of my husband's father and all the things that come with a landowner not leaving a will regarding the property.

0 stars. Do not recommend.

From this point on, we were now the ones who had to watch over my mother-in-law and make changes to her bills, ect. It was a major change to be sure, but she was healthy (once she was recovered) and needed minimal assistance from us. 

Homeschool co-op changed that year too, as we got a sudden increase in attendance due to all the Covid school shenanigans and needed a new home. We were blessed with the offer of using a local building designed for youth and we jumped on the offer. We ended up with 35 registered students fall of 2021 and it was wonderful.

The rest of 2021 was just a mix of recovery from my FIL's death and dealing with the fallout. One VERY positive thing that the end of 2021 did bring was my husband's job change. Two weeks before his dad died, he made the decision to go out on his own for work and left the job he'd been at for 15 years. It was divine providence in the timing considering what happened just two weeks later. And thankfully, the move paid off and he was full of work the rest of 2021 in his new venture.

2022 and 2023

2022 was a mix bag of tricks, but was (For the most part) a decent year in light of all the grossness of 2021. We ended the co-op that year with a solid 15 students who came every single week and many new friendships were solidified. Summer was full of hay harvest--but that was different this year as well without the presence of my father-in-law and required some changes. But we managed and the year passed relatively calm and we hit the first anniversary of my father-in-laws death with a family dinner and reflection. 

We started our 2022-2023 homeschool co-op year with 45 registered students as we had some new families. I was entering my 12th year of homeschooling as I had a junior and a 7th grader. I was starting to look ahead to what the last two years of my oldest son's schooling was going to be and what his post-school plans were looking like. 

We had a mild winter that year and my husband had an EXCELLENT first year of being self-employed. I also loved having him home every single night for the first time in 15 years. It was confirmation of the best decision he made that year. 

2023 was similar to 2022. It was fairly low-key for us. Things on the farm started evening out. We got into our new routine of taking on full-time care of the farm mixed with the new self-employment schedule. 2023 was a pretty good year for us. Some things evened out with the farm's ownership too in our favor so we breathed a lot easier. 

2023 was one of my best years ever health wise. While I've always tended to be a healthy person, I made a MAJOR lifestyle change in June of 2023 to begin a habit of walking a mile every day. That soon turned to jogging a mile every day. And I decided to set a goal of walking/jogging a mile every single day for a year. I wasn't in the habit of finishing things I started--so I admit I wasn't really confident in this decision. But as the weeks went on over the summer I saw major health changes that showed me how truly beneficial that decision was. But would i still be doing it in June 2024? Only time would tell.

We also nailed one of our bucket list items with a much anticipated camping trip to Mammoth Cave National Park! We toured two smaller caves and the big Mammoth Cave with my parents and it was absolutely breathtaking.

5 stars. HIGHLY recommend!

When we finished our school year in 2023, our co-op only had about 8 students who came regularly and I debated whether or not I wanted to continue for the following year. But God told me to keep going, and we had several new families move into the area and sign up for the 2023-2024 year. 

And fall of 2023, we began my son's senior year. My 13th year of homeschooling and his last one. He'd already decided he wanted to enter the workforce, so we didn't have anything for college to deal with. I did get some fabulous senior photos done though and I'm so glad I did. The school year was hectic--that's for sure. And we finished the first semester with our eyes on the prize of graduation just a few more months away. We were sure we could make it. Just a few more months to go--surely we can get there without any issues.

Enter 2024...

To be continued...