The chickens, they finally did it!! Three out of five are laying. FINALLY, one of my cute little egg holders can be filled. I will never buy another egg again. It is a great feeling! It was one of our goals. 

I read something recently that I completely agree with. The gist was this: Don’t stop setting goals for yourself. This is not just a new year’s deal… this is a living life deal. Challenge yourself and set new goals all the time — every day — every week — every month. Don’t stop your momentum. 

I loved this!

Here I’m going to point out a few goals I had that somehow came true. Some of it happened through hard work and dedication and other things happened through less dramatic means… they just sort of happened. It’s been a great 2013. I was glad to see 2012 go. I might be a little nostalgic when 2013 ends.

Here they are!

Our Chickens Are Laying … and They Are Adorable 

In case you missed the story of the first egg, here you go. In case you want to see yet another cute picture of them, here you go:

babies!

toddlers!

teenagers!

all grown up!

The EGG:

The Main goal here is to have a homestead one day… to be entirely self-sufficient on said homestead. Eventually I’d like to raise goats, other poultry and a pig. They will all have names. They will all be like family. That’ll be the protein side of surviving on our own. The vegetable side will look something like this (yet another goal we’ve reached…):

We already eat mostly out of the garden. The last few times I went to the store I got chicken food and wine. heh, heh

Again– it’s a great feeling!

I got a job.

I spent the end of summer and beginning of fall working on a farm, which was an amazing experience. Some of you know I used to be an assistant chocolatier. Well, I applied for a job and here’s something new that happened: I felt entirely qualified. I was confident during the interview. I knew I’d do a good job, if they hired me.

I’ll be working with chocolate again!! The big plus side here is that I’m not a huge chocolate eater. I just love the production of it!! It’s a little specialty chocolate and coffee shop, styled like a French cafe, and I cannot wait to start. I was worried about things lining up, and then here pops up this great opportunity to do something I love yet again. I’m so blessed.

I am almost done with my most recent project. 

It’s a book called How We Lost Our Minds. It’s all I think about. When I listen to songs, I’m listening to them as the characters in this book ,wondering how so and so would relate. I’ve been caught up in this story. I’m living it. I love it.

I cannot wait to share it with the world. I have about 20,000 words left. Send me good writing vibes! :) Thanks!

My husband’s band went on tour in the Pacific Northwest. 

They played in Seattle, Portland, Eugene and they’re ending the tour in San Francisco. They opened each time for a band called The Handsome Family. I couldn’t be more proud. The band Wildewood consists of drums and harmonica: Greg (husband), guitar and vocals: Meredith (my twin!!!), and guitar, vocals and pedal steel: Alex. They’re my favorite people in the world. This is so exciting!!

I am going to run a 10k on T-day.

I stopped running for a while. I was afraid, as usual, to pick it back up again. I accomplished a huge goal, running five miles, yesterday, and I won’t give up until the big day. A friend is helping to motivate me along the way. The rush I feel after running is unreal.

Greg and I RE-DID our wedding photos. 

The photos from the actual day made me cry, I disliked them so much. They’re all still sitting in a stack in my house somewhere… untouched for almost four years. I never made an album, never put up a wedding photo on the wall. HOWEVER!! This is all about to change. I decided to hell with the old… I’ll make something good. With our good friend and photographer, Kate Burn, we did a wedding photo shoot right here at home. Chickens were involved. The old wedding dress was involved. My mom’s old dress she made when she was 16 was also involved. You guys, I am so excited. I can’t wait to post some of these photographs when they’re ready :)

As always, thanks for taking time to check out Hey Lou Writes!!

Do you have anything exciting going on?

Any goals you’re currently trying to reach, or you’ve recently reached??

Love, Lou