My name is Allison Hayes and I would love to welcome you to my homesteading journey. I am excited for you to see the good, the bad, the messy, and the blessings. You will see me fail, and you will see me do things that I pray you get inspired and want to try too.
It all started in the middle of the freezer aisle at food city. I’m standing there staring at the frozen package of pancakes that I buy my daughters every week for breakfast. Okay, there’s 18 pancakes in a package, they’ll eat 2 each, each morning. 18 divided by two, times 7, carry the one… (math is absolutely not my strong suit), but I’m smart enough to know that $3.50 for 1 package of pancakes that won’t even last me one week is ridiculous. Especially when I just put an $8.00 frozen pizza in my buggy…
So I shake myself out of my math nightmare , put the package of pancakes and box of pizza back into the freezer with pride and think to myself (with much attitude and frustration)… I’m going to make this stuff myself.
Boom. My “DIY” Journey has begun.
Until… i started making everything in the house from scratch. Okay, I exaggerated.. not everything.. but that is why this is a journey. It’s just the beginning.
For as long as I can remember, I have had a dream that one day my family and I would own our own homestead. I’m talking gardens everywhere, goats (because can you see me milking a goat?), chickens…land that we can be live off of. 5 years later and my family of four is still having that same dream in a 1,000 square foot apartment.
Now, don’t get me wrong, we thank God every single day for this roof over our head. I also know God put that dream in my head. In His time.
Then I started thinking… say I was blessed with that land tomorrow… next month… 6 months from now… I wouldn’t know what to do?! Making bread? Nope, let alone taking care of chickens…
So I opened my computer, got a public library card, and started to do research.
I wish I could remember where I read this quote that changed my life: “It’s not about the amount of acres you have. It’s about the mindset you have”. Slowly I have started to change my way of thinking and the way I do things. I have learned to be patient with myself and that it is okay to make mistakes.
While you join me on this journey to changing your mindset and “doing it yourself”, don’t be discouraged and don’t make the change all at once. Enjoy the reward you will have when you begin creating things from scratch.
Thank you for being here. I pray you are inspired and find joy in this blog.
Hayes Homestead 