Goodbye and good ridance 2014

The truth of the matter is that 2014 has been hard. There have been bright spots, but they have been so overshadowed by the hardness that sometimes it is hard to see them, to feel them, to remember them. 2013 seems so long ago. 2015 can't get here fast enough. And all we can do is hope that somehow 2015 will be better than 2014 has been to us.

From the start, looking forward to 2015 tells us things will be different than usual. Baby boy will be arriving when I should be focusing on getting my garden starts started, he will be a newborn as things outside are getting going. Orchard pruning, garden preparing, fence fixing, all will be things that won't happen this year. We haven't decided what to do with the gardens this year. After all, what with the flooding/debris flows last summer, they aren't in the best of shape anyway, and who knows what this summer will bring in terms of rain events, although we are pretty convinced the debris flows will not happen to that extent again, at least for many years and even then it would be another post-fire-type event. Then, although the mister will be on day shift for the first 6 months, he will be on night shift for the last 6 months, so even if we got a garden in between birth and new-babyness, harvest would be seriously challenging for just me with 3 little kids.

The laying hens should have been replaced last summer (they haven't laid since my birthday in late September), and so definitely should be replaced this summer, but again, I can't decide if it is worth the extra effort this year, or if we should just relegate ourselves to buying eggs for the next 2 years and put chicks off until spring/summer of 2016 when things hopefully will be more settled and under control.

Similarly, with the irrigation still being completely broken, pigs are in question. How do we keep them happy and wallowing and watered with no irrigation. Sure we have the well water from the house, but I'm not at all sure how good our well actually is in terms of using that much extra water, on top of the extra we will use just to keep the raspberries and strawberries and fruit trees going.

The good news is that 2015 will be my last year in any portion of pregnancy, yup, three will be plenty for us. So that is one thing that I am extremely excited about, and I'm looking forward to getting back in shape for the last time post-pregnancy, etc.

A lot of things I'm looking forward to will be simply in the planning stages in 2015, for 2016 and 2017: camping, hiking & canoeing trips with the family, getting nearer and nearer to our house being fully paid off, doing more adventures with older kids and less financial obligations each month, planning a big trip to celebrate being mortgage-free. All of these things are things we are dearly looking forward to and dreaming about, but they won't come to pass in 2015, although the steps we make throughout the year in 2015 will be what allows us to get there in 2016 and 2017.

However, at least 2014 is over with, and hopefully things will be upwards and onwards and easier from here! Happy New Year to you and yours, and I hope your 2015 is filled with good things :)