Have you ever had to organize an enormous or extravagant event or, perhaps, plan to move your family across the country? Have you ever written list after list, then made lists of those lists? Or lay in bed at 2 am, obsessing over said lists and willing your brain to shut off? Yeah, neither have I. But if I were that type of person, my current to-do list might look something like this.

1. Decide what type of land we want/need, then research what’s available in the area where we’d like to live.
2. Buy land.

3. Research permaculture, best types of milk and beef cows for small farms, how to milk said cows and what to then do with all the milk, wraparound porches, alternative energy sources, hardneck vs. softneck garlic, how to incubate and candle chicken eggs, geothermal greenhouses, basic animal husbandry, canning recipes and methods, living off the grid, maple trees and sugaring, prefab barn companies, goat playgrounds, growing and drying lavender, local farmers’ markets, Varroa mites, foulbrood, wax moths and Colony Collapse Disorder, best types of apple, cherry, pear (and maybe peach?) trees for central Illinois and how to plant them, cheesemaking, double envelope homes, deep mulch gardening, pasturing hogs, root cellar plans, companion planting, removing spurs from roosters, treehouse plans, small farm and veterans’ grants, architectural salvage stores, cottage laws, soap making, alternate income sources and “off-season” jobs, DIY chicken pluckers, wild food foraging, Flow vs Langstroth vs Warre hives, “natural” pest and weed prevention using essential oils and herbs, classes through the Extension service, grape vines, berry bushes and strawberries, fencing techniques, homemade kombucha, apple cider vinegar and fermented foods, organic certification, aquaponics, growing mushrooms, composting, raw milk laws, heirloom fruits and veggies, curing meat, growing cereal grains, etc., etc., etc……

4. Sit back, drink some more coffee and wonder what we’re getting ourselves into, because, naturally, we must do ALL the things.
5. Make another list of realistic goals.
6. Realize what a blessing this journey already is and embrace it entirely.

Maybe I just need a spreadsheet for my lists….