Jumping Back In: Big News!

Puppies.

Homeschool.

YouTube.

Cookbooks.

After a whopping six months of silence, where does one start?  Moving back to our home after it grew (and after being gypsies for almost a year), took more energy out of me than I thought it would.  I think when we all let down from survival mode, the settling in had a bit of a falling-apart affect on our bodies and emotions after muscling through for so long.  As soon as life felt more put into order, school began.  Homeschool.  Homeschool done well, with four students and a toddler took every bit of energy out of me for the first seven weeks.  The choice to return home felt good and right, and I don't regret it for a second, but I am happy to finally be in a routine and have more headspace for other areas of life.  I'm excited about sharing more about this pocket of life in another entry, coming very soon.

Also?  There's this puppy.  Heidi joined our family only a couple of weeks ago.  Heidi is big, and will only get so much bigger.  We all love her dearly.  Desiring to raise this very trainable puppy properly, she has become a homeschool project for our ten and twelve-year-olds.  They will be taking her to obedience school soon, and now spend their reading hour each day immersed in one of four books they agreed to consume if we were to bring Heidi home.  They are learning so much and in turn, present their knew knowledge to the rest of us.  I can't recommend these books enough, if ever you find yourselves in the market for a puppy -- particularly a Livestock Protection Dog (LPD):

• The Art of Raising A Puppy: A must-have if getting any kind of puppy is in your future (or even thinking about getting one), written by the legendary Monks of New Skeet.
• How To Be Your Dog's Best Friend: The Classic Training Manual for Dog Owners: Also written be the aforementioned monks, this book carries you through training beyond the puppy days.
• Livestock Protection Dogs: Selection, Care, and Training: If you have some land and livestock (or are dreaming about the day that you do), this is a very inspirationally helpful read.
• Sheep Dogs of Anatolia: This isn't a training manual, but more of a history on our specific, rare breed that dates back thousands of years to ancient Anatolia (now Turkey).  This book gave new perspective to the world outside our western culture (it was written by a Turk and only recently translated to english) and was brought to life through interacting with our puppy and realizing her heritage.

Then there's this YouTube situation.  Why start a channel?  Well, I explain it in this video.  It's exciting.  It feels awkward.  But it also feels right.

A cook book?  Why not?  It's in the very beginning planning phase, and I have a title and release-date dream churning in my head, but need to materialize it a bit more before sharing any further for now.

So much love to you all, and I can't wait to hear from you and re-establish connection.  I'm incredibly thankful for this creative outlet and have felt a massive void while it was neglected over this past half-year.  There's lots of excitement stirring in me for things to come, and I very much look forward to sharing them with you.  Blessings!