Category: homemaking

• We live in a Camper!

  Here is a short Gilbert family update as stated in the title, we are indeed living in a camper. My husband moved out here in January and the kids and I joined him in February.  Our home here in North Carolina is just about ready to go on the market.  The final destination is West Virginia where we will jump into farming.  The “in-between” is a season of camper life while we save the necessary funds to make this leap.

  A couple of things I’ve learned: I will not be touching the awning again for a long time, and camper ovens are really good at only baking the bottom of your food.  So far, we’ve been navigating this small space living transition pretty well over the last two months.

  Between having a baby in November, packing up our home to move, and downsizing to a camper, this past winter has been a bit of a blur.  The dust is starting to settle, and I’m trying to figure out some sort of normalcy and routine for this new season.  

  I’m starting to get back into making nourishing meals for my family more regularly.  I’m working on revamping this blog without worrying about what it’s “supposed” to look like and just writing and sharing.  I’m still homeschooling, and I’m still a special needs momma.  We are finding our new rhythm with this new living situation and our new little human.

  When I think about our current situation and how we got here, I’m really thankful for the growing pains and growth that came from it over the last several years.  While it sounds almost romantic and fun to do something like this, the logistics are not easy.  Most evenings are pretty chaotic between dinner, clean up, our sweet 8 year old’s bedtime routine (which is very involved and time consuming), and a very clingy baby boy who is all about mom right now.  My oldest described it best after a particularly challenging evening as “sensory overload.”  

  Still, if you come into it with the right mindset, it is really fun.  This season is going to be challenging and fun.  I can pull from all our experiences thus far to say that with confidence. 

  Challenging and fun things so far have been learning to use a dutch oven on a charcoal grill since the camper oven is best for storage.  Learning to contain my inner chaos goblin because there is absolutely no room for clutter corners.  Learning a completely different way of grocery shopping and meal planning since there is no room for keeping a stocked pantry and freezer.   

  So many families have started this journey into more simple living and opted for camper living as they build their own homestead or farm.  I hope that by sharing our experience, we can learn from people that have already done this.  This space will hopefully leave some sort of road map for people coming up behind us with our successes and mistakes all rolled in together.

  kierstinaura

  April 26, 2024

  growing in a small space, home, homemaker, homemaking, transitions, Uncategorized

• Home

  It’s been another year of neglecting this little blog space and another year where I forgot to cancel the hosting service.  Whoops!  So I guess it’s as good a time as any to start writing.  I’m not quite sure what I wanted from creating this little space.  It can be overwhelming trying to find your “niche” in the blogging world.  I realized I don’t really have ONE.  I’m a wife, a mother, a special needs parent.  I dream of raising my babies on a farm (more on that another time) and cultivating a deep rooted family culture of faith and home. These are the things I like sharing.  These are the things that underline my days.  To encompass what I want from this little writing space, I think the main theme is home.  

  I’m writing this with a huge cup of coffee, surrounded by packed boxes while my children sleep surprisingly late this morning.  We are in yet another season of transition as a family preparing for a big move buffered by a season where our family of 5 (yes, FIVE) will be living in a camper for a time.  While this probably would have been a disaster 10 years ago, I feel pretty confident we are up with the adventure now.  

  “Home is where your stuff is.” I’ve said this for years.  We moved quite a bit growing up and my husband and I have lived in 3 different states in our 12 years of marriage.  Just a mindset of surrender to all the twists and turns life has taken over the years.  However, I’ve been a homemaker most of my adult life now.  As my grandma pointed out to me several years ago, this is distinctly different from a housewife.  I can’t help but smile as I remember my grandma indignantly saying, “I am not a housewife.  I am not married to my house.  I am a homemaker.”  Quite frankly, given my grandma’s explanation, I’m not quite sure what a housewife even is.

  I’ve thought about that a lot over the years as I’ve grown into this role in my own family.  What was it about my grandparents’ home that made what my grandma said to me a core memory?  The best way I can describe it is when you walked into their house, regardless of where they lived, you could drop your shoulders.  It reverberated throughout their entire place.  You were welcome, you were loved, you were safe.  

  A home is something you intentionally cultivate.  It is a practice in being a better spouse, parent, and friend.  It is actively practicing hospitality (hello fellow introverts, why is this so hard?!). It’s a practice in learning to be vulnerable and giving people the benefit of the doubt.  

  It’s also a discipline in housework.  It requires learning to be better organized and creating a rhythm that maintains order and cleanliness.  I say all of this fully aware that these are not my strengths.  If you could see my house right now, you’d be rolling your eyes even harder than you probably are right now.  I am telling myself these things more than anyone else.  

  Home is basically a practice and discipline in everything that I’m bad at. 

  The main point is, I want first my family to feel that “drop your shoulders and inhale peace” air when they walk through these doors. Then I want that feeling for anyone else that comes into our sphere.  I want that in our little camper we will be living in, and I want that in the home we will be building.  I want to be a homemaker that makes people feel better after leaving the space I’ve cultivated.  That they’ve had just a little break from the ups and downs of life, a little shelter from the storm.  I want to cultivate a true home, and I want to write about it in a vulnerable way.

  kierstinaura

  April 23, 2024

  home, homemaker, homemaking, transitions, Uncategorized

  home, homemaker, homemaking, transitions