Freezer Meal Friday

Freezer meal Friday is a good thing for me for a couple reasons....a day out with mama's in the winter when park day is on hold for our normal homeschool crew, meals in the freezer for when farm life gets busy and frozen pizza would be the usual.

 One great thing about the group is really the space. Abby has a HUGE kitchen with lots of light and counter top and an even bigger playroom for the kiddos to run and play and imagine and make messes and.....and Abby just lets us all in to create 36 meals and chaos.

That's right. 36 meals. 6 for each family. Whew we do a LOT of cooking! We share with each other cooking and spicing techniques. I learned last time how to best mince a garlic clove (and work out some aggression to boot). We've shared recipes and heartbreak and ideas and joy. Check out the awesome apron Sarah R. has on while she rolls the Burek.....Abby made it!

A couple years ago I was in an interesting place. I spent some time last week reading early blog posts of mine. Our journey from urban pioneer to actually working the farm, our journey from one child to two, the journey of homeschooling......not everything was easy.  Finding our place, our calling was tough. Really coming to know my own heart was harder than I ever imagined. Through the grief and heartache of losing one friend, I found several new ones that form a community, share my values, and also challenge me to be a better person, to learn, and to continue my journey well equipped.

Sarah D. and her daughter are making calzones. We had extra eggs and so we brought them! Sarah and I were pregnant with our youngest girls at the same time, almost at the hospital at the same time. She checked out as I checked in.

Quite honestly, the answers to my heartfelt prayer during that difficult time. I prayed to find a friend or two that would value me, that I could confide in, that I could dream with, that I could be inspired by, and wouldn't mock me. Everyday I find new reasons to be thankful for the blessing that these ladies are in my life. Thank you God! Pictured below is Ebersole beef. I met Shanen last year at a cloth diaper group. I still have no idea why I went, I really didn't need a support group to diaper my baby, but I met Shanen! She's cattle rancher extrodinary, and her beef is amazing!

This time is good for my girls too. They get to play and to help if they want. They get to see healthy relationships that we work hard to grow and they model their own after our examples. I don't have a picture of her on here, but new to the Freezer Meal Friday is Diana. I met Diana in birthing class when I was pregnant with Blueberry. Years before we moved to the farm!

I wanted this post to just be a picture essay, but I got a little carried away. I am just so incredibly thankful.