My name is Stephanie, I’m 31 years old and I have a dream….. I want to be a homemaker and homesteader. If you would have asked me that about 6 or 7 years ago I would have laughed my butt off. I was adamantly against it. I had actually fought against moving out to the country where I was absolutely positive I would wither away and die if I lived away from ”civilization”. At that time I was married to a guy who came from the country, in fact his grandfather had a dairy and his father raised beef cattle. The women in the family had gardens, kept the house, made stuff from scratch, and did canning still from time to time. But that wasn’t the life for me. I wanted to be a city girl, career girl, etc . Housewives and homemakers weren’t real jobs to me. I was a major consumer. I was happy with things like frozen dinners, canned ravioli, hamburger helper and take out…lots of take out. So was he. We were caught up with the game of “We need more stuff, better stuff, etc” We worked tons of overtime to have money to do more stuff, get more stuff. The only thing that slightly resembled homemaking and homesteading was a small garden which was mainly a strawberry patch (no need to weed that), pretty landscaping flowers and a green lawn that were sprayed constantly with chemicals…….
Flash forward to 2007. I started making my dream come true. My life had changed quite a bit inbetween. I had divorced and eventually found a life with someone else, I had moved south to Carbondale, IL. I had re-evaluated my life and got back to my basic self. Growing up I loved nature, I liked growing things, I liked baking and I even occasionally made crafts so why had I quit doing those things? I had figured that somewhere along the way I had ceased to place any value on those things. I decided that was going to change. I started with a garden where we were living at the time. I started learning how to cook from scratch from the man who is now my husband, who is a phenomenal cook. I started taking pride in what I did. I had always been one for the environment but was ignorant about eco friendly lifestyles so I read a lot of articles and books and started implementing different practices into my life. I caught the “green” and “frugal” bugs and lit my world on fire.
In May of 2008 we bought a house and got married the following June. Now we live in a little town village called De Soto which is a few miles north of Carbondalefor those that know the area. There is no Walmart here, no fastfood and two small gas stations one that seems to be on the verge of closing. I live here with my husband, a roommate/renter, three cats, one dog with frequent visits from my step kids. We are what people call “urban homesteaders”. I live in the middle of town and our lot is about a third of an acre. I have a huge garden and use it to supplement as much of our food supply as I can. I preserve what I can, learning how to dehydrate, freeze and can in the process. I’m learning to crochet and taking up sewing again. I take time to enjoy people, not things. I try to make our home a wonderful place to come to.
Before you think I’m superwoman or a piece of pure fiction let me just say I am not perfect. I am horrible on things like time management. I get lazy and I get frustrated. My house gets messy and I still love take out. But I want to do better and that’s what it’s all about…well that and the hokey pokey.
I still work outside the home and unless I win the lottery I think I always will. I am a product information specialist for a vitamin company and I work a minimum of 40 hours a week. Actually right now I’m the only one working outside the home, my husband was laid off from his job in December. It has been stressful and at times awkward. I have been toying around with the idea of setting up a stand this summer at the local farmers market to sell excess produce and herbs that I grow along with small homemade crafts that I like to make like bath salts, salt scrubs and candles. I believe my role as a homemaker is even more crucial now than it has ever been. My skills are what help us make the best out of our current situation. I feel that if your home base is well covered you can handle anything else your life throws at you.
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