fromnevertoforever

I am a 38 year old Pagan feral housewife and homeschooling mother. I am a hobby farmer, amateur homesteader, a creative baker, book lover, sometimes crafter, and rabbit rescue volunteer. I like thrift stores and consignment sales, but I don't like shopping in general. I am a homebody. I can't keep an area organized to save my life.

My family is involved in karate, horseback riding, music lessons, and soccer. We're Disney and Lego addicts, with many trips to the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park under our belts. We don't have the opportunity to travel much but when we do, it's almost always as a family. We have themed days at home, like breakfast for dinner and pajamas all day, movie nights with popcorn and M&Ms, and everyone gets involved in the home improvement department.

Favorite Colors: yellow, hot pink, and black

Zodiac: Cancer

Food and Drinks: allergic to seafood/shellfish, love coffee (K-cups) and tea (any flavor, factory sealed), my sweet tooth would make Willy Wonka proud

Holiday: Halloween and Dia de los Muertos (my anniversary)

Fandoms: Harry Potter (Ravenclaw!), Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney, Sanrio, Star Wars, Lisa Frank, Studio Ghibli

Postcards: Any, if it's a swap for a written postcard, please send it without an envelope

Collections: bookmarks, antique books, seashells, crystals, coffee mugs, vintage photographs, tarot/oracle cards

I mentioned being a hobby farmer so let's introduce you to everyone since it always comes up eventually.

Outside:

4 Goats: Totes Magotes, Cray Adorbs, Hottie McHotterson, and Amazeballs (they are all wethered brothers from the same father)

1 Pig: Pearly Mae Hamm

60+ Chickens: Yes, they're named but that's a lot to list here!

10+ Ducks: Same situation as the chickens

5 Geese: Maverick, Spruce, Stoah, Abigail, and Waldo

1 Livestock Guardian Dog: Carson Dug

Inside:

2 Parakeets: Maize and Blue

1 Bearded Dragon: Haku 1 betta: Andouille 1 snail: Andretti

All of these animals are pets, we do not do any butchering on our farm. We only eat our chicken and duck eggs. We rehabbed a possum at the beginning of the year and it was a fantastic experience, he has been released and is doing fine as far as we can tell. My children and I also volunteer at a rabbit rescue. I started in 2011 and have continued through the years and brought my children along since they were babies. They are the rescue's youngest volunteers that have some of the most important work getting the rabbits accustomed to children so they have a better chance at being adopted into big loving homes.

I prefer physical books to e-readers and audiobooks. I love the smell of a new book! I collect antique books, any books pre-1920s. I love all genres, but especially historical fiction. I also enjoy fantasy, not necessarily sci-fi, but books like The Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter, even The Magic Treehouse series. Lately I don't have much time for reading on my own but while teaching my kids, I have been introduced to some wonderful new children's literature and revisited some old classics. Given the choice, I'll take reading the book over watching the movie every time.

I love photography. I love to collect old photographs. I love that an entire story can be captured in a single image or a single image can lead to infinite questions. I do not like heavily edited images however. I think Mother Nature gives us just the colors she's intended, there is no need to mess with them. I have also started dabbling in watercolor painting and air dry pottery. I treated myself to a Cricut and I'm having fun learning the inside and outs.

I am Pagan, and yes, I am a practicing witch. If I must be labeled, I'd fall under eclectic and hearth witchery. I enjoy various divination methods, crystals, herbs, books and workbooks. I love handmade items and items pertaining to a particular culture or tradition (cultural appreciation, not appropriation). I celebrate the secular aspects of the holidays like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Leprechaun's Day, etc. I will never send anything relating to my beliefs when it is not called for. However, I do not mind receiving things like religious holiday cards,I find most religious art to be quite beautiful. If it's something that helps you celebrate without causing harm, I say go for it! The only time a problem will ever arise is if someone tries to preach to me and tell me I'm doing things wrong. I was raised Catholic and I find beauty in some aspects of it still, but I have found the path that makes me truly happy and fulfilled and guides me to be a better person. Please do not send anything pertaining to religion to my children.

We are in our third year of homeschooling and it is something I said I would never do, but here we are! I have a second and sixth grader and our relationships with each other are the best they have ever been. I am relishing my time at home now. I never imagined life could be like this and it feels surreal. We go through a charter school and they provide many opportunities for field trips and various lessons. I am learning right alongside my children, it's such a fun and eye-opening experience. They are so unexpectedly full of knowledge. I didn't think I could be a teacher until my eyes were opened to the fact that I was their very first teacher: I taught them to walk, to talk, to hold a fork, to not touch a hot stove, turns out I can teach the properties of matter and spelling too. And for those things I'm not all that confident in (MATH), I can sit right beside them and we can watch videos and work through the problems together. I'm learning what I could never comprehend in my own days at private and public schools. And if we're just having an off day, we can close the books and say "we'll try again tomorrow." The absolute best part is that I actually LIKE being around my kids. When the school day was over, they were tired, they were cranky, they were antagonizing each other and me; their teachers got the best of them and I got the rest of them. I loved them, but dang, all of our attitudes just sucked and bed time couldn't come soon enough. These days, we do have some rough times because we're humans, but for the most part, we're far more loving towards one another. As far as siblings go, I'm seeing them build the foundation of a lifelong love for each other. They play together and talk together. They talk to me! My kids actually TALK to me, they share fears and triumphs, they ask questions that blow my mind (thank goodness for the internet). I'm a pretty solitary person by nature, so not having any alone time can sometimes take its toll, but I wouldn't trade these short years for anything. I leave this adventure up to them. As long as they want to stay at home and learn, I am here for it. If they want to go to school, they'll be reenrolled. So far they say they love having me as their teacher (aww) and that they want to go all the way with this. Time will tell. If you have any homeschool tips, I'd LOVE to hear them. If you're sending a postcard or some kind of mail that might be interesting to the whole family, please write a little note about it (especially if it is somewhere you've travelled to.) Thank you!