It is always a magical experience to wake up in the South to snow.  I remember praying for snow as a child and now I see the excitement in my children's faces at the mention of the word.  The crazy thing about Georgia is that the meteorologists can never figure out when and how much it will snow here.

Tuesday, I had been watching my weather app like a hawk.  I would love to be a weather man.  I love tracking storms, rain, and snow.  I turned on the local news while I was preparing chicken in the instant pot and saw a strange shift in the prediction.  Where they had been predicting a light dusting was now showing up to three inches possible.  It's a shift like that that makes me feel like God is listening to my heart's desires.  I still had dinner to cook and a meeting to attend but my mind was on the incoming snow.

Here in Georgia, we almost always cancel school when it snows.  We just don't have the salt trucks and snow plows needed to clear the roads.  Our crazy temps often make keeping them free from ice nearly impossible.  We ended up getting two days off.

We love these precious days off with a warm fire in the fire place, soggy mittens hanging on the fire screen, and hot meals made from scratch on the stove.  I hope that my children love these special memories sprinkled with snow as much as I do.  We got little more than basic farm chores done but the giggles and cuddles make it so sweet.

All week, we've been planning the upcoming year.  Many people view farmers as living completely in moment.  Many times this is true.  You can't watch the miracle of birth, bunnies, goats, or chickens, and not be immersed in the moment.  You can't stand at the oven watching a pressure canner dial and not be focused on the here and now.

But there are other times that we have to look into the future and try to figure out what will do.  We begin planning three months, six months, a year or two in advance.  Things like pole barns don't just happen. 

When you want baby goats in spring, you have to plan the fall ahead.  When you want to process meat birds in March, you have to order in January.  We are constantly seeking the plans God has for us and some of the plans are big.  Really big.  And they take lots of planning.

We will share more of those plans as the year progresses but our newest venture will be to help you plan your meat needs for the year and help you find sustainable, ethical meat.  If you haven't seen the Facebook Live on it, I encourage you to check it out.

As a family, we have other goals for this year.  More or less is the theme for 2018 and we hope you'll join us on this journey.

• Create more, consume less.
• Give more, take less,
• Pray more, judge less.
• Move more, eat less.
• Read more, watch less.
• More experiences, less stuff.

With more love and less distraction this new year,
Brooke and Vasek