A Little Background
The Heirloom Lady, as a concept in general, has always been intended to grow and change over time. In 2017, a time that currently seems like decades ago, Justin and I launched The Heirloom Lady project as a way for us to accomplish two very heartfelt goals:
Teach others through sharing our knowledge and experiences
Build a family
The Learning
We want to teach people, specifically the younger generations, how to embrace what we call “whole-living,” which translates to “doing things the way our grandparents used to.” We’ve started from scratch and have been sharpening our pre-existing skills and carefully resurrecting generational knowledge shared primarily by family and friends. Inspired by our grandparents and others, we’re here to share stories and ideas about our experiences in:
gardening
food preservation and general preparedness
creating natural products for the home and body
hunting, fishing, and outdoorsy stuff
increasing practices in sustainability and conservation
And my personal favorite, eating good food
Yeah, there are recipes involved.
The Legacy
In the beginning, we had money on the mind. HARD. We wanted so badly to raise funds for our cause - adopting a baby, a baby that will be our first and maybe only child. You see, The Heirloom Lady was not only intended as a way to help people learn, but as a means to an end.
As hard as it is for me to reflect, we were trying to force a square peg into a round hole, but at a rate faster than you can say, “Amen.” We had too much on our plates. We both had full-time jobs, a business, a fixer-upper home that still required a lot of fixer-uppering, a decent amount of debt, and a loose grasp on properly dealing with our health (spiritual, physical, mental, marital, etc.).
The Lesson
About two years into our Heirloom Lady project, we took a step back and re-evaluated. We were both burned out by the late nights and self-inflicted pressure to have a family. While Justin had unexpectedly lost his job, I was switching employers altogether. Weekends were spent on either unexpected home projects or working on our side business. We needed a new mindset. We needed to let go and let God, as they say.
We started working to earn our Oola back. We began focusing on the house, paying off debt, better managing our business/professional/life balance, and centering our health, faith, and our marriage. We decided to stick with social media as our main outlet for The Heirloom Lady; it’s always been the fastest and is a fun way to share our passions with folks.
And sure, at first, it felt like a defeat, like we had let down our future parent-selves. After a while, and a lot of soul searching, we both started enjoying the lifestyle that started it all.
The Long Haul
We had big plans for 2020. But, as you can surely relate, it became apparent that 2020 had even bigger plans for us. Holy bananas, huh? What a time. What a challenge. What an unexpected opportunity for us to get back to our roots.
We cannot wait to adopt a baby someday. That is still the plan.
For now, we are putting to practice the very values we are here to share. It is no longer about the push to make money. Instead, we are at the very core of The Heirloom Lady project. We have been gardening, fixing the house, honing our skills in all things outdoors, canning and preserving food, learning and dreaming, and surviving. That is the point.
To learn, to grow, and to thrive.
Stick around, because we will not be stopping. We will keep pushing forward, sharing everything along the way. We have so many exciting things planned for you, friend.
Welcome to the reboot. We are so glad you are here.
