In a previous post I stated how I was wrestling with this post, Confession Part 3, and honestly I still am.  “Why is this?” I have asked myself that more than once. I have something to say, some folks want know about so why not just say it because we want to share it. The answer is quite frankly when writing it down it somehow sounds a little out of the norm, that might be generous, it sounds nuts. As if Confessions Parts 1 and 2 didn’t, right?  Which by the why, if you are reading this and haven’t read the first two parts please stop here, go to those previous two post and read them. It really will fill in the blanks. Writing part 3 is based on the assumption that if you are here, you have read the first two parts.

Part 2 left off basically with this “This is a time for our family to be in prayer about this right now. We feel like we are at a moment in our lives that we have to go for it or let it go.  We are going to be spending some time deciding what some real options are to the obvious obstacles. Also if we move forward with this we will be committing to a period of time to do this, so we will be in prayer for that as well.”  This of course refers to the elements of becoming totally immersed into a living history project that will require commitment, dedication and a large amount of time.  It is being realistic that we make our living, as well as our vlog and our blog in the world of 2018 and that we would need to create such a restraint upon that necessity to only fill those needs mentioned and beyond that our lives would emulate a century or more before today.  This really is not as crazy as it seems.  Numerous reality shows have been based on this foundation.  Just browse youtube and you will find everyday people today are doing this very thing in their lives though most do not go quite so far back as the Edwardian and Victorian times.

After my last post of this series Ron and I sought council, God’s as well as each other’s and our children’s and we felt complete confirmation that we were to take this deep seeded desire and go as far with it as possible. We committed to a start date and a time frame of how long it was to last. We took all the years of ideas we have toyed with and all the years of application (again refer back to Parts 1 and 2) and we have set things into motion. 

Since our lives somewhat resemble a different era already based on the way we have chosen to live many things will be simple such as; cooking and heating only with wood, lighting only with kerosene lamps, cooking from whole foods, not being addicted to modern entertainment.  Our year round wood source for two stoves, 3 if you include the one in the workshop, is split completely and totally by hand. The 17 ft of snow we average up here is shoveled by man power only, down our 120 ft drive and from there the 400 ft path back to our cabin. Those are just a few examples but even in this brief list there are flaws that though our lives resemble a time long gone we have allowed the modern world to even infiltrate this, such as lighting, sometimes we run our small generator to run Christmas lights, mainly for cost effectiveness as gas is far cheaper than kerosene but in the end it happens because we have been reminded how it is convenient.  Sometimes those whole foods have more of a modern twist then desired i.e. a quick can of beans instead of soaking my own, a slip into convenience processed foods such as an organic frozen pizza on a super busy night, box whole grain cereal instead of granola etc.  Sometimes we linger over one too many DVD’s, one too many youtube videos. The lumber for fire wood is initially cut down with a chain saw. When working on a video or on our business the computer may reside longer on the family table then it should, opened with it’s annoying light and hum of it’s quiet fan intruding in our life. None of these things are wrong by any stretch but none of these things are things that we desire.  We want to live a life resemblance to a different time.  We want to raise the bar we have set where we are now and reach to heights that we have only dreamed of.

So what does this mean, how do you function in today and live in the past? I believe it first begins with a “want to”, as commitment will be the driving force. Ron and I labored over what we felt the first thing we had to do was and that was not only acknowledge our limitations but figure out how to put tighter reins on them while allowing their needed use. In order for our endeavors to be successful we had to have a plan.  This is an example of what we have come up with for just one of the many issues we have to work through however it is one of the biggest issues.  We have taken a small portion of our cabin, 12 x 6, and it is now our 2018 room.  It is where our computers now live. This would be where I work on the computer for our business, where I edit videos, etc. These things are no longer done outside of this room  The only 2 items that we have not restricted to this area is our camera and video camera. It is amazing how much less time I “need” to spend on the computer from this one simple thing we did. This is of course is just one example of bringing the two times together. Outside of that modern day room we are continuing to create, I use continuing because as stated we have a large resemblance to it anyways, but where we are creating a home that would fit right into the 1800’s/early 1900’s in looks, feel and function.

Of course because as stated in a previous post we are not bankrolled by some production studio or grants from some history research company, we understand that this will take some time to achieve the effect that we desire.  An example would be clothing.  The answer is yes we desire to get to the point that we are dressing in that era of clothing and  it would be hard for most modern day women versus the modern day man but since I have worn skirts that reach the floor for years now, the only difference for me will be style of skirt (as well as undergarments of course) and honestly it is something I have wanted to do for years and something my amazing husband has wanted me to do for years.  But because of the cost of such items (and being a seamstress is not one of my talents) a new wardrobe for us is not the top priority it will take a while before we get there. More importantly then reproduction clothing is something to wash our clothing in now as we currently use the local laundry mat.  So not period and so expensive.  Ron is in the process of making a dasher washer fashioned after what would have been found in homes from the time period we are focused on. This of course is a twofold win, it pushes us in the direction we want to go time era wise and it saves us a bundle at the laundry mat.

Food will be a main focus, because I already cook whole foods (mostly) and on a wood cookstove this will be partially of a breeze but we will be researching and focusing on period appropriate foods and thinking of  not only looking at the time period foods but what would be available in our current area at that time as transportation of goods was much different back a century ago. Speaking of transportation we will cover that in another post.

One thing we have considered doing with food is looking at the typical diet of the era with typical intake of such heavily used items of today like sugar etc.  There are all types of things we can do to make this challenging and real.  

We currently do school a number of different ways, books, hands on, and some video school ( you may have seen our video on youtube a couple month ago about this). We want to get to the point that we are using books from our focused time period and the correct style of teaching. It just so happens we have all those books for the appropriate ages, this of course should come as no surprise if you know what book hounds we are and that we have homeschooled since 1997.  But for the mean time we are not quite ready to give up some of our current learning tools so video school, when done, is of course done in our 2018 room.

We actually started this whole process 15 days ago.  Because we understand that there are many kinks we will have to work out we are allowing for these issues to happen and are committed to work through them when they do.  We have a vision, a goal and despite dealing with many obvious conflicting issues between the two times we are committed to work through them and find an answer that compliments our goal. We have committed to two full years of this. Two years may sound like a long time but it truly is not.

Working is non optional and because of modern technology we have been afforded to follow our off grid dreams, now that sounds odd doesn’t it?  But it doesn’t mean that modern technology has to be anything more then a tool to work as well as a method to share our journey. There are many things that need to be worked out and answered, some we have the answers for and will share those later. Others will surprise us when they pop up and the answer will have to be sought.

Many would wond researching and focusing on period appropriate foods and thinking of  not only looking at the time period foods but what would be available in our current area at that time as transportation of goods was much different back a century ago. Speaking of transportation we will cover that in another post.

One thing we have considered doing with food is looking at the typical diet of the era with typical intake of such heavily used items of today like sugar etc.  There are all types of things we can do to make this challenging and real.  

We currently do school a number of different ways, books, hands on, and some video school ( you may have seen our video on youtube a couple month ago about this). We want to get to the point that we are using books from our focused time period and the correct style of teaching. It just so happens we have all those books for the appropriate ages, this of course should come as no surprise if you know what book hounds we are and that we have homeschooled since 1997.  But for the mean time we are not quite ready to give up some of our current learning tools so video school, when done, is of course done in our 2018 room.

We actually started this whole process 15 days ago.  Because we understand that there are many kinks we will have to work out we are allowing for these issues to happen and are committed to work through them when they do.  We have a vision, a goal and despite dealing with many obvious conflicting issues between the two times we are committed to work through them and find an answer that compliments our goal. We have committed to two full years of this. Two years may sound like a long time but it truly is not.

Working is non optional and because of modern technology we have been afforded to follow our off grid dreams, now that sounds odd doesn’t it?  But it doesn’t mean that modern technology has to be anything more then a tool to work as well as a method to share our journey. There are many things that need to be worked out and answered, some we have the answers for and will share those later. Others will surprise us when they pop up and the answer will have to be sought.

Many would wonder why would we want to create such challenges that might even appear as hardships, at least hardships that our society can consider hardships today though truly they are not!  The truth is that many of our modern ways of life though in appearance seem to be easier than other periods actually do us more harm than good.  What is it about man kind that he wants the easiest of every thing? Why must every new thing be termed as an advancement.  It seems by now that we would learn that ease does not always equate fulfillment nor does it necessarily equate good health, physical or just as important if not more, good mental health.  Having an abundance of things be it whatever or having everything easy steals away from ones character, it muddies the waters of contentment and creates a flood of contemptment in many. It is simply the difference of one letter but can change your entire life for better or worse.

Can this whole thing of which I speak be an authentic experience from 2018 to the 1800’s? Can you depend on technology and reject it at the same time? Can an experience/experiment such as this be beneficial to one and to one’s family? Can it be beneficial to others? Can you live in the past without compromising your goals while you work in the present? Does becoming intimate with the technologies of the past, the cultures of the past, the mindset of a past period make history come alive? Is it the details that really matter? Those are all questions I intend to answer, just not tonight.

The questions of tonight that I am s