“A year from now you will wish you had started today.” -Karen Lamb
Happy New Year, y’all! Gosh, it feels like it’s been forever since we last connected. I hope you and yours had a very Merry Christmas and that your 2018 is off to a wonderful start. I know mine is!
I wanted to start out the year expressing to you how very grateful I am for the incredible love and support you’ve shown me over the year. 2017 was an incredible year for me, I learned so much about myself! I learned that I can prepare for a CAT 4 hurricane in less than 2 hours, I will have to clean the floors at least once a day in the farmhouse in order to stay sane for the rest of my life, I have an undeniable love for Pygmy goats (that just keeps getting stronger), you can order chickens through the mail and the looks on people’s faces when you pick them up at the post office are priceless. I also learned that baking from scratch is my jam, makeup is a thing of the past for this Cali Girl, I can put up shiplap (with a little help from a friend), and I can grow sweet potatoes like nobody’s business. The biggest thing I learned last year though is that having a farm, although incredibly hard work, is one of the most rewarding experiences and the best life decision we ever made for our family.
With all the knowledge and experience I gained over the last year living on the farm, I’m more excited than ever to see what 2018 has in store for me. I am finally feeling confident in my own skin with this new lifestyle and here on our farm. This year I plan to continue to build off the experience I’ve gained. I plan to build a porch swing bed for our front porch with Mr. A, plant a complete garden (on time this time), paint the barn, cook and bake lots and of course, add a few more animals to the farm too. Which animals you ask!? I don’t know yet, they tend to find us, so I am excited to see what’s in store (I’m sure no one will be surprised if a 5th or 6th goat is added to our tribe).
Already this year, we survived our first time (ever!) being snowed-in. It was a blast! I cannot express how incredible it is took out your front door and off your back porch to see a beautiful sea of white snow covering everything. It was a very rare sight for this Cali Girl, but I loved it! It’s unbelievable how quiet it is when the snow falls too! l Here are a few out-takes from the farm.Finally, I want to thank so many of you who sent me such kind and encouraging emails once I announced I was leaving Instagram last month. One of my new year resolutions was to go into 2018 social media free. Along with all the things I learned last year that I listed above, I also learned something else… There are lots of people that can handle the rigorous lifestyle of social media, but I am not one of them. Last year, I was blessed with incredible success on Instagram and the blog. I am so very grateful for all the love I received. Never in a million years did I expect for my Instagram account to grow to over 57,000 followers in just one year. It was an incredibly humbling experience! However, we moved to NC to follow a dream, make a lifestyle change, slow down, and experience life on a farm with the kids before they’re off to college in a few years. After about 4-6 months of being on Instagram, that lifestyle change had been severely disrupted by trying to make a successful run at increasing my blog exposure through Instagram. Mr. A and the kids were incredibly understanding, encouraging, and patient last year while I tried to figure out how I wanted to share our amazing adventures and new lifestyle. In the end, although my quick success on Instagram was flattering, I soon discovered that the amount of time the app required on a daily basis was not something I was interested in continuing long term; nor was changing my decor out for every season just to follow trends. Instagram was supposed to be a conduit to the blog. I started the blog to share about our life on the farm, including home decor, but limited to only that. While being on Instagram, I was finding less and less time to actually enjoy our truly incredible farm life and share it on the blog. Ironic, isn’t it?! Therefore, I chose to give up Instagram so that I could fully concentrate on the life I love so much, those I share it with, and when time allows, I look forward to sharing it on the blog.
I hope like you, others are encouraged, inspired, and entertained by our story and want to follow along with our day to day antics. The blog will be a little different this year. Although I will still share decor, I will also be sharing more recipes and day to day life on the farm. I hope you will continue to join me. Here’s to a great new year! XO
You know I admire you, friend! And you’ll never ever regret stepping back! xo
Thank you so much, Kendra. I appreciate your love and encouragement, always. I hope your year is off to a wonderful start, may it be filled with lots of love and happiness. Happy 2018!
Hi Meeghan,
I miss seeing you on Instagram ????
Lots of Love Michelle The Bargain Farmhouse x
Hi Michelle! I miss seeing you on IG too! I hope you are well and that your 2018 is off to a wonderful start. I look forward to sharing my year with you. Thank you for saying hello and sending your love. I’m sending you lots of love right back!
Meeghan, so glad to hear the news…. I had missed your announcement (since I was spending less time on Insta) and thought of you so often after I couldn’t find your account. I totally support your endeavors and admire you for recognizing where you want your focus to be. Best wishes as you continue to follow your heart. God bless!!
Thank you for thinking of me, Sharon! I miss seeing your beautiful photos on IG. I’m happy to hear you are well. I appreciate you visiting me here and I am always very appreciative of your love and support. I hope your year is off to a great start. May 2018 be filled with lots of love, happiness, and many blessings for you.
ZONKEY
I’m working on it. ;o)
Meeghan you are amazing! Cheers to an awesome and blessed 2018!!!
Thank you so much, Kelly! I think you’re pretty amazing too! It’s wonderful to hear from you. I hope your 2018 is off to a great start. I look forward to keeping in touch with you through the blogs (mine and your’s!) this year. Cheers, friend!
Meeghan! So glad to see your name pop up again. Can’t wait to see where your journey takes you this year!!!!
Thank you, Libbie! Your continued love and support means so much to me. I hope you are well and that 2018 is off to a wonderful start for you, friend. I miss you on IG, but I am excited to share here with you. Life on the farm is very good. I look forward to keeping in touch!
I was sad to see you leave Instagram …I related to your story in the fact that we moved from California to Texas last July and were able to get a property with a little bit of land and I want animals …goats and donkeys to be exact lol. I understand your decision to leave, social media can get crazy…everyone has an opinion lol. Anyway …if you ever want to share pictures or videos of your animals that would be great …just a thought lol
Looking forward to at least reading your blog.
Hi Jennie! Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement. Leaving IG was not an easy decision, but it’s definitely been the best one for me. I’m enjoying farm life more than ever now. I love to hear our similarities in life, goats and donkeys…How cute! I appreciate your comment and support. I look forward to sharing more photos of the farm and animals with you through the blog. Thank you for visiting and following me on this journey. Happy new year!
Love that you are still writing here sweet Meeghan! Miss your beautiful posts on IG, but have so much respect for you in putting your family first…a decision you will NEVER regret!! Your farm looks beautiful and I’m so glad you guys enjoyed the snow! I look forward to more posts, when life allows!
Thank you so much, Bethany. I miss seeing your beautiful posts too! Thank you for your continued kind words, love, and encouragement. I hope your new year is off to a wonderful start. May it be a year filled with lots of love, happiness and many blessings. I am so happy we can still following along with one another through the blogs. Wishing you all the very best in 2018, my friend.
Well said, Daughter-of-mine! XXOO
Thank you!XXOO
That’s SO wonderful! I’m so very happy for you, Meeghan! I’ll be looking forward to following along on your blog.
Have a blessed day my sweet friend!!
Shelley
peace_in_the_valley
Thank you for your kind words and support, Shelley. It was not an easy decision to walk away from IG, but I’m the happiest I’ve been in quite some time. Farm life is wonderful! I look forward to sharing lots with you on the blog and I’m excited to have you join me here.
Hi Meeghan! I love and respect your decision to walk away from social media, so you can focus on home and family. Although my IG account isn’t as large as yours, it’s been taking up far too much of my precious time. I’ve been feeling a pull to scale back, or walk away completely and your words are an inspiration. You have such beautiful style and I look forward to checking in with you here on your blog. – Annella @farmhousefix
Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement, Annella. Walking away from IG, although difficult, was the best decision for me. I have no regrets. My life feels very complete and full today. It’s amazing how much more present I am at home, on the farm, with my family, and in my life. I hope you find a balance that makes you happy as well. I look forward to sharing more with you this year on the farm and I look forward to you checking in on me here on the blog. Thank you for thinking of me and leaving your sweet comment.
Hi Meeghan!
I have missed you on IG, but I totally understand why you left!! Excited to follow along on the blog with you!! ????
Sharon
Hi Sharon! I have missed you too. I still do some checking around on y’all on IG when I have free time and I am happy to see you are well. I look forward to sharing more with you this year on the blog and I am excited you will be following along with me. Thank you for stopping by, checking in, and saying, “Hello!”
Meeghan!! I’m so glad I googled you this morning! I missed your IG announcement and have been thinking about you… I’m so glad you’re well and I hope this is your most fruitful year yet! You are missed on IG but I completely hear you with the amount of time thing… I’ve had to take numerous steps back for weeks or even a month ???? at a time! Big hugs to you — will check your blog regularly now. ????????
???? Kristen
(farmcharmhouse turned heartandhavenblog)
Congratulations on the blog, Kristen! Thank you for thinking of me, stopping by, and saying, “Hello!” I appreciate your kind words and well wishes. I wish you the very best this year too and I look forward to keeping in touch through our blogs, friend.
This is great. I like it. Thanks for sharing this post.
Thank you!
God put you on my heart tonight, Meeghan and I did a quick check on IG and saw you weren’t posting. So glad I popped over here. You are doing what is best for your family and that is the priority…and you’ll never regret it. ❤️