I’ve been doing some thinking this week – about this blog and life in general. When I started this blog last fall, I decided to write about my life as a conservative stay-at-home mum and my family’s journey to liberty & freedom. I like to think I’ve stayed on that track, although it has been questionable at times. When I really look at everything, liberty is my goal – I want to be liberated, as much as I can be, from an overbearing government that keeps trying to inch its way into my daily life.

This past week, I’ve been feeling caged in, my thoughts and values constantly questioned, and almost made to feel like an idiot for not toeing the line and going along with the mainstream narrative of what is allowed and acceptable. Jack Spirko, host of The Survival Podcast, has been sharing some videos on his YouTube channel that have really talked to me – at times, it’s felt like he was talking directly to me.

I made a jump last month with Little Man – we left the negativity and toxicity of the environment up Nort, and are currently back in Illinois while Squatch keeps working and is interviewing for new jobs near Madison. We enjoy Wisconsin, but up so far north is not conducive to what we really want. He would like to be closer to civilization, and I would like to be closer to my family. Madison is only about 2 hours from my family and the rest of his, which makes for an easy drive for a weekend, or even a day, visit, versus 5.5-6 hours from the northwoods.

Little Man and I drove to the lake with my parents this morning, and as we left the NW suburbs behind, I felt a great weight being lifted off my shoulders. I always have felt more relaxed the further north and west I drove coming out here. We stopped at a local farm to pick up eggs (freshly laid eggs are the best!) and had a chat with the farmer and her daughter. As we talked, I could see myself having these conversations with my friends and neighbours…on my own little farmette as I sell eggs, veg, and who knows what else.

Crossing the little river as we neared the lake, I watched the water race over the rocks. I realized that while the racing part of my life is over, no more working the 9-5 downtown Chicago, there are still the occasional rapids and rocks to tumble over as my little family makes our way down this road. And I admired the strength of the water, seeing the canyon walls this river has cut over the years, marvelling at how the water, something so simple and without any edges at all, and how it has cut its way through the earth and the rock to make its path that I see as I drive past.

The hills of northwest Illinois are like the hills we travel on this road of life: sometimes we go up, and it’s hard, it is so very hard, but sometimes we are going down, and the fleeting moments we have going downhill outweigh the hard times of going up. So, as we make our way up this current hill, I stop and look at the creeks and rivers I pass, and marvel as the water cuts its way through the earth, wishing that I had that ability, but until then, I keep climbing this hill, looking forward to reaching the top, seeing what lies ahead of me, and enjoying the ride down.