You might remember three or four years ago when I blogged about the our trip to the Pioneer Woman Mercantile as I was coming straight out of a Whole30 round.

My sister-in-law and I discovered the book It Starts with Food by Dallas Hartwig and Melissa Urban several years ago.  

The basic premise of this book is that we really should be fueling our bodies with clean & natural foods -- lean meats, fruits, veggies, and nuts -- nothing processed.

In the past, every Whole30 round I have done has been beneficial to me. 

I have had a huge reduction in joint pain. 
I've lost weight. 
My face has been clearer. 
I've had more energy.

With all of these benefits, it's hard to believe why anyone would ever go off of the Whole30 plan. 

However, lack-of-planning, stress-eating, and sheer convenience has often taken me off track.

Enter: COVID-19.

In September 2020, I tested positive for COVID-19. 

I spent 10 days in my bedroom in isolation, away from Mr. Farmhouse and the girls. 

Thankfully, I really didn't get very ill.  I had some congestion and a few days of feeling achy, and I tired out quickly.

Other than that, the main lingering symptom I had was digestive issues.

I would have random stomach pains, no matter what I ate.

When my taste finally returned, it was different (it's still different, to be quite honest -- almost five months later). 

Sidenote: Reeses Peanut Butter Cups taste like dirt to me now.  Actually, all peanut butter products.  It. Is. So. Sad.

I had other digestive issues following COVID that caused me to lose 13 pounds there in the first month.  I won't give details of that, but let's just say it wasn't good.  

And then these issues continued.

And continued.

And continued.

Finally, over Christmas break, I decided something had to change.

My brother, sister-in-law, my two older girls, and myself decided to embark upon another Whole30.

With my word of the year this year being "discipline", I figured a Whole30 would a great way to start practicing putting that word into action.

We started on Sunday, January 3rd.

Day 1 was awful. 

My digestive issues got worse, not better, as I detoxed from the processed food and sugar that I had eaten over Christmas break.  

Day 2 was awful.

The digestive issues continued, plus I was absolutely exhausted.

On Day 3, I woke up a new person...NO DIGESTIVE ISSUES.

Zero, Zilch, Nada.

Day 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28...

I. Feel. Amazing.

The Whole30 is an elimination program where you slowly introduce things back into your diet after the 30 days is up.

You might start with some sort of processed flour item, to see how it affects you.  Maybe something with some sort of certain sauce.  Or maybe a dairy item.  

The whole idea is that you carefully and intentionally begin to add one thing at a time back into your body and become really in-tuned with how it affects you physically, emotionally, and mentally.

I can't even imagine wanting to add anything back in.

I think COVID caused me to develop some sort of gluten or dairy sensitivity and I would rather not find out which one it is.

My Whole30 might just turn into a WholeForever.

Feeling hopeful here at the farmhouse tonight, friends,
Hannah

❤️🏡❤️

You might remember a few weeks ago when I made my "new year's" post that I had decided to focus on 2021 as 52 separate weeks.

To be honest, this concept has been ah-ma-zing.

​Every Sunday afternoon, we sit down for a family meeting, where we go over our menu for the week, make a grocery list, discuss the calendar, and review our annual and weekly goals. 

It sounds almost too simple to say that one half-hour meeting on Sunday afternoon has led to three weeks of success in 2021, but it's true!

I thought it might be helpful to run you through the process off our Sunday afternoon meetings, in case you wanted to try something similar with your family.

On December 25, 2020, I posted a video of Mr. Farmhouse and the girls getting our new puppy, Merle, as a surprise for Christmas.

For some Facebook-algorithm-related reason, this video went viral.  It continues to circulate, even now and is up to over 300,000 views.

When the video started making the rounds, I will admit, I didn't tell Mr. Farmhouse right away.  

When it finally hit 5,000 views, I decided I should let him know that over 5,000 people had now seen him in his pajamas and chore coat on Christmas morning.

As the numbers kept climbing, I kept him informed. 

10,000 views.  
15,000 views.
20,000 views.

We were driving home from Christmas dinner at my in-laws house and our 6-year-old daughter, said, "Hey -- are we gonna get merch?"

We all looked at her, confused as to what she was talking about.

She answers, "What? Like merchandise! For the people who watch our videos!"

We laughed this off and explained to her that just because one video I posted is getting a lot of views doesn't mean we're really a "viral" social media family.  

Then I posted this story on my personal Facebook page to share with friends because we did think it was adorable.

That's when we were shocked to have several friends and family members say they would buy some of Mattie's merch!

A few days later, a friend reached out with some t-shirt designs and that's when Mattie's merch dreams started to become a reality!

Thanks so much to Sherri at The Old Barn Print Shop for working with me on these t-shirt designs and the adorable mug!  You can find her on Facebook and Etsy!  Definitely check her out for your printing needs! ​

Mattie's Merch page is up and running.  This is a preorder, so we'll tally the orders here in a few weeks and get them shipped or delivered.  

Thanks for loving my girl and making her little merch heart happy.

Feeling grateful at the farmhouse,
Hannah

​♥️🏡♥️

"I'm not a runner." 
"I'd rather sit on my couch."
"Ha!  The gym?  Me?  Riiiight..."

This used to be how I talked about exercise. 

I used to joke about​ the fact that if people saw me running, they might want to run too because I was likely being chased by something scary.

And then one day, with the encouragement of my sisters-in-law, I decided I might try it.

I used the app "Couch to 5K" and I got to where I was able to jog a whole mile.  It wasn't a fast mile, but it was more than I had ever been able to jog without stopping in my entire life.

This was a huge accomplishment for me.    

Shortly after I built up this endurance, we found out we were expecting our third daughter. 

I was pretty sick for a little while and ended up giving up the running dream until after she was born.

I was shocked at how much I missed running in those last few months of pregnancy.

After I was fully-recovered from my caesarean section and able to leave her for a little while, I started jogging again.

Between 2015 and 2018, I would run for a little while, then fall off the wagon. 

Repeat. 
Repeat. 
Repeat.

My running commitment wasn't really a commitment, but more like a hobby that I would pick up every so often.

Finally, in the summer of 2019, I really got serious about it and started doing a 5K each month. 

During the "Run for the Tree Kangaroos" race at the Kansas City Zoo in September, I injured my hip and had to take a pretty significant break.  

In March of 2020, just as COVID-19 was starting to make its rounds, I started taking daily walks to clear my mind after school.  Being in school administration during a global pandemic is something that takes up a lot of headspace. 

These walks were mentally and emotionally healthy, but also started to bring back the positive feelings that I had associated with running in the past.

I love looking at the homemade medal hanger almost as much as I enjoy sifting through all of the medals for the races I did in 2020.

I've set a goal for myself of 20 5Ks in 2021, along with four 10Ks.

Who knows? 

Maybe I'll work up to that half-marathon I've been dreaming about for the last few years. 

We'll see about the half-marathon, but either way -- today I can say with confidence, "I am a runner."

Taking life one jog at a time here at the farmhouse,
Hannah

​♥️🏡♥️

I love the first day of the year.

I love flipping the calendar over to start a new month.

I love August, the beginning of the new school year.

I love Mondays.

I really love any chance I have to start over.

And so this year -- instead of focusing on New Year's Resolutions for 2021, I've decided to set a few big annual goals and then zoom in and focus on resolutions for every single week this year.

52 weeks to set specific goals.
52 weeks to track success and struggles & make adjustments.
52 chances to start again.

We've been having family meetings for a little over a year on almost every Sunday evening.  We plan the menu for the week, look at the upcoming events on the calendar, talk about things we need to get done at home, and tell stories about our weeks.