Adventures in Homesteading

Things are locking into position.

Buck and I have been hard at work saving money, planning for some exciting adventures, and believing for some extraordinary ideas to take shape.

These past few years have kept us learning and making room for changes. Things haven’t always gone according to plan but they’ve been going and we adapt to keep moving forward. Our plans morphed and evolved for a year before we finally settled on our greatest adventure to date.

The first of the year, Buck and I will be closing on a few acres of raw land. We decided we’re going to utilize this time to live off grid. What does that mean for us? Well, we hope it means, laughter, stories, and some hilarious adventures. We begin our build soon and with that will be highlighting the ups and downs of living off grid by using solar power, rain water catchment, and anything else we can get our hands on to give us our best experience.

This is just an example of what we’re planning. There is a TON of work to do on the land and that must happen first before we can start living out there. WE ARE SO SO EXCITED!!

I’d like to give a big thank you to Impact Contractors for the hook up on the wooden pallets that we needed to get started. If you find yourself in need of any type of concrete services, you can find their information here. If you or your company would like to sponsor any portion of this journey, please email us at hello@buckandangel.com.

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Buck pointing out the lay of the land to her cousins.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for real-time updates. We also offer a look into the nitty-gritty life of living off grid. You can find that content on our Patreon account. Lastly, if you want to help but don’t know how, we have some pretty fun t-shirts and merch available on our ADVENTURE OUTPOST page. Thank you for your support and THANK YOU for being part of our adventure family.

Indiana Jones and the Job Hunter

This post started out as just one sentence in a cover letter for a job I was applying for. It progressed into a whirlwind of emotion and near panic.

When I was younger, I wanted to be Indiana Jones.  Now that I’m a bit older, I’ve laser-focused my dream to travel writer.  A broader idea…storyteller.

If I could be paid well for doing anything in the world (other than being a mom), I would choose to travel the world and tell stories.

I’ve worked for the same company since I was 28 years old.  I’m an art director, graphic designer, social media marketer.  I love research and I love creating.  I’ve been sitting at the same desk for almost 20 years and as much as I enjoy what I do, it has slowly eaten away at my dream and my passion.  It wasn’t always like this for me.  Throughout junior high, high school, and college, I traveled the world.  I told stories.  I spoke in front of thousands of people…I was a traveling story teller.  My life was built around relating to people, helping people, encouraging people to be hopeful and ultimately help them fall in love with being alive…fall in love with themselves…who they had been, who they are, and who they were going to be.  I thrived on watching people’s countenance change in front of me from hopeless to hopeful – sadness to joy.

In my mid 20’s, I suffered damaging trauma and was no longer able to be and do what I had built my life doing.  I tumbled into dark depression and began retreating from society.  I gave up.  Completely.

A man reached out to me and gave me a shot at becoming a graphic artist in his company and I took it.  I’ve been with him ever since, learning, growing, and evolving into the career I have today.  As the years pass, I’m still haunted and troubled by the events that brought me here.  I am grateful for what I have and the opportunities that were given to me but decades of fulfillment were taken from me and I grieve for that stolen part of my life.

To lay it all out on the table, I want more.  My daughter was born and I adopted her in 2011.  She’s 7 years old now. She is my drive to do better…to be better.  I promised her birthparents that I would work for the rest of my life to give her what they couldn’t and I will…but there’s so much more that I want to give her. There’s so much more that I want to teach her.  Our conversations at dinner revolve around business plans and brainstorming ideas to create opportunities for us to “travel, go on adventures, and help people”.  That’s us.  I haven’t been able to do that in the way that I want at the job I currently have so I have been researching, planning, and working on creating a job for myself so we CAN do these things.  I figured, if I can’t find one out there that exists already, then I’m going to have to create it.

Fear is a monster.  It has held me back for so many years.  Even now as I type this, I think about finally taking the step to make our dreams happen and how I’m going to pay the bills and put food on the table.  All I can hear in my mind is “you take the steps and leave the ‘hows’ to God”.  It is daunting and I am afraid.  I am reminded of how I wanted to be Indiana Jones…

I suppose now is my chance.  But what next? WHAT DO I DO? I’m terrified.

I feel scattered. Do I stay at my job and work on building something new? I’ve been trying to do that for years. Do I quit my job and use my time to build something new? How do bills get paid? How do I take care of my kid?

How do I trust that the great God of the Universe is going to be there when I take that step?

It's Time!

***UPDATE*** June 22, 2018

This trip has been sidelined for us.  We still plan on going sometime in the future but with any co-parenting team, when one parent isn't ready, you have to honor that and trust for future adventures to be better than ever imagined.

It was never an issue of whether or not I wanted to travel the world and change people's lives for the better.  It was always whether or not I was welcome.  I've had to rely on my faith and believe that timing is everything.  For the last couple of decades some things needed to take place before the cosmic tumblers locked into position.

I adapted.  Learning to adapt is just one of the greatest gifts I've been given and it serves me well...but I was never fully happy.

So...for the most exciting news in our little family of 2...I am welcome.  I am welcome to be a part of something greater.

Buck and I have the absolute honor to be a part of a team headed to Tanzania this summer.

We will be working with 2 organizations. Asking for the Nations, an organization focused on helping the people of Tanzania and more pointedly, the orphans in the country of Tanzania.  They have partnered with Pastor Mramba to help purchase land, build a church, and build an orphanage to house the orphans and street kids of the country. The second organization is Giving Hope for Tomorrow.  This group will organize a 3-4 day medical clinic during our trip. This will provide free medical care to locals including the Maasai tribe! We are currently looking for a dentist and an eye doctor to go on the trip with us. They do not have to stay the entire 10 days unless they want to. They are welcome to come for the medical clinic portion only. Please help us by asking people you know! 

This summer, July 20-30 2018, Buck and I will travel with this incredible team with the goal to begin building the church and work on building relationships with the orphans in the town of Moshi.  

Moshi is a town in northern Tanzania, near the Kenyan border. It's known as a gateway to Kilimanjaro National Park, home to Africa's highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro. Trails run up the mountain’s cloud-ringed, snow-capped dome, through alpine forests and meadows home to elephants and leopards. One of Tanzania's major coffee-producing hubs, Moshi is known for its coffee farms and auctions.

To be a part of this great adventure, partner with us by clicking the donate button above. 

We are so grateful for your support and generosity.  All donations are tax-deductible!

When making a donation, please type our name (Buck and/or Angel) in the"Add special instructions to the seller:"section.

The cost of the trip is $3500.00 per person.  This covers everything for the 10 day trip except personal spending money.  Any money raised above this amount will be used for mine and Buck's suggested travel vaccinations, supplies, and gear.

Payment schedule per person:

• November 5, 2017 - $300 (non-refundable deposit)
• January 1, 2018 - $1000
• March 1, 2018 - $1000
• May 1, 2018 - $1200

If you have any questions about the trip, please feel free to drop us a line on our contact page.