sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 1,009
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Post by sarbar on Apr 17, 2024 18:06:02 GMT -8
I may not come by a lot, but I do dip by every few months. Life got busy for me. So what have I been up to?
In 2018 we left King County, Wa (that's where Seattle sits) after 15 years there, and bought land on Whidbey Island, where I grew up. We started homesteading, while he continued working in tech. It's been 6 years of unending work out there, but we have a functioning farmstead now.
Kirk and I will be married 18 years this summer (yeah, Synchrophoto has always been real, and I met him on the OG Backpacker Forums back in 2002). I always wonder....do he and I have the longest marriage from the forums? It'll be 22 years this fall since we met in person at a trailhead.
The kid you all remember hiking with me (and some of you hiked with him in the PNW) is 26 now. The younger 2, born during the forum years are 12 and 14 now. I am a mom to teens now.
That's me with A and W, taken 2 months ago. Both are taller now. W is growing so fast he's having leg pains from being stretched. Last measurement he was 5'10".
I started homeschooling in March of 2020 and mostly never looked back. I love being with my boys all day. I really do, and I know these years will go by in a snap. We hike often, and spend our days exploring and learning.
Still writing, still creating. Spent the pandemic years teaching others how to make homesteads, grow food, preserve food, and life skills in general. For me life barely changed, because we had gone relatively off-grid. It was just so long living in a state that stayed close. So now we hike constantly and travel, to make up for lost time.
Kirk and I ticked off 3 bucket trips in 21,22 and 23. The last being Antartica. He's a ginger and during the pandemic had Melanoma found and had to have surgery for it. We quit waiting. Did Alaska islands, Sea of Cortez desert islands, and all the ice down south.
So yeah, chickens and plants, hiking, trailcooking, and homeschooling are my life now.
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Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on Apr 17, 2024 20:27:29 GMT -8
My god. This forum is responsible for people actually reproducing. What have we done? I had to leave the state in shame, after finding out that Kenny G is the top selling recording artist from Washington. Not Jimi Hendrix. Not Nirvana. Not Heart. Not Pearl Jam. Kenny G
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Post by trinity on Apr 18, 2024 4:00:30 GMT -8
Sounds like y'all have worked hard to carve out the kind of life you want to live. Well done.
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sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 1,009
|
Post by sarbar on Apr 18, 2024 6:58:03 GMT -8
My god. This forum is responsible for people actually reproducing. What have we done? Twice in fact. And both will be giants like their Dad. Hahahaha! I'd have had even more....but when the last one was 10.8 when born at 38 weeks, I realized the next one would be 15 pounds and I'd be on the local news "Woman gives birth to toddler. Baby seen lifting paint cans at 2 days old, says "he needs to get muscles." I know having tons of kids isn't hip these days, but have I ever followed the trends? Nah. The reason my broken body can homestead is due to the last kid. He's a freaking beast of burden. He needs a kilt and to start training for caber tossing.....he also can catch any chicken - and drive a tractor. My Asian heritage blocked them being red heads like Dad. Maybe that is a blessing.
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Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on Apr 18, 2024 7:29:11 GMT -8
Having kids for manual labor actually makes some sense to me.
Whenever my friends are whining about doing household chores or yardwork, I'm like...why aren't your kids doing that?
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sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 1,009
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Post by sarbar on Apr 18, 2024 11:05:07 GMT -8
Whenever my friends are whining about doing household chores or yardwork, I'm like...why aren't your kids doing that? Damn right. They can work on their backs. My old man made us his personal slaves outside. These kids are on a gravy train compared to my childhood. Old Man Svien....born in the Great Depression and raised on a cattle ranch in Montana....he was the poster child for yelling at his kids, "Suck it up Buttercup". I've noted how much I have become like my Dad in recent years. Lol.
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Post by georgeofthej on Apr 18, 2024 15:58:11 GMT -8
Sarbar, if I remember correctly, you're the one who got me into freezer bag cooking. I'm not certain it was you; it was a long time ago. Anyway, if you did, thanks. I still cook that way today.
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sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 1,009
|
Post by sarbar on Apr 19, 2024 18:38:59 GMT -8
Sarbar, if I remember correctly, you're the one who got me into freezer bag cooking. I'm not certain it was you; it was a long time ago. Anyway, if you did, thanks. I still cook that way today. Indeed, it was me. I ran with the concept (and we coined FBC on the forums!) back in around 2003. I still write and develop FBC recipes to this day :-) I posted a new recipe today - if the weather is good, we are outside :-)
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Post by va3pinner on Apr 26, 2024 17:33:37 GMT -8
So my understanding about having teenagers is they know everything. So you don't have to worry about anything. Is that correct??
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