The Grounded Household:

The Unfiltered Director’s Cut

A few weeks after moving across the country: winter, a rock in the yard, socks, and flip-flops. We don’t do normal around here.

Two GenXers. One questionable life plan. And apparently, we’re homesteaders now.

So here’s the thing: I’m not exactly sure when we went from “let’s build a life we actually want” to “holy shit, are we homesteaders now?” We’re both GenX, which may explain at least some of the decisions that follow.

The 4-Month State Line Jump

Left: The Christmas trip back to PA. Right: The official welcome to Oklahoma on that wild Thanksgiving day move. (welcoming me HOME?)

I was living in Pennsylvania when the Universe decided it was time for me to meet my fiancé. Thank you, social media! 😂

We met online, and four months later, I packed up my life and moved from Pennsylvania to Oklahoma.

Four months.

I’m a completely unfiltered, perfectly reasonable adult who makes perfectly rational life choices… obviously. 😂

Life is short. Sometimes you just have to say fuck it and go for it. And that’s pretty much how this whole thing started.

Meet Bubba & The Chaos of Chicken Math

Baby Bubba showing off those signature blue eyes.

Just a few months later: Already looking like total trouble and a complete smartass. Zero fucks given.

First, Bubba became a member of the household. He’s a blue-eyed husky mix, a true country dog with a zero-fucks-given attitude.

Get The Grounded Household’s stories in your inbox

Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.

Remember me for faster sign in

Then, the feathered egg-layers started arriving. Let me tell you right now: Chicken Math is REAL!!

Bubba inspecting the new cargo. 10 rescue hens from an egg facility, and his face says it all: What the hell did you just bring home?

Wasn’t long after we brought the 10 rescue girls home, we brought home some babies… Chicken Math 🤪

This year it’s all about projects

Growing our own veggies, herbs, and flowers. We’re constantly discussing what animals will be next, even if I’m mainly the one bringing up the list… lol. The list of projects goes on…

Turning a Pole Barn Into a Home

All of this is happening while we turn a massive pole barn structure my fiancé already had here into our home. It’s a completely empty canvas — no animals ever lived here! We don’t do “normal” around here.

And that’s where I come in. I’m a feral GenX woman with ADHD, a brain full of ideas, and a history of turning chaos into systems. I spent about 12 years in storm-damage sales, management, and process-building, then another four years in car sales. On top of all that, I raised three kids. So yes, I know how to organize chaos. I just apparently prefer creating my own.

Blue-Collar Muscle Meets Cosmic Vibes

My fiancé is a lifelong blue-collar guy. He’s wild, unfiltered, and apparently incapable of building anything without making it strong enough to survive the apocalypse.

I say, “I have an idea.”
He says, “I have an idea too.”

And then we’re off. He always tends to make things way bigger than necessary, and I have a habit of making them way more complicated. Together, we’re a mix of Type A and Type B, and dangerously good at talking ourselves into massive projects. (Though if you ask him, it’s me who comes up with them lol).

I’m also a lil hippie-ish. You’ll mostly find that I’m barefoot. I love crystals, a little witchery, astrology, numbers, signs, the moon, and all the weird lil things that make you stop and wonder if the Universe is trying to tell you something. I believe in manifesting, and I’ve had enough “Okay, Universe, I get the hint” moments to know I’m probably going to write about those too.

This Is Real Life, Not Pinterest Perfect

That’s really what The Grounded Household is.

• It’s not a perfect homestead.
• It’s not a farmhouse with a wraparound porch and a picture-perfect kitchen.
• Hell, our kitchen and bathroom situation isn’t even what you’d expect from a normal house right now because we are just getting started.
• We’re definitely not homesteading experts — we’re just two people figuring it out as we go, but apparently, we’re homesteaders now.

It’s our life — the projects, the chickens, the veggies, the things that work, the things that are epic fails, the stuff we learn, the stuff we laugh about, and whatever we’re doing next. Basically, we’re figuring this shit out as we go.

If you’re into real life, GenX humor, a little chaos, a little dirt, and watching two people make questionable decisions and somehow turn them into a life…

Come laugh with us, come feel our pain, tell us we’re not alone, and join in for the epic wins! (I think there’s some!)

Welcome.

You’re probably going to fit right in.