I consider myself pretty financially savvy.  I keep a family budget.  I teach my children about finances.  I am the bookkeeper for Goat Milk Stuff and work with our accountant on how to best minimize our tax burden.  I avoid debt and (with the exception of a construction loan for GMS) live debt-free.  I have…

The other day, Indigo was going through our customer emails, and she said to me, “Mom, how do you say c-h-u-t-z-p-a-h and what does it mean?”  I immediately started laughing because I knew exactly what chutzpah meant.  I went to high school and lived in an area that was heavily Jewish.  I had lots of…

By now, you all know how much I stress the importance of learning – not necessarily the traditional education model – but real learning.  Real learning can happen in a classroom setting, but it can also happen in many less traditional environments such as the car, the grocery store, and the dinner table.  It can…

I am a Mom.  And one thing that is inherent with being a Mom (or at least being a good Mom) is the ability to be a caretaker; to put your needs below the needs of what or whom you are caring for. This is not always an easy thing. There are many times that…

Confession time – for about a year now, I’ve been dissatisfied with my life. It’s very hard for me to put that in print and admit it to the world. It makes me feel very ungrateful to God. God has blessed me with everything I’ve ever wanted – an incredible husband who loves me, eight…

We do a lot of farm tours here at Goat Milk Stuff, and different Jonases give the tours depending on who is available and what is going on at the farm.  While the tours all cover the same ground, each tour is very different depending on not only who the tour guide is, but who is…

I’m the one who does most of the writing here on my blog (not surprising, huh?!)  Brett does some of the proof reading and editing. But Jim is the one who adds all the pictures and hyperlinks. About a month ago, he told me that while I mention “opportunity cost” in a lot of my…

Do you ever watch or listen to Ted Talks?  I love to listen to them (if I don’t have music playing) while I’m cleaning the house or cooking by myself.  I just put on a Ted Talk playlist and hit play. The other day, I heard a Ted Talk by Nigel Marsh* called “How to…

As many of you know, Brett is getting married soon.  She asked if we could do another round of P90X3* before the wedding (we completed the fitness program together a few years ago).  Of course I agreed.  Not only is the exercise good for me, but I get to spend time with my daughter who…

I wrote my last blog post thinking about happiness.  But after I finished writing it, I couldn’t stop thinking about authenticity.  Authenticity is being genuine or “what you see is what you get”.  It is not being fake.  And I kept wondering, “Am I really as authentic as I think I am?” Let’s be honest…

Somebody said to me the other day, “I really love my life and wouldn’t change it.  But if I had to swap my life for somebody’s, I’d pick yours.  I know you work really hard, but you all just always look so happy.”  And this was from somebody who knows “real life PJ” and not…

Last week I mentioned that we are facing a big decision about if (and when) to expand our Grade A Dairy and Cheese Plant.  We’ve been having lots of conversations about it as a family and one of the children made an interesting comment.  He said, “I think we should build; we’re willing to work…

When Jim and I were building our home here on the Goat Milk Stuff farm, we spent a lot of time talking about what “feeling” we wanted our home to give.  We wanted it to be welcoming and friendly.  We didn’t want it to have a “formal” feeling to it.  Instead we wanted it to…