https://s18.postimg.org/o4r1vtb6h/IMG_2859.jpg ## It's late, and I got up early. It's been a long day. --------- If you asked me how I was doing, and if I answered honestly, I'd tell you that I am dog tired, exhausted, and on the verge of being overwhelmed. Yes, life is what you make it, but the investment you've got to make up front to bless those around you and to get a real ROI can be a lot. It's worth it, but it takes a lot of hard work, day after day, just to have the hope that it'll work out. https://i.imgur.com/9qd6eqf.jpg ## THE MOMENT IT HITS YOU ## I had a moment earlier, just a few moments ago actually. Too many days I probably don't sleep enough and I try to accomplish too much. Before bed I still had to milk our doe goat Daisy again and feed "Of" and "The" our two little bottle baby bucklings. Here's a GIF of one. https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://media.giphy.com/media/39AVMGyOfxPSP6qyTG/giphy.gif You may be wondering how we wound up with baby goats named things like "Of" and "The," but that's another story for another day, *and yes, it is a good story.* Anyway, a tired @papa-pepper who's worked hard for a very long time today and felt like taking a nap about noon and then felt like heading to bed at about seven pm after dinner, headed down to the land to milk Daisy, bringing along Pinkie-Pepper and Red-Pepper to help. https://s14.postimg.org/jny1rq4m9/IMG_4572.jpg Yup, that's Pinkie-Pepper and Red-Pepper there. So, I've got a couple helpers and some work to do. The night air is warm and sweet and the sky is clear. Soon, I'm sitting on a chair milking our doe. https://s9.postimg.org/7c5aewdnj/IMG_2634.jpg At some point, I looked up into the beautiful starry night sky and it hit me. It hit me hard. I'm living the life, I'm not just trying to make a living. Our dreams are coming true right before our eyes. We are so incredibly blessed right now I can't help but praise God for all that He's allowed to happen in our lives. Please let me break it down for you to help you grasp this more fully. https://s27.postimg.org/jkfpx3n43/IMG_4526.jpg First off, we moved south to have milder winters to deal with. Right now it is just above freezing up in Wisconsin where we are from and at the moment I can walk outside here to enjoy a mild breeze in the 60 degree weather! Not bad for a February evening. Then, when I look up, there is a ton of stars. It's the same sky that I could look at from in the city, but the view is a whole lot different. http://i.imgur.com/9Y2i0D5.jpg When you add in the fact that we were on our own land too, it gets all the more incredible. This is not rented property or property that we "bought" by having some bank pay for it and having to pay them back plus a lot extra before it would finally be ours. We hold the deed to this property and we paid cash to buy it. Plus, I'm down on this land with two of my daughters who are both willing and able to help me in a situation like this! They don't complain or roll their eyes, they just help and enjoy it. I know that many people have been tricked into thinking that children are a curse and it's good to not have any, but we are not of that mindset. We love all five of our @little-peppers and are so blessed by all of the love, joy, and help that they provide us! https://s18.postimg.org/n7li20vax/IMG_3065.jpg Now to bring things back to the task at hand, milking our goat. We paid no money for this goat. Actually, we traded some pigs for some goats and those pigs were purchased with SBD that we cashed out. We hoped that one day she could be a milk goat when we got her three months ago, but what we didn't realize is that she had been bred two months before we picked her up! https://s13.postimg.org/y1q2vdqvb/IMG_2492.jpg It was an unexpected blessing to have her give birth to King so soon after getting her. We thought that we'd have to find a mate for her, get her pregnant, and then wait five months before something like this happened. Instead, we've already got a goat to milk plus a bonus kid on the homestead. Now, having bottle baby goats to raise is all the easier, since we have our own milk goat on hand. Anyways, life can be tough and work is often hard work. Sleep can be hard to come by and some days it just never ends. However, when you have a vision for the future and tangible goals, it's great to be heading in a direction that you love. If you've read my words here and seen the photos, you know how blessed I feel at this moment. This is where you come in. https://i.imgur.com/9qd6eqf.jpg ## WHAT ABOUT YOU? ## https://s27.postimg.org/6degqcntv/IMG_4439.jpg What's your dream? What do you consider freedom? What do you hope to accomplish in this life? Do you have a plan? I'd say that you get one chance at life down here and if you know what you hope to get out of it, it'll be much better for you. Are you on the path that leads you to the destination of your dreams? If not, do you have an exit strategy to get there? Trust me, we've put in a to of effort and gave up a lot to get where we are, but it's all worth it. Now is your chance, go for it! https://i.imgur.com/9qd6eqf.jpg #### Until next time… ## Don’t waste your time online, *invest* it with steemit.com https://i.imgsafe.org/17/17913f0196.gif *GIF provided by @orelmely* ----- #### [FOR MORE PAPA-PEPPER CONTENT, CHECK ME OUT ON SOLA](https://sola.ai/papa_pepper) ------------- https://steemitimages.com/DQmWJLBUEQKrsCFYNSpzTSiRPbR8AT45ZpwbjgCX5ucQaDN/image.png ### [TO TRANSLATE POSTS VIA OPERATION TRANSLATION CLICK HERE](https://steemit.com/translation/@papa-pepper/operation-translation-now-under-construction-what-it-is-and-how-you-can-help)

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