Lemonade anyone?

Well hello Dear Rebels, it is actually me, Judy writing this post.  Although those were very interesting and relevant topics, I must admit I was hiding a bit behind those linked posts.  I have not made it a secret that we have lost our home, The Royal Ranch; and I have not made it a secret that we have struggled greatly with bills and health and the rest of what America is struggling with.
But what I have been secretly doing is making lemonade, and lots of it.  I have plenty to share because I have been handed lots and lots of lemons lately.  Our dream was to sell a piece of property and start fresh with a new 40 acre piece that was entirely off-grid; well that did not happen in the amount of time that we were given by the bank, and NO we were not willing to try to slow down our foreclosure, we have given them enough of our time, money and energy.
As usual God has a plan for us and we decided to quit fighting the flow and take another look at what we already have; and that is the piece of property that we were trying to sell.  Although it does not fit my dream acreage, I am studying to become a permaculture expert and this land will definitely fill the bill for teaching me patience and skills to work with Mother Nature!  It is 10 acres attached to Pike National Forest with beautiful Camp Creek running through it year round, so believe me we have no complaints, it is just not quite as flat as the piece we were going to buy.
But, it is OURS and it has power and a shower.  And to FOUR teenagers those things were pretty important; even if the square footage of the main building is about the size of my current living room.  So, watch what you ask for because for the last few years I have been saying that I want a teeny tiny house and boy did I get it.. :)  We have all sorts of cool plans for trundle beds and handy storage ideas that have been in my head for years that I will now implement; all those years of watching HGTV will pay off somehow, ha!
I had to laugh because I have sat down in front of my computer a hundred times to write a post on this and of all people to get me moving again to post it was a camper.  I know that many people read my blog to find out about The Royal Ranch and the surrounding area to see what is going on; and yesterday my husband spoke with one of our regular campers who was concerned that he would no longer see my Tom's friendly face doing the camp hosting duties this year since he had read of our "troubles" on my blog.  Well, we are still in the area, and we are still doing the campgrounds this year...  Woot Woot!!!
But that brings me to my next point.  I am no longer going to represent Royal Ranch as of a couple of weeks from now, Dear Rebels.  I have not completely decided what I am going to do about my online identity to be honest with you all.  I am VERY, very gunshy at this point in time.  There is not ONE DOUBT IN MY MIND that my online presence, and let me say that again, I am absolutely positive that my business and the fact that I fought the system are what got us out of our house as quickly as we are.
Our new ranch is called The Double J; months ago I started a blog about it and also a website for it, those were in the days when I thought I was getting the larger piece if you want to take a look at it before I get a chance to change it...After what has just happened to us I have thought long and hard about how or even if I will conduct business in the future.  The Double J may just be a self-sufficient homestead that lends a helping hand to it's friends and neighbors by teaching them how to become self-sustainable themselves; and if they need a bit of our property to do so then we can figure something out-like a growing plot or whatever.  I don't know.
My point is that right now I am totally in limbo and just enjoying my lemonade and making more with each passing day.  My first priority is to take care good/Godly care of my family.  We are praying each day and enjoying our time with our college sons so immensely I can't even tell you.  It was a bit rough to start I won't lie; it was hard for them to come home to a mess like this. 
My children have shined like the stars that they are throughout this mis/adventure.  Each and every one of them in their own way.  It has made me even more appreciative of the special relationship I have with each individual person that they are; it truly has been an amazing experience to see how they deal with such a traumatic event themselves, but also to watch them be protective of me.
It is funny because as I take the time to write this oh so long post my oldest came home and said that the day before he and my other son and a friend of theirs had not wanted to leave until my Sophomore son got home from school because "they knew that as soon as they leave I was going to do something I was not supposed to do."
He also talked about why everyone tries to bring him down about this move.  I had to ask him more about that one.  He said the day he helped our neighbor move fish another gentleman had been telling him how sad it was that he was losing his childhood home and memories etc.  And do you know what that smart 19 year old kid said to me and that nice man?  He said that he had been planning on moving on anyway and this is just a step in our lives; we can take memories with us....
So we are not looking at this as an ending; we are looking at this as a new beginning.  It may be the end of an era, but we are just getting started with a new one.  An even better one at that.  So yes, we are still in the area, and yes, we are still taking care of the campgrounds.  For now I will leave this site up until I decide what to do with the Double J sites; I will let you all know what I intend to do.
I can't tell you all how much it means that some of you hung on and continued to read through all of these ups and downs.  I know that many of you read this blog to stay current on what is going on in this area and to keep in touch with the ranch and our critters; that is what I DO intend to do with the Double J, information only at this time (no business).  So, thanks so much for sticking with me, you all ROCK!!!  And if you were here, I would offer you a nice big glass of ice cold lemonade.

PS  If you live in this area we are having an "An End of an Era" Sale on Memorial Weekend.  Should be quite a party, er garage sale, if you want to come by and say hello!

ramotherapy

Miranda Lambert - Heart Like Mine