Blog vs Vlog

I feel like I should preface this by saying I am very new to blogging and I haven’t started vlogging…yet. Although things are in the works to get that started soon. However I am a long time blog reader. I have bloggers that I have been reading for almost a decade. Saying that makes me feel old but it’s honest. Vlogging I am getting into more. I now watch YouTube more than Netflix. Especially since I can watch what is important to me.

Back before we cut the cord on TV I used to tell Kevon “If I could only pay for the channels I watched I would be more willing to keep cable” that is not an option. We cut the cable and use Netflix as our only monthly entertainment bill. Intermittently use Hulu but with out current internet situation it isn’t on the list right now.

Choosing Your Channels

The thing I like about watching YouTube is that I find it educational. I love watching things that I learn from. I have learned new ways to crochet and garden and cook. I lived on 4 channels when we were still on cable. The 2 cooking channels and the 2 remodeling channels. I LOVED THEM. I still do but I am sorry channels I am not willing to pay those insane cable prices.

How often I got stuck watching reruns. It reached a point where nothing I saw was new but this was my love. I wanted new information not seeing the same thing over and over, especially when I really didn’t have an interest in the episode to begin with. I mean a butterfly watching expert with a million dollar house budget…I…Don’t…Care… Sorry not sorry. I also liked that I could turn the TV for ambient background noise that I didn’t HAVE to watch. I could do dishes and pay attention when something of interest happened.

Read Read Read

I don’t always have time to read. I love blogs and books and news articles but reading requires your full attention. I can’t open a book and have it read itself to me. (yes I am aware of things like Audible and visually impaired items but that’s not my point) I do not have the skills to wash dishes and read a book. That is not in my wheel house.

I love curling up with a book on a dreary day. Believe me, when the situation allows it I am binge reading. I have a kindle and on long train rides I read as many pages as I can. At home when I have more reliable phone charging capability and someone is watching something that I have no interest in (*cough* baby bear tv *cough*) I can binge blogs harder than a competitive eater at a pie eating contest. However life happens and then you have to set what you’re reading down and go back to the real world. In my house “mom I’m hungry” is a good reading buzzkill.

What about podcasts

I have tried podcasts. I have one that I do listen to upon occasion but it talks about a lot of stuff that I then have to log in to something else to be able to see or understand what they are talking about. I do not like that I lose out on the visual aspect. In blogs there are pictures *yay* and links making it convenient *also yay*. In vlogs there is the visual learning aspect plus the links usually located in the description *yay and yay*. Those things keep me drawn to vlogs and blogs and steer me away from podcasts.

The time when I could listen to podcasts I would rather just listen to music to be honest. Working out, cooking, cleaning I would rather be jamming. Not to mention I love a random dance party and those aren’t easy to have with podcasts.

Love to learn

I have learned so much from peoples blogs. They explain things in a way that I was never able to understand in school because they break it down in a more simplified way. Sometimes however I have left more confused than I went in. For example: crochet. I have read blogs and patterns and just can’t figure it out. It wasn’t until I started watching tutorials on YouTube that I was able to really get the hang of the many things I make.

I learned how to quilt on YouTube. I read so many things for beginner quilters and it just didn’t make sense. I couldn’t cut the squares right or sew the squares right and I was left with a misshapen mess. Queue a YouTube search and suddenly I was like OMG I can do this! From there I was able to cut my fabric correctly. Some people can look at a before and after picture and be like “I can do that” just from an image. Typically that’s not me.

I LOVE HOMESTEADING

That is what I like to learn about. It is the niche that holds me in. I believe in knowing where your food comes from and being a true farm to table family. I love watching about people already living the farm to table life. I love food and I love animals and you can’t have one with out the other in farm to table cooking. I want to take amazing care of my animals so I can get better quality food and I also want to know that their quality of life was good for the time they were in my life.

With homesteading also comes DIY remodeling. There is a time and a place for professional help but putting sweat equity into something holds a place near and dear to my heart. I like knowing my own 2 hands helped build our home even if that may only be paint. Also, I hate to paint.

I love to cook and with homesteading comes REAL cooking. The more I learn about food the more I learn about cultures and cuisine I realize that I don’t have the roots that other places have. Italy, Japan, India all have specific cuisine. I love pho and that is a Vietnamese dish. Most people think of McDonalds when they think of American cooking. Why?!

American Cuisine

I feel like Homestead farm to table cooking is real American food. I know that there are niches in America like southern cooking and barbecue but what makes America so unique is all the different cultures who live here and inspire food. I love that I can try more foods from other countries in the United states than I can anywhere else. I don’t have to travel to try new things. A quick google search will lead me to something I have never tried before. If what I try is amazing I can recreate it at home.

Knowing how to cook from scratch and all the homesteading skills like preservation and seasonal cooking will help to make those dishes come to life in my home. I tried this amazing taco thing in Tokyo. I *think* it was chicken shwarma but I am not sure. I am going to try to recreate what I had because it was so good and I can add it to our menu rotation. There are no limits to what you can make on the homestead. I can make curry, I can make spaghetti, I can make sushi and I can do this all from scratch. I will know what is in it because I am making this with the most basic of ingredients whether it’s 2 or 20 ingredients. I know what each and everyone is without things I can’t pronounce and I love that.

My Content

What you can expect from me is a mix of trying new things. How can I find new foods I love if I don’t try them. Once I have mastered cooking the foods I love you can expect me to share them with you. I will describe to the best of my ability what things taste like. One of my biggest *grr* moments is when I am yelling at my screen “yeah, but what does it taste like?!” Especially when it isn’t something I have easy access to, I want to know what to expect if I decide to try it on a whim.

I will walk you through whatever I am doing so you can learn with me. I don’t know everything. I can’t. No one can. But I am willing to share whatever knowledge I have because knowledge is power and power promotes independence. I want you all to feel just as independent as I do, I very rarely feel like I can’t handle something. Some days are of course worse than others, everyone gets over whelmed at some point but for the most part I feel like I can take on anything.

Sometimes I will blog what I am doing, sometimes I am going to vlog what I’m doing. And sometimes I may do both but overall I want you to take on anything that you feel so inclined. Life skills shouldn’t be so difficult to learn, let’s make it easier with all these different ways to get information out there.

Let’s take on life together one life skill at a time.