Suburban Girl Gone Country

I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia.  Suburbs are definitely not the country...especially not out there.  We had city water, a "city address", sidewalks, no farm fields and definitely no livestock.  I lived and died for sports while in school spending my summers playing softball or working to save for college.  

I got accepted to Taylor University in Upland Indiana as a pre-med major with the intent of someday being a doctor and saving the world from cancer.  My parents moved me into my dorm one day and were gone the next.  There I was for the first time in my 18 years of life...alone.  Alone in a  state I knew NOTHING about.  The tallest thing for miles was the campus bell tower.  I had no car, which I guess wouldn't have mattered anyway as I had no sense of direction either.  I was all about me. Then one day I met him.  This local country boy who lived in the male dorm beside ours.  I thought he was the cutest thing...he swept me off my feet.  

Quickly I realized I had met the one and I didn't want to spend the rest of my days in school away from him.  My focus had changed from me to us.  I would often go back with him to his parents home, a short 20 minute drive away, where they lived in the middle of acres and acres of farmland.  I would swing on their porch swing getting lost in the quiet, fresh air and overall peace I felt.  Dreaming of one day.  

We were married in June just a year and a half after meeting and moved to Ft. Wayne where he took his first internship.  We were penny pinchers so we had no phone service, we drove one vehicle to save on gas and we visited the local library for weekend entertainment.  We lived very simply for that summer before heading back to college where he finished his last semester.  We dreamed of where a job would take us in his computer science field, hopefully near a college where I could finish up my Nursing degree.  The Lord had a plan...He always does. 

We ended up in South Bend, him working his first suit and tie job and me a full-time nursing student and working at the hospital whenever I could.  We soon found out we were pregnant with our first and proceeded to purchase our first home.  We painted the nursery, picked out baby names...all the things you do in preparation of your first child.  Then (as you can read in a previous post) we found out that she would not survive and in October of 1997 Dakota Elizabeth Colvin was dead at birth.  The whole event rocked our world and totally changed our perspective on the gift that children are.  

We talked a lot about moving to "the country".  My association with the country came only from visiting my  inlaws or from what my honey had shared about his childhood.  But I loved everything about it.  When we were dating I remember naively asking as we drove through the country, "where are all the sidewalks?" (don't judge me).  That was what I was used to.  So here we are, married, expecting our 2nd and the talks begin about moving to the country.  It wasn't until after Sydney Kaye was born that we got serious.  

Land was expensive making anything in the country virtually out of our reach.  Then we found a foreclosure, perfectly seated on 20 acres with a pond for fishing, wood, fencing, a barn and room for our growing family.  I was pregnant with our second daughter Holland Rachel when we moved in to our first country home.  Our intent was to grow old together there.  Things didn't quite happen that way as the need for a new highway came along and our property seemed to be perfectly situated right in the middle.  We found a 2 acre property not far that was in foreclosure and affordable so we purchased it, rehabbed it and moved in.  By this time we had had 3 more children and were expecting our 6th.  

The kids were young and homeschooling and life was about all this momma could handle.  Now here we are 7 years and 2 more children later and we're itching for more land!!!  Through the sovereign hand of the Lord we are able to purchase the land directly behind us opening up the door for opportunity.  As our farm family continues to grow I want to keep track of the highs and lows, changes, new experiences and whatever else comes our way.  So read along as I journal our new adventures!  We'll be learning as much as you are:)