There is nothing better than waking up in the morning, making your cup of coffee, and looking out the window to see a beautiful herd of cattle standing in the golden morning sun, and simply thanking God for another day you’ve been blessed with.
My husband and I always knew we would stay farmers. I am a sixth generation farmer and my husband is a fourth generation. I knew from a very young age that I would marry a farmer. “I want to marry someone just like my daddy,” I used to pray. And boy, did God bless me, and surprise me!
What I didn’t think I would do was become a cosmetologist. I always imagined I would work with animals, maybe as a vet or a vet technician, maybe something in agriculture, but that wasn’t God’s plan for me. Then, eventually ease into becoming a stay-at-home mom. Instead, I found myself watching tutorials on how to curl hair and do makeup, even making a few of my own. I look back now and laugh!
When I was 18, I won Queen at our County Fair and went on to compete in the Miss Indiana State Fair Queen Contest, where I froze-and failed. That experience quickly taught me that public speaking was not my cup of tea. But somewhere in the middle of all of that, I found something else: a deep love for baking.
Whenever I was home, I was in the kitchen baking at all hours of the day and absolutely wreaking havoc in my mother’s brand-new kitchen. She loved the sweets, but not the mess. Our home had been hit by a tornado in 2017 and was a total loss, completely flattened, so that kitchen meant a lot to her.
When I think about my childhood and how it shaped me, my mind always goes back to the simple things: bottle calves, butchering our own chickens, and canning with our mom. My mom and dad learned how to can and garden from my Grandma Walter (my father’s mother) — a woman I never had the chance to meet, but one I feel deeply connected to.
Grandma Walter passed away when my oldest brother was just one year old, but I grew up on stories of her. She would host ice cream parties on their front porch often on the weekends. She planted a garden and tended to it faithfully — not just to feed her own family, but three others as well. She would wake at 4 a.m. tend to the house chores, weed the garden, milk the cows, and collect eggs before heading inside to make sure my dad, my aunt, and my Papa all had a grand breakfast and full bellies. She was a true homemaker and homesteader, with a heart big enough to feed both bodies and souls. My mom and dad loved her deeply, and through her, that love and knowledge were passed down to us.
Over the years, I’ve created my own recipes — borrowing some, tweaking others — turning things I liked into things I truly loved. I never realized how many recipes I had until I started cleaning out old notebooks and notes.
So here I am, starting a blog and sharing the heart of our home.
Carson and I have been together since we were 14 — crazy, I know. We are like-minded, best friends, and each other’s biggest supporters. I also never imagined taxidermy would be part of our story, but God has a way of leading you down paths you never expected.
My goal for as long as I can remember was to become a stay-at-home mom, but with this economy, that hasn’t been an option for us. Farming isn’t free — and neither is raising cattle, or children for that matter. Still, everything we do is with our children in mind. We want them to grow up knowing hard work, responsibility, faith, and the beauty of a life lived close to the land. We want them to feel the same pride and purpose we do.
This life forces you to slow down. It teaches you to embrace the sunrise, the sunset, and everything in between. God shows you the beauty — you just have to look.
We give glory to God in both the good and the bad. Sometimes doors close and later reveal why. Other times, we never get answers, and we learn to rest in Him anyway.
Our first year with our own cattle was a hard year for calving, we lost more than we like to admit. We also lost a momma cow and her baby, and that loss was especially hard. It was a year filled with questions, tears, and prayers we didn’t have words for. We love these animals deeply. We want healthy births, strong calves, and calm, cared-for mammas. Sometimes God shows us the weight of this life before He shows us the reward. We don’t always understand, but we rest in Him anyway.
This space will reflect that life — the early mornings, the hard seasons, faith woven into our days, the joy of good food shared around the table, and the beauty and heartbreak of raising cattle. Nothing polished. Nothing perfect. Just real life, lived slowly and intentionally.
We want our children to inherit more than land or livestock. We want them to inherit faith, work ethic, generosity, and love — the same things passed down to us.
If you are building a life slowly, faithfully, and with intention, please join us.
We are creating a life worth passing down.
