When I was little, I dreamed of being a teacher. Back when grading papers seemed fun. This was a dream that went away over time. But now here I am homeschooling my kids. Funny how that happened …

One thing I never dreamed of being was a farmer. My connection to farming was limited to visiting the county fair once a year and looking at the animals. Then I met Joe. He had been connected to agriculture for most of his life and knew he wanted to pursue it further. And I fell for this country boy who wouldn’t fit into any of the stereotypical boxes anyone tried to put him in. I decided that wherever he would go, I would go. I believed in him.

The two young people in this picture were still figuring things out. We knew we had a future in agriculture, but weren’t sure what that meant or what we wanted it to look like. We made a lot of mistakes in those days and A LOT of pivots to get to where we are today. And we’re still learning and growing, making mistakes and more pivots.

If someone would’ve told me back in high school that I would be living close to my hometown, running my own farm business with a couple of kids who I homeschool — I would’ve looked at them with raised eyebrows.

I didn’t walk away from any of my dreams. I simply added to them. And the remarkable thing is that they all start to come together into one big dream.

There’s so much yet to live and discover, and no doubt other things to add to that big dream. Just last week we broke ground on the house we’re building on the farm. That was a dream I barely dared to have for years because it seemed too big.

But slowly I started to believe in it, until here we are — looking down into a giant hole where my forever home is going to stand in the not too distant future. The house overlooking the pasture where the animals are grazing peacefully in the fields and my kids are searching for eggs in the brush and chasing chickens around the yard.

Some day I’ll travel the world again. I may even get that novel I’ve been writing published one day. But today I’m going to watch this part of my dream come to life.