Essay Contest Winner!

From Robin:

What does being a Farm Girl mean to me?
I had never given the phrase Farm Girl much thought since I had been raised a farm girl by a farm girl and around other farm girls. It has always been my way of life. But I never really had considered myself a farm girl until I read some of Mary Jane Butters magazines and her Idea Book. I realized then that I was a lot like her and her friends in many ways.

I think that family is the most important thing in a farm girls life. That is what she spends her day doing is taking care of her family. Of course every farm girl does this in a different way. I am fortunate enough to live in a small town and have some land of my own to raise a garden on. I am a frugal person and nothing goes to waste. I start my seedlings in my used milk jugs and tin cans. I use the tops of the tin cans nailed to a stick to mark the rows in my garden. I can and freeze as much as I possibly can in the summer time. I do share with the neighbors and friends. This saves on our household expenses tremendously. At each meal there is something that I have put away from the summer harvest. I try to sew as many of my clothes and household items that I can. I make all of my own cleaners and I of course use a clothesline. In the summertime we have big outdoor parties like you would see in Country Living or Southern Living magazines.

One of my favorite things about being a farm girl is having a Farm Girl Chapter that I regularly get together with my friends, old and new that I have met through the group. I think that this is one of my favorite things that I have found through Mary Jane. But how can you have just one favorite thing from such an amazing woman. Right now our chapter is working on a quilt block of the month. We are all having such a great time.

I have had friends of mine tell me that they would love to be a farm girl but they live in the city. I does not matter where you live or what your income is, you can always be a farm girl.

Mom and Dad

A friend on the MaryJanesFarm forum asked for us to share about our mom's and dad's so I thought I would post the answer here as well.


My Mom (Sage) is amazing. When I was growing up she was the Director of our local museum which gave her many contacts into historical events in our community. She took me to archeology digs, dinosaur digs, I got to go with her to dig fossils with a group from the Smithsonion (Very cool!). On top of that, she is an amazing seamstress and artist. She always has been able to whip out a costume or dress for us girls whenever we have needed it, even if it has been on really short notice (Sorry Mom!) I know we have cost her many a night's sleep as she worked tirelessly to finish a project, whether it was sewing or hot gluing and glittering decorations or what have you. (By the way Mom, what is your secret?!)She has always been a wonderful mom and friend, even though at times I did not appreciate it. Now that I am a bit older, I appreciate her so much that my day just doesn't seem complete if I haven't called her!

My Dad is just as amazing as my mom. He volunteered as an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) for 18 years in our home town. He and my grandfather did most of the work building our family cabin (looks like a monopoly house! :D ) He is always willing to put family before his own personal interests. He works so hard that I have often felt guilty asking him to do one more thing for me, but he always is so happy to help. He even build the waterfall that was the backdrop for my wedding ceremony and it was perfect! (Okay so it leaks water from the water return resevoir but it still worked!) He worked so hard on the yard and house this past year so it would be perfect for my wedding. Not only is he hard working, but he is kind as well. I can chat with my dad just as easily as I can my mom!

Wow! It has been a while!

I am so sorry it has been a while since I last posted. First, my laptop got a virus and I ended up having to re-format before I could save any files. So I lost everything. Good thing all of our photos had been loaded onto Photobucket long before this happened. Or at least I think it was all of them. I hope it was all of them!

Then it has been snowing like crazy here. So all of my free time has been going to dig us out after and in between each snow fall. One day I got my car high centered on snow going to work, coming home from work, when I got home infront of my house, and then the next day again in front of my house (different location). Each time I had to have someone with a truck drag my poor car forward or backwards. Either that, or wait for the spring thaw. Which might happen this week which is really bad. We are supposed to get temperatures up in the mid fourties which sounds great after all this below freezing weather- except for the HUGE snow drifts everywhere. We are going to have melting water trying to find somewhere to go and all the storm drains are covered in 3-4 feet (yes, feet!) of snow. Not to mention our storm gutters are full of ice, our roofs are creaking under the snow weight. So it will be interesting to see where the water goes.

Nora is doing great. She can walk with the help of a rolling walker toy from Fisher Price. It is so adorable. At first she was a bit leary of walking with the toy, and now she crawls over to it all the time! She even can pull herself up on it without help, which I think is great especially since it rolls really easily. She also has been enjoying her first "horsey" rides where she rides on my back as I crawl around on hands and knees. She does great! I hope this means that she will be a natural at riding real horses when the time comes!

Doug was really sweet to let me borrow his computer when my was down, but I really love having mine back again!

Oh! Did I mention that Doug took me to the card room 8 minutes away to play poker and I ended up leaving the table with more money than when I sat down? I made $57 in about 2 hours. It was lots of fun, though I have lots to learn if I want to play poker very often.

I am going to post the Essay contest winners and the Essay tomorrow. Until then, I will leave you with some pictures of my world in the last few days!