There's No Place Like Home...

Well, the impossible has happened! I am on the cusp of my thirtieth birthday! How does this happen? I assume it happened over minutes, hours, birthdays, graduations, late nights and early mornings. I remember when the thought of turning thirty was as absurd as thinking about home equity loans and durable wall primer. Oh how things change!

My days are filled with a car pool, laundry baskets and dishwasher loads. I love love love being a mother to my three, beautiful children. They show me valleys of love I never knew existed in my heart before. They also bring me to the brink of my sanity and with one slobbery kiss from my youngest, I remember how wonderful of a gift motherhood really is... remind me of this from time to time should I forget won't you? :)

I am pretty sure when we said our vows, Patrick and I thought our life would be predictably unpredictable. There would (hopefully) be children, a home, and we would live the American dream....very "after school special" esque. Who could want for more?!

I prayerfully and diligently sought after a full time teaching position for over two years. I just knew I would find happiness and fulfillment within the four walls of a public classroom. Although I did fall in love with each of those children in those seats when I finally had my own classroom, my heart cried for my two little ones at home. After two years in the class room I began to pray for guidance, and peace in wherever I was meant to be.

Patrick and I decided to give it over to God, and I took a leave of absence as an educator. Many peers praised me for my dedication to my family, but I was torn. Do I give up my four years at the university, and four years in the field to tend to my babies? My profession could wait, but those little people at home were growing by the day. If there was ever any question in my decision, about a week after I formally resigned, we found out there would be another St. J baby on the way! I see what you did there God...

Here I am now, two years later, with very full hands and a very full heart. We are busting at the seams in our three bedroom house, chasing a dog, toting three children and packing boxes! The St. J family is on to a brand new adventure!

I was born on a farm and was raised hand planting pumpkin seeds every summer. I grew up knowing the value of a dollar, the feel of the June sun shining on me behind the tractor, and the taste of icy well water after the seeds were sewn. I am overjoyed that my children have the opportunity to grow up in similar fashion. Patrick and I are beginning a brand new adventure; we are purchasing the pumpkin patch! With the help of Farmer Joe, who will still be the brains and braun of the pumpkin operation, and Mrs. Farmer Marsha, we will continue the wonderful tradition!

With the pumpkin patch comes many responsibilities and exciting opportunities for our little family. We will be packing up the Barbies, trucks and tiny shoes and moving into the gorgeous Victorian that anchors the barn in the center of town, where I grew up myself! My heart and imagination are soaring with excitement and ideas!

This blog will be my 'notebook' of sorts! I will be blogging about the move, the farm, the Victorian, becoming an entrepreneur, and motherhood! I am a child of Christ, a lover of antiques, a mother, a wife, and now, Lord willing, a business owner. Though there may not be a yellow brick road to follow on this adventure, I already know, there's no place like home :)