Hello, friend. If you are new, welcome! And if you have been a friend for a long time, thank you for sticking around!

We want to reintroduce ourselves and for you to get to know us a little bit more.

So here goes, this is our #happyfarmily story. Yes, there's meant to be an 'R' in there ;-)

How it all started

So, you see, our podcast is not so new. We started it almost 5 years ago, in May 2019, after a life-changing event for our family.

Annette was nine months pregnant, and at the time, she was an ICU rapid response nurse. She decided to work until almost her due date. 

At 37 weeks pregnant, she still went to work. But one particular day, she felt like something wasn't quite right and felt very uncomfortable. She did a lot of walking in that job and worked 12-hour shifts. All with her pregnant belly. 

When she got home, she told me, Jared, that she was having cramps in her legs and was just so tired, all while attending to our sick alpaca. That night, she slept really poorly and had to go to the bathroom all the time. 

So the next day was a Friday, and Annette had her 37-week appointment at the hospital. And if you do not know, we live out in the country. We live about an hour north of Atlanta, Georgia, and the doctors were in Atlanta.

Annette asked me to go with her to this appointment because I had not attended any appointments since the beginning.

She got ready to go to the doctor, and somehow had her hospital bag packed.

And off we went to the hospital

She saw a midwife and told her, "Hey, I've been feeling really uncomfortable more than ever". She goes to check on Annette, and the look on her face drastically changed.

So the midwife went to get somebody else. The next midwife, who Annette had seen before, came in, and she had this look on her face.

She said, "You're going to have a baby today; you're going straight to the hospital. You are seven centimeters dilated."

Annette was like, "Come again. I'm sorry, what?" And the nurse replied, "You're in full-blown labor. What you've been feeling is you've been having contractions for the last 24 hours." 

From there, everything progressed and little Ava made her appearance!

We arrived home after a few days, adjusting to life with a baby.

Farm life waits for no one.

Here's the thing, friend: farm life ain't waiting for a baby. Everything goes on.

There are seedlings to be planted. There are animals to be cared for still. The alpaca still needs his medicine.

And between all the new chaos, I had a bright idea. I told Annette, "You know what I think we should do? Let's start a podcast!"

And so, a week after Little Ava was born, we started our podcast, and now here we are, 4 years later!

Jared's Story

I was born in the 80's.

Growing up, school was never my jam, although I did well at it. I was into sports and played lots of golf and basketball, but I also grew up in a home of hustling parents.

These were entrepreneurs to the core. Everything they did was with full risk of failure.

People say you need to go to college, and so I followed their advice. But when I got out, I felt like I was still all about the hustling game. Like my parents were.

I was meant to be an entrepreneur.

But college wasn't all for nothing; this is where I met Annette ;-)

Fast forward many years and many business ventures later, and now we're in the country. That's quite a change to the typical business/ corporate/ entrepreneurial world.

But, I am loving it here, and I am still obsessed with business and several different ventures centered around health and wellness. 

And between it all, I often sing to the flock, scrape alpaca poop, and plant veggies. What a life!

Annette's Story

My parents got kicked out of communist Cuba in 1980 because my father was a pastor.

They went over to the USA in a little boat. It was made for only 12 people, but there were 30 to 40 people. They were lost at sea for 3 days till the Coast Guard found them.

My dad was in a concentration camp for three years because he believed in God. 

I was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and growing up, my parents instilled a lot of things in me that came as a result of their background.

My parents were very strict about going to school and working hard. The whole concept of being an entrepreneur or doing anything like that was so foreign to them because, obviously, they could not do that coming from Cuba.

So complete opposite of Jared's family...

I went to college, got my nursing degree, and started working after. I also had a creative side, and ventured into designing wedding gowns for about 10 years.

I went to New York Fashion Week, got to be in fun magazines, and even met Martha Stewart. I mean, it was pretty exciting and a busy period!

It was a fun time, but something else called us for more. We wanted to do something different with our lives. We decided to make a change and move to the country.

Today I am a full-time homemaker.

I enjoy quality time with Ava, getting my hands in the soil, making garden-to-table recipes, attending to our animals, and inspiring a community by sharing what we do.

Our happily ever after

But not without its struggles!

In 2008, we started looking for land. We couldn't find anything for years that we could afford, and that was even plausible. But eventually, we found something in 2015. 

It wasn't the prettiest property and had so much work to be done. But we decided that we needed to make the jump. This place had a barn and a few acres.

It was doable.

So we built our house, added animals, and started a garden. Annette started sharing about our journey on Instagram for family and friends to see, which, much to our surprise, grew into a big community.

When Ava was about two and a half years old, Annette decided to stay home and not work at the hospital anymore. away. The commute was a lot every single day, back and forth, and she missed out too much of Ava growing up.

A lot of our friends thought we were crazy moving out here. 

Everyone thought we were insane. 

And as we built our home and farm, and now that we're here, when those friends come, they say, ah, we get it now!

That’s how our happy farmily came to be.

We love to share what we do, and hopefully, it can bring you joy and happiness.

Over the last few years, we've realized how many relationships around us have broken down. So we're hoping to turn this podcast into talking not only about our farm stories but also about cultivating healthy relationships.

Everything in life is a relationship with someone or something. We have a good thing going and are working on it continuously.

Many people may not have a good thing going and don't know why. Maybe they're trying to work on it, and it's not working.

We're hoping to spread this idea, that as crazy as your home and family may be, you can make it a happy one.

And anything we can do to help people on their journey, even if it is a little drop in the ocean, we want to do our part.

If you have thought of something you want us to share, let us know and share your stories. We would love to hear them!

Thanks for being along for the ride, and may we help you cultivate healthy relationships in all aspects of your life.

See you in the next episode (or blog) when we will chat about how the power of goal setting can shape your life and share some strategies on how to achieve your new year goals.

Jared & Annette

simple country living

Join me, Annette, in connecting with nature on a deeper level and answering the calling deep within for a simpler life.

In Simple Country Living, you’ll find a sampler covering homesteading techniques that can be put to work no matter where you live.

Recipes, tips, tricks, and family activities will help you reduce waste, save money, and harness new skills.

Topics include:

• The natural and nature-inspired home

• Cultivating a garden

• What to plant in your garden

• Preserving the harvest

• Mastering the home kitchen