The artist on the farm blog has begun!

Soooooooo. I have started blogs in several places, but decided to finally have a REAL blogspot blog. This will be my official keep writing in it blog.

Today is my 7th anniversary with my husband that I met in first grade! Seven yeeeeeaaars.

My husband was too smart for kindergarten, so he skipped it and ended up in my first grade class. Yes. He WAS younger than me until his birthday which just went by 05/04. Now he's old exactly like me. But, for 7 months each year he gets to lord over me how youthful he is compared to his older wife. That's okay. I was taller than him for years and I lord that over him. Here's a picture of us in fourth grade to prove it. We were both in Mrs. Zeeveld's class. We are in the back row all the way to the right.

We both ended up in an independent study group from 2nd grade through 8th grade together with 12 or so other students. Then we went to the same high school, too. So, I've known him forever. We never dated . . . or even flirted. I knew him to be very polite and a total teacher's pet in every class. He always ended up being a teacher's assistant. One memory I have of him in HS was when he pointed out to me my flawed french r's . . . "that's OUVRE la fenetre, Gina" Thaaaaanks. :D LOL

Well, he got married, I got married. I had a son and never thought of dear short little husband to be. 15 years later, after being divorced for a decade, I searched classmates.com and saw his 10 page perfectly typed profile. I wondered if he remembered me. He thought I was someone else at first that he liked! LOL Then, he was like, "Oooooooh. THAT Gina." But, we ended up talking and chatting extensively. I visited him in Az. He visited me on my new farm in Colorado. Turns out he's a huge "trekker" (fan of Star Trek series for those not in the know). I had just bought a descendant of Capt. Kirk's beautiful Saddlebred horse. So, my husband to be was hooked.

Our marriage was just with us in front of the judge in the courthouse. Then we had chocolate peanut butter pie at a restaurant afterwards to celebrate. Here's a picture taken at that time

We've had many, many, many, many, many, many obstacles thrown in our path these first seven years. Unbelievable obstacles that I may go into later when they come up. But, for now, just believe me, we have been through A LOT. Through it all, our faith in God and his taurus dogged determination and strength have seen us through. He's my hero for so many reasons. (I have to stop to wipe a tear from my eye so I can see. Really! That was not sarcastic.)

He works so hard which lets me try to make a go of my dream of being an artist living on a farm. He drove over an hour each way partially on at least 25 miles of dirt roads that turn to slop in bad weather to his full time job. (I also worked full time in minimum wage jobs at this time on the same horrible dirt roads.) But, he put himself through full time school at this time, graduating with honors and going on to pass his CPA exams on his first try while working full time and supporting all of my son's sports events all over the state.

Having his CPA accreditation, he is now working two full time jobs in accounting. He has such a talent for streamlining and organizing his workloads, that he is able to do the same amount of work of a full time person in less time. He is only doing this because the Colorado Horse Park where he was working full time, has stated it will close if a buyer is not found. He was encouraged to find another position. So, when he looked, he was surprised that he got hired so fast. But, after checking with the other management and former owner, was assured that it was okay to take this new job. He refuses to leave the Colorado Horse Park in the lurch, though. So, he still does all the work he did before while also working at his new job.

Meanwhile, I'm here taking care of the farm and creating art and trying to do all the business things to let people see my wool pet portrait sculptures and other pet portraiture and hopefully, like them and want them for themselves. My end of bringing in the finances has not been nearly as productive as my husband's. With the cost of gas, the commute, the minimum wages that I earn, the falling apart jeep that I own and the stress it brings into our lives and farm, it just isn't feasible for me to work outside the farm anymore. This is the first year that I've been able to stay here and work solely on the art and the farm. We've always heard it takes between 5-10 years for new businesses to take off, so we do the best we can to be patient. I have to do everything to the best of my ability right now in the hopes my husband's sacrifices will be meaningful for him and me. He truly has been my hero and I love him dearly for giving me this opportunity to follow my heart. He is an amazingly strong man and he's super intelligent.

We've had our share of problems and fights . . . believe me! But, by God's grace and all the hard work with attention to integrity and detail we can muster, we will steadily build a future together, offering the world the fruits from the gifts God has given each of us.