The Big White Farmhouse

There’s a fun game going around Instagram where you share 20 facts about yourself and then tag a few friends to do the same.  I kept getting interrupted trying to write my list on my phone, so I just decided to share on the blog!  Here are 20 things you probably didn’t know about me:


1. I tend to squint when I smile big, making for really great pictures as you can see above.
2. I have a big sweet tooth and my favorite treat in the whole world is a doughnut.  I prefer chocolate frosted or sprinkle, but I’ve never been known to turn a doughnut away, especially a fresh one.
3. After watching from the sidelines for years, I started running in the spring of 2012 and it’s changed my life for the better.  Also helpful to combat #2.  
4. I’m running my first half marathon next month and I think it would be fun to run one in every state.  My husband thinks I’m crazy.
5. Math was my favorite subject in school.
6. When I was pregnant with TJ, I craved and ate tomatoes every day.  It truly was my first healthy craving during pregnancy; my usual choices are cheeseburgers and ice cream.
7. I don’t like mashed potatoes, but will eat them scalloped or as hashbrowns.  It’s a texture thing.
8. When I graduated middle school, I was named “Most Likely to be a Librarian” and was mortified.  I mean, how uncool is a librarian?  Now, at 30, I think it’d make a pretty awesome job.
9. I’m not a big drinker, a fact that doesn’t bother me, but surprises other people.
10. I always thought I’d be a mother to a lot of boys, but I’m so grateful God had other plans and gave me Sophie too.  I’m a better person because of her.
11. My dream is to move to a farmhouse on an acre (or five or ten) of land.  There aren’t tons of options where we live (hello suburbia!), but I’m hoping we can find a diamond in the rough someday.
12. I never really liked coffee until my third baby was born.  Now I drink two cups a day and only with a splash of milk.  Funny the lengths you’ll go to combat exhaustion.
13. The only time I’ve left the country was for World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002.  
14. My husband is my best friend and he can make me laugh more than any other person.
15. I hate being late and try to be at every commitment at least ten minutes early.  “Hurry up and wait” is my motto, which I get from my grandmother and my father.
16. I’ve had epidurals for all of my babies and don’t regret it.  
17. We had a really small wedding with only our family and best friends present, about 35 people in all.  It was perfect and a weekend that we still talk about.
18. We’re celebrating our 10 year anniversary this fall.  I can’t believe how fast the time has gone.
19. If I were to go back to school, I think I would study graphic or interior design.
20. I’m so thankful for all of the women I’ve met through the blog and social media.  It’s so encouraging to have relationships with like-minded mothers and I know they’ve made me feel less alone in this stage in my life.  I wish I could have everyone over for dinner!

A collection of our ordinary days, recorded every week.  At the end of the year, I’ll publish them into a keepsake to treasure.

Around here, I have been:

enjoying a few days of spring weather (one day was in the mid-70s!) before it turned cold and rainy.  I know warm temperatures are on their way, but gosh is it hard to wait when we get previews like Monday! 

making homemade bread in the bread machine and the kids love it.  I made three loaves in two days!   


receiving new product for Big White Farmhouse.  We restocked the You are My Sunshine and Best Buds garden markers, as well as the napkin rings. 


smiling at sweet Sophie’s latest: As we were about to leave the house, she went through the names of all her brothers, asking if they were coming with us.  After I answered, she paused, pointed to her feet and asked, “Me boots come too?”   

dealing with a home owner disaster: our water heater flooded! Mark fortuitously discovered the water while looking for something in our basement.  It was about nine at night and we spent the next couple hours using every towel we own (and blankets and sheets), sopping it all up.  A new water heater and a smaller savings account later, we’re almost back to normal.

running my first tempo run for my training and feeling great!  9 mile long is coming this weekend.

reading A Fifty-Year Silence: Love, War, and a Ruined House in France 

preparing to try container gardening for the first time.  I’m determined that this is the year I find my green thumb!  We’re still deciding how much we want to tackle, but tomatoes, peppers and herbs are on the list.