08/24/2026
Last night, we made a post featuring a campfire with a lovely lake and mountainous background, and asked who could come up with the mystery location first, to win a tshirt.
It was simple, but it ended up being the kind of post that really made me think. Josh is from the next town over, and I’m from all the way up in Central Maine - about 2.5 hours north of the farm. It has been wonderful to experience this new life, and I know for a fact and without a doubt that we were destined for this journey, but it has come with transitional challenges that are easier on some days than others.
I came from a world where I knew most everyone around me, and I worked so incredibly hard to get to that point. I used the challenges of life to try to inspire anyone that was in need of positivity, and I made the decision that helping others and helping myself would be the best way to live a good life. At twenty two, I bought a cabin in the woods next to the lake, I taught myself how to renovate it, and I dedicated myself to volunteerism on top of a normal work life. I did all of the things that positioned me for the kind of happy, comfortable life where you could run into the grocery store, and always see five friendly people you knew.
When I left town, I feared that would all disappear.
And for a while, it did.
I pushed through my task list with the goal of embracing brand new scenery, while growing in huge ways. It was quiet - I was nervous.
Then, I began to realize that all of the people that I gained over many years, were ONLY 2.5 hours away. Friendships started forming with our new neighbors, customers, and like-minded business owners from our surroundings. It started to click, and feel like ends were meeting.
And when every part of me felt selfish for keeping that little cabin up north, while taking on what felt like endless other responsibilities, Josh assured me that the cabin was going no where. My “soul house”; the one that nourished me as I grew into the human I am today, and the one where Josh and I started our life together. There are days that I wish I could pick it up and bring it with us, but then I remember how much that doesn’t make sense.
We LOVE that house exactly where it sits; Right next to so, so, so many people that we cherish and adore. Right in the middle of the state, giving us the freedom to go to places like Greenville, or Flagstaff Lake, or The Forks … the mountains, ponds, rivers, and woods of Northern Maine. The ability to integrate the new life of Christmas Tree Farmers and event venue owners, with the peace and calm that I started sewing together almost ten years ago, before I even found Josh.
A lot of things simply didn’t make sense; Why work so hard, to ultimately feel like you’re starting from scratch again? But now, finally, it makes all the sense in the world - We knew that it eventually would.
If you have something that you feel called to, you need to follow it and you need to allow it to take you.
If you have ever made us feel loved before we got here, I thank you, and you still live in our hearts JUST the same - no matter how far the distance.
And, if you’re one of the newer individuals in our lives that have made us feel like we belong here, with a brand new spark for life, I want you to know how much that has helped up settle into place.
This was a lot for a little post about the Northern Maine woods, but I’ve always believed that the greatest things can come from the smallest starts, and I mean that in every sense of the phrase.
Use. Your. Life. 🤎
