Our Story

Today, October first, is a day that will forever be close to my heart. It is the day that Caleb and I promised to spend the rest of our lives together. In honor of our anniversary, I've decided to share our story with you.

We never had a magical "love at first sight" moment. In fact, we don't even remember when we first met. But that's because our story actually begins two generations before us.

My grandfather and Caleb's grandfather went to high school together. As time went on, they developed a friendship and found they had mutual interests. Most importantly, they wanted to farm.

A few years, and a couple of kids later, they had both purchased some acreage and had started farming. Our grandfathers spent many hours together. They often swapped equipment or tools, and helped each other with livestock. My mom and Caleb's dad grew up going back and forth between the two farms.

As the families grew, the friendship remained. Every year my family was invited to Caleb's family picnic. We would have a ball swimming in the pond, jumping off the rope swing, and flinging mud at each other. Caleb and I also saw each other at Valentine's or St. Patrick's Day parties that our mothers would host. We have good memories of riding golf karts, playing with goats, and jumping out of treehouses while our moms were distracted (sorry Mom!). Caleb will deny it, but he was an ornery little fellow back in the day. To tell the truth, I found him somewhat annoying. He and his older brother loved to play pranks on my sisters and me. But that's a story for another time.

Several years went by and life shook things up. We grew older. We didn't have Valentine's or St. Patrick's Day parties. My grandfather ended up passing away from cancer and Caleb's family no longer held the annual picnic. Times had changed. I didn't see or really think about Caleb until one summer night when we were invited to his house for a cookout.

I quickly noticed the annoying little boy I grew up with, was now a handsome young man. After a wonderful evening together, we decided the third generation should continue the family friendship. Caleb, his two brothers, my siblings, and I had a lot of adventures over the next few years. All the while I slowly started to fall more in love with the tall, strong, farm boy I had known since childhood.

While all of this was going on, Caleb had started restoring an old tractor that had belonged to my grandfather. I would go and sit in the shop talking to him while he worked on the tractor. He spent many hours on the project and finally, after 2 years, he had it running. It was so special seeing him complete something that my grandfather had wanted to finish!

A year or so later Caleb proposed to me overlooking my grandfather's fields. We were married shortly after in the church yard bordering my grandfather's farm, and rode the tractor that Caleb had restored off to our honeymoon. After living for about a year in a townhouse, we were blessed with the opportunity to purchase the farm next to Caleb's family farm.

Although our story isn't something you'd find on the silver screen, I think it's extra special because of the beautiful history and friendship woven between our families. Caleb and I love farm life and simple living. It's something that runs deep in our veins. I am so very thankful that I God brought us together to share our dreams and continue the legacy our families have left.

Thanks for reading,

Abby