Hi! I’m Michaela!
Thank you SO much for being here!
My journey to who I am now, and WHERE I am now, really started in the winter of 2013. Because you better believe that I NEVER in my wildest dreams would have thought I would become a stay at home mom!
What Happened?
I was working full time as an ultrasound technologist, and on call anywhere from 20-100 HOURS a week. I LOVED my career. I made a good income and prided myself as the breadwinner of the household. But in less than 7 years I was already feeling burnt out. I never got home on time, my husband Matthew was having to drop off AND pick up AJ, our almost-2-year-old at the time, from daycare, and we missed practically every family event because I was on call sometimes as often as every other weekend.
So in December of 2013, I was pregnant with baby #2, it was a blizzard outside, I had worked a 13 hour shift and had been called back in to the hospital 3 times already that evening. It was now 1am and I had not been to bed yet and had to work a 13 hour shift again the next day. The pager went off AGAIN for an ultrasound exam in the ER. I got off the phone with the doctor, burst into angry tears, and I’m sure with crazy-eyes told Matt I was quitting my job. That weekend I wrote my letter of resignation and literally just prayed that God would provide. Best decision (and craziest) that I ever made.
Surprise!
Fast forward to the summer of 2014. Three weeks after having that baby we sold our house and moved to my husband’s family farm. We overhauled our budget and God really is providing. We have some farmland, some pasture, and a few cattle so far, along with helping my in-laws with the family farm/ranch. Matthew still works full-time as an agronomist too. So that’s my crazy story in a nutshell of how I got to where we are—we took a HUGE leap of faith!
Our 3-year-old checking the cows.
I LOVE being home with my kids. In 2017 we added another daughter to our family.
Our first family photos as a family of five! Image by Nicole Smith Photography, Scottsbluff, NE
In 2014 I also became a health and fitness coach and a certified PiYo Live fitness class instructor. In 2016 I added Core de Force to the list of classes I love to instruct.
A few months after I had quit my full-time job we were getting ready to go out of town for a family function and I just broke down crying. I realized how much LIFE we had missed with me working so much. So now I work, but it doesn’t feel like work because I spend all my time on what I am passionate about—my family, our farm, fitness, and supporting other moms.
2021
Now it’s 2021 and I am updating again. So much has happened in the past couple of years. We added another daughter in 2020–yes, three girls and one boy now!
2020 Family photo by Clicks by Kim.
Besides having a baby in 2020, we had another life-changing event. I was diagnosed with a large brain tumor and needed emergent surgery. By the grace of God, surgery went well, the tumor was benign, and recovery was pretty seamless.
It definitely changed my mindset and made my faith stronger than ever. So you might notice that this blog has done a bit of a pivot. I am still passionate about good food, farming, my family, and faith, but you might notice me posting a little less frequently, because our four kids are my main priority in this season of life. They don’t leave a whole lot of time for writing right now!
I hope what you find here leaves you feeling encouraged, strengthens YOUR faith in our awesome God, and just reassures you that you are not alone in this journey of motherhood.
Thanks for visiting my blog! Check back soon!
