Are you one of our people?

Karyn here. In my life, I have been a farm girl, school teacher, software instructor, hospital office worker, friend, mother, wife and nerd. My favorite things to nerd about right now are homesteading, old rusty stuff, gardening and cooking.

I love strong coffee and breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I love a good bargain! I try to never pay full price for anything. I avoid drama in life. It sucks the life out of a person and is a huge waste of time.

Although I grew up on a farm in Iowa, I lived in large cities for 14 years of my life. I did enjoy it, but so missed the wide open spaces and more simple way of life. When I started having children, I also longed for the safety and security of the small town where I grew up. In that town, neighbors helped neighbors and anyone else that needed it. Farmers were the backbone and lived their lives without punching a clock. It was hard work, but very fulfilling.

In 2002, I moved back to that small town, and I have no regrets. I met Dan in October 2013 and we were married one year later.

Dan grew up in the Appalachian mountains of northeast Tennessee. In his life, he has been a soldier, assembly line worker, farmer, and for the last 18 years, a sign maker. Dan has a passion for working with his hands. He’s creative and willing to learn. Whenever he has a spare moment he is outside “puttering”.  He works on improving our property, building things, fixing things and learning as he goes.

Dan’s father loved knives and passed that onto him. When he was 11, he made his first knife. He is right now building a blacksmith shop on our property. Dan’s father also instilled in him a tremendous work ethic and an amazing ability to bargain and barter.  

Martial arts took hold of Dan when he was in the military.  He now owns and operates the local karate school part-time and is a black belt in Kenpo karate.

We live on 8 acres of land and have what feels like the perfect place to become less dependent on buying things in stores and paying electric bills. We are poised to make a simple living right here. Our goal is not just to survive, but thrive here for the rest of our lives.

We want you to know, that on this site we will never recommend to you any ideas, methods or products that we haven’t tried ourselves or that haven’t been highly recommended by someone we trust. We don’t have a lot of control over random ads that might be placed on these pages, but if we personally mention something, it is worth it and a good bet it will be worth it for you also.

We hope you’ll find this space a place where you can learn and grow along with us – it’s so much more helpful to be in a place with like-minded people. Not to mention more entertaining and motivating! Signing up for our monthly newsletter at the SUBSCRIBE link above will make things more personal. We promise not to bury you in email (who has time for that??). We look forward to sharing with you!