An Intro...

Knowing where to begin is many times difficult for me, and this is no exception. I created this blog a few days ago and it's taken me this long just to make myself sit down and compose my first post! At last I've settled on opening by way of an introduction.....

A little about myself.......I'm a 35 year old woman, dedicated to and driven by my passions for the Lord, my husband, and my children. I have been a stay-at-home mom since our oldest child was born and began homeschooling 9 years ago when he was just 4 years old. My interests include reading, learning, cooking, gardening, and healthy living. I have a desire to live more simply, and am slowly taking steps towards that end (it's not as easy as I'd hoped it would be!).

We are "newbies" here in rural Alabama, where we moved this past year after my sweet hubby retired from the Navy (actually, he is an Alabama native, so I guess he's not so "new" here). Previously, we resided in Maryland (my home state), but over time God had impressed upon us certain principles/goals that could not easily be met without relocating our family. Our move to the south has better enabled us to pursue a debt-free, family-centered, back-to-nature lifestyle. By no means have we yet "arrived", but daily we strive to make choices which move us closer to those goals. Of course our main goal continues to be that of knowing and pleasing the Lord. All else, hopefully, pales in comparison to this priority.

Our family......God chose the perfect man to be my husband and has blessed us with 6 precious children here on earth (and one baby who has preceeded us to the Lord). I am fiercely in love with each one of them! Since I'm concerned about internet safety and uncomfortable using their "real" names, I'm opting to grant them "blog names". Haven't worked out the details yet on that, so I'll reveal their "blog identities" in the next post.

Oh, there is so much more to tell! I'm afraid my initial posts here could potentially be a bit random and unorganized as I attempt to transfer all that is in my head onto a computer screen. Bear with me....I'm new at this!

There----I did it! I started the blog :).