After giving much thought to what I would write on my very first blog post, I have decided to share with you why my blog is named "little house in the big city":-) From the time I was a very small child until I got married, I listened to my parents read the "Little House on the Prairie" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder over and over again until I believe I have parts memorized! There was something though in those books that caught my attention, even when I was small, that kept me coming back to those books even after I was married and had children. **by the way, I love to read them to my kids and we're reading Little House in the Big Woods right now at night before bed** Anyways, what always caught my attention was the simplistic life of the Ingalls family. Easy? NO! but simplistic. There was a quietness, a calmness, a satisfaction with simple things that always drew me in and made me want to know more about that life. I grew up on a large farm in Middle TN and had horses, cows, chickens, barns, tractors, etc...around me all the time, but still I longed for more! I got married and moved to the city for the first time in my life, and boy, was it like culture shock for me! Noise, dirt, exhaust, people, people, and more people...overwhelming at times, but in many ways I adjusted. Still, lingering on in the deepest recesses of my heart, was that inner desire for the country, its people, and its way of life. It's now 2011 and I now live in "rural" city,  BUT in many ways have finally been able to adopt some of that simplistic lifestyle that I dreamed about as a kid! On a side note, the house pictured on my blog is not mine, but just a shell of one someday I hope to have:-) I like to homeschool my kids, grow herbs and make yummy teas, tinctures, and syrups, grind my grain, soak the grains to make fresh bread and granola, make my own cheese and cream cheese, garden, and someday hope to have my own cow! The only thing I'm lacking is my land:-) Working on that at present, but still content to be where I am because I know it is what God has for me (and us) at this time! So for now I will live in my "little house in the big city" and share with you what it's like for a family of five living country in the city! 

I will also be posting current pictures of the children and their activities to keep all my family up to date with what's happening in their little lives and the progress that they are making in school and church activities. We have a family "stay"cation coming up soon and have lots of fun activities planned for the kids...lots of history and culture activities as well as some good ole' swimming hole fun! Until next time...."Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee"