Oh, the Fumbling Farmhouse. I’ll be honest, this name was pretty much the first one I came up with when I decided I should start a blog. But then of course, I spent hours second guessing and considering a bunch of other names. I just couldn’t find one that fit as well as The Fumbling Farmhouse. I think it sums up what I’m trying to do with this. Plus, I’m a sucker for some alliteration.
I want this blog to be a therapeutic place for me to do some writing, but I also want this to be a place where people can laugh at a story, relate to an experience, or learn some stuff. I’ve always loved writing and I’m a teacher at heart (and in reality–hehe). In the past, I have even toyed with the idea of blogging. My biggest issue back then was not being able to identify the point of me writing a blog. Like, what would I be sharing with the internet? What could I offer that wasn’t already in a million places? For some reason, now really feels like a good time for me to start a blog; so either I finally feel like my blog would have a purpose, or I’ve just gotten past the insecurity of writing something and sending it into the interwebs. Honestly could go either way.
The things I want to share here are some stories from my life. My husband J and I moved into an old farmhouse last winter (like built in the 1890s old) and that in itself is an adventure. I feel like we’re always working on some little something–or at least dreaming of what we’ll work on when lumber prices go back down–so I want to share those stories. We are DIY-ers because we are way too cheap to pay someone else to do something for us, especially if it is something that we can fumble through with the help of youtube (see where fumbling comes from yet?). I figure that maybe reading this blog will be a refreshing way to hear from a couple of people who have no idea what they are doing, but are also determined not to pay someone else who does. Hopefully that’s relatable. We also suddenly have property now, so I built and planted a garden this year. It’s only June, but so far we’ve had moderate levels of successes and failures. I’ll tell you what I did that worked, and I’ll also own my absolute failures. I have very little idea of what I’m doing, I’m basically just trying to follow my grandmother’s directions. Grandma’s advice>Google.
I also teach high school English full time and I work part time in student ministries for my church. My first three years in education were pretty unique as far as teaching experiences go (more stories on that later), and in all reality, teenagers are just unpredictable. Every day in either job is a new adventure. I’m hoping to be able to share the hilarious, the powerful, the painful, the random bits of advice I wish I’d had, etc. etc. When I describe myself as an educator, I often label myself as a Type-B teacher. I come off very Type-A–I over plan, I have Google Docs on Google Docs all organized in in-depth folders, I go to all the extra training–you get the picture. But once I’m in a classroom or in front of kids? There is just no telling what will happen. I’m all for trying out new things, and I’ll be real when I say some of those things have failed miserably. I am the queen of planning out a lesson, and then winging it hard. I fumble and bumble my way through the school year. But in the end, I think a lot of the students learn some stuff, and I for sure grow and learn a lot each year.
So that’s kind of the background of my purpose here and where the name came from. I tried thinking of ways to incorporate faith because it is so important in our lives, but the “faithful” or “faith-filled” farmhouse is already taken. And Fumbling, Faithful Farmhouse is just way too long and alliterative. The longer I’ve sat with the name, the more I feel like, yup, this fits me and fits what I’m trying to accomplish.
I’m glad you’re here. I hope you stay or look around. It’ll be an adventure.
Here’s to the fumble!
P.S. Definitely “pardon my dust” as I try to kick this blog off and figure out how wordpress works. Again, not paying for the fancy tutorials, though I will be consulting youtube. It might take a minute to get this looking pretty. I’m fumbling through this blog process too! 🙂
The Fumbling Farmhouse 