To the farm we go

I recently moved to the picturesque hillside of the Ribbon Ridge AVA which lies in the heart of the Willamette Valley of Oregon. I moved here to start a life with my love and in doing so, have left my city home of Seattle for one full of (as the title states), Bullfrogs and Bulldogs among a plethora of other new and exciting changes. I now live on 50 acres of the most beautiful piece of property you just may ever see. Grateful hardly even comes close to how I feel right now. Twenty-six of these acres consist of the family vineyard which is in its 3rd year. They will be producing wine from their own vineyard this fall. The picture below, as beautiful as  it is, still doesn’t even do it justice. To put it simply, this place is magical. But, as I am quickly finding out, all things this beautiful require a lot of blood, sweat, and the occasional tear (yes, I’ve had my moment of tears). So what have I learn thus far? I have composed a list some of my biggest lessons thus far.

View from our bedroom window overlooking the backyard

Number One:  You have to learn quickly when to call it a day. Your to do list really is never-ending and accepting this fact alone will save you many sleepless nights and 12 hour days.

Number Two: Dirt and dust is just a part of life in the country. No matter how many times I sweep or dust, it’s guaranteed that the floors, tables, bookshelves, etc will have a nice thin layer again by the end of the day.

Number Three:  Make sure you get everything you need when in town. Running to the store ‘real quick’ just doesn’t really exist anymore. Write you list on your phone because it’s inevitable that you will forget your hand written one on the dinning room table every time you leave to run errands.

Number Four:  TOMS and Chucks really just aren’t suitable for country life. You never know what you’ll step in so I have now resorted to only wearing my muck boots around the property. Hey, muck boots and shorts could become the next fashion statement!

Number Five:  Seven day work weeks are not a rarity. They are the norm. Yet, when you love what you are doing it seems to be pretty okay.

Number Six:  Animals aren’t ‘little’ people as I’ve been lead to believe. They are animals and in many cases on a farm,  food. (Still adjusting to this one). Those cute little chickens that I want to raise will become dinner eventually.

Number Seven:  “Working out” has a complete new meaning. It’s no longer easy to ‘run’ to the gym real quick. Instead, I’m running around the vineyard and up and down 4 flights of stairs 30 times a day. Yet again, I just don’t seem to mind all that much. It’s far more gratifying to walk the 26 acre vineyard at the end of the day with my love and the pups then to sweat on a treadmill. I have gone running through the neighborhood or in other words, the road that runs along the other vineyards on the ridge. Not too shabby I must say.

and last….

Number Eight: I haven’t been happier in all my life. It’s a blessing that I have been so lucky to find the man of my dreams and that he happened to come with the life of my dreams. I’ve been counting my blessings every single day.

So there you go. In the short week and a half I’ve lived here I have already learned so much. This blog is an outlet for me to journal my experiences, what I learn, how I grow, what I create and it’s also an opportunity for all of you to learn and grow as well. I look forward to the journey.