10/08/2026
8 years ago I wanted something compete different than I do now. Or at least I thought I did.
After prolonging a bachelors degree about as long as a girl can prolong it, I finally graduated and decided I’d have a baby and then jump into a Ph D program.
We took a “gap” year after the birth of our son and after three months at home we started traveling. My husband’s job at the time had opportunity for him to visit clients across the globe, so we jumped on the chance. And at the time we were debating whether we’d move to NYC or San Francisco. We visited Singapore, India, Europe, and Mexico. We then took an apartment in Jersey City, which was the most convenient for Ram’s job.
But having a baby changed me completely. My core identity was being completely challenged. I began to question everything about myself and what I thought were my dreams.
In 2020ish pregnant with a second baby and living in Jersey City watching NYC start talking about a shut down (for the big C), Ram and I realized we both wanted out. In the city I had spent most of my time in parks or seeking out green spaces, even just sitting by dog parks with my very active toddler. So we decided to break our lease and high-tail it back to Michigan. We had started a farmhouse remodel on 10 acres and that seemed like a paradise compared to a concrete jungle that was soon implementing social distancing rules.
Once home, we both realized we didn’t want to leave and we started building up our homestead again. Things escalated and we’ve found ourselves on a wild journey building a farm over the past 5 years.
It’s been a labor of love; I am so thankful for the life we are building here!
Ram still has to occasionally travel to the city, and everyone he does we are both reminded how good we have it here!
