Welcome to the Farmhouse!

Hi friends! I can’t tell you how happy and excited I am that you’re all here!!

For almost a year, God has been placing a desire to write and share with others, I truly feel that now is the perfect time to listen to that persistent calling and see where He leads me (and us)!

I am excited to get to share a space where we can partake, encourage, laugh, relate, praise and be thankful together.

To kick things off I am going to share a few things about myself; after all, introductions are always the best way to start something new!

My name is Martina – some call me Martina, others call me Nana, Martini, Martin, Tini, Aunt TeeTee, and wifey. I live in a small, rural town in Franklin County – the cows are plentiful, the tractors are many and smelling manure is a common occurrence traveling our backroads. I grew up having the BEST childhood- I grew up on a dairy farm. Things weren’t always easy and there was much work to be done, but I wouldn’t trade any of it at all for the entire world! With farming comes many life lessons indeed, but I would never want to take back any of the early mornings, difficult heifer milkings, or hot summer days; honestly, there’s just too many gorgeous sunrises and times spent with God to wish it be any different, despite the hard times. Five years ago this past July, our family decided it was time for something new! With the stresses and economics of dairy farming, it was best to provide our farm to a new family and see where life took us next. I will be honest, I was heartbroken and wondering how that space in my heart could ever be filled again. God has provided so many new adventures and people in my life to help me along the way. He has been faithful and I see His works continually throughout life since then.

This past September I also got married! My husband is such a joy and blessing in my life. He endlessly encourages me in so many ways and his faith is contagious as we navigate life together. We live in a little farmhouse with roughly 100 acres spread all around us. To say it is a blessing to continue to live in this old cozy home is truly an understatement. Now don’t get me wrong, some days my creaky old steep steps, lack of outlets and horse hair plaster walls frustrate me, but it’s warm in the winter, the fridge is always full and many memories have been made here. We even got married right in the pasture beside this quaint little house. There are so many emotional connections to this house – after all, it has been a part of our family farm for quite a number of years - many childhood memories in the fields around me, memories of farmhands up at the barn feeding the cattle and pigs, many sunsets being watched on the swing out back while sipping on coffee, deer hunted in the back woods, and years of making a house a home here. My husband and I have many dreams of what will become of this 97 year old farmhouse, but for now, this house where I look out and see all God’s beauty and handiwork, where I think about life, where I pray to God, where I find comfort and cry tears, where I have celebrated life accomplishments, where my heart is filled with so many memories – this will be right where I share my farmhouse view….

Ten Random Facts About Me:

1. I had a slight obsession with dressing our cows up every holiday (when you live on a farm, some of the cows end up becoming your “pets”). Normally I dressed up our calves but occasionally, some of the bigger girls got fancied up too. I honestly don’t even know how it started or why, but they cooperated (most of the time) and it seemed to bring joy to others. #crazycowlady

2. I run on lists, lists and more lists. If you ever check out my work bag, there won’t be a day goes by that I don’t have my planner with me. And inside that planner is probably four running lists – grocery lists, to do lists, don’t forget this lists, what I am going to do each day this week lists – and most weeks, I end up losing or forgetting at least one of those lists. I think it keeps me organized but maybe I am just wasting paper instead or maybe I lose them because God wants me to stop planning so much. Still pondering the lists subject...

3. My husband and I were wed on our five year “dating” anniversary. My husband always wanted a Friday evening wedding and I always wanted a September/Fall wedding. After we were engaged last November, picking out the perfect date was a really big deal to me - it HAD to be a special day, afterall, we were going to be celebrating that date for years to come! When I checked out the calendar and saw our dating anniversary fell on a Friday, I knew it was meant to be! God is good and we had a beautiful evening wedding right here on the farm.

4. Just a little over 2 years ago I was diagnosed with Lyme disease. With that diagnosis was five other diagnoses. Two years later and I am still fighting Lyme along with 2 Lyme coinfections. It’s a much more difficult battle than I ever expected and it took a lifestyle change for sure but God continues to be faithful throughout – I have a wonderful friend that I can always confide in on my down days (she has Lyme too and just “gets” it) and that friend led me to a fantastic doctor and staff to help me along my way and doctor me to the best health I can be!

5. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some good 80’s rock, 90’s country and 2000’s pop, but my favorite Pandora station will always be Country Hymns. Give me some Tennessee Ernie Ford or Alan Jackson singing gospels and I am one happy and content lady!

6. I don’t like milk chocolate. The only kind of chocolate I can eat is dark. I guess it’s been so long since I’ve eaten milk chocolate, that I just don’t like the taste of it anymore. And when it comes to dark chocolate – I go through spurts of which brand I like best. For a while I like the bitterness of Dove dark chocolate, then I like the sweeter Hershey’s dark chocolate and every once in a while, I like the creaminess of Lindt dark chocolate. It’s complicated…

7. I have a heart for Carhartt. I guess you could call this a typical farm girl thing? Maybe? If you stop by on a Saturday and I have no place to be, I’m probably going to have the Carhartt threads on and big thick Carhartt socks (I’m one of those “always cold” kind of people). Although I must say, my husband has been getting me a few Snap On pairs of socks and they are a pretty close second.

8. I love to bake! Now, for most this is probably no secret, but what most people probably don’t know is that cinnamon rolls are by far my favorite thing to bake. In saying this, I must admit, cinnamon rolls are quite the process but I think working with yeast makes me feel like a super advanced baker or something. Does anyone else find baking with yeast to be incredibly intimidating? I used to be one of those people that avoided any types of recipes with that ingredient, “Flour, Sugar, Butter, Yeast – yup skipping this recipe”. I was totally one of those folks until I decided I was just going to finally tackle a new recipe and here we are, almost two years later baking cinnamon rolls for the most special occasions.

9. Flea markets and thrift stores are dangerous to me. I am a sap for old tins. I recently just picked up an old Hungry Jack pancake tin but in the summer that I found at a local flea market to my area – I honestly thought I hit the jackpot that day, I was so tickled! My husband and I both love to stop in at a flea market when we go to Lancaster or Gettysburg and there is never a shortage of time spent in them when we go. It’s always fun seeing old items that bring back a memory or two!

10. I am a true 110% introvert. Big crowds have never been my style and small talk makes me a bit anxious but when it comes to writing – I feel like a completely different person! Writing allows me to open up in ways I just don’t seem to be able to when speaking out. When we quit farming, I was truly hurting inside and had written a Facebook post to describe how my heart felt on our third “goodbye farmversary” – in some ways I was incredibly grateful for the farm and all it provided me with over the years but in other ways I was sad that I couldn’t continue making the memories I was and I knew life was going to change forever. I received many comments on that post but there was one in particular that mentioned to me about how easily it was to relate to the things I had mentioned- the thoughts, hardships, takeaways and memories. For me, as an introvert, I find a great warmth in my heart when I don’t feel alone. Yes I enjoy my alone time, but I mean when someone understands me, like truly understands me. My feelings and emotions, provoking thoughts and hurts in the heart. To know that I could provide that to at least one person meant the world to me and made me feel that the calling to be vulnerable was truly from God. That is my goal with this space, my hope is that I will be able to provide someone an outlet, an understanding friend, a relatable heart, or a few words of encouragement. In a broken and hurting world, we could all use a touch of this medicine.

Thank you again for being a part of this space! I am looking forward to sharing with you but I would love to hear some of your thoughts too! If you have popped in to check out Her Farmhouse View please say hi and let me know a few random facts about you too! I can’t wait to hear from you all and hope your week is blessed and your heart is joyful!