Three years ago today, I was heavily pregnant, and Greg and I were starting what felt like a brand new chapter in our lives. We had just escaped a tiny, mold-infested apartment that had made me terribly sick, and in its place, we moved into a small, rough trailer in a trailer park that wasn’t exactly the picture of charm. It was raw, it was imperfect, and it was completely ours.

The trailer itself was in rough shape. Dust and dirt had collected in every corner, and the yard was littered with trash. For two full days, I scrubbed, cleaned, and raked, determined to make our new space at least bearable. Every surface, every inch of the lawn, felt like a battle against chaos—but somehow, amidst all the mess, there was a spark of hope.

We didn’t have a dryer yet, so all our clothes hung on lines throughout the trailer, swaying gently as we moved about our little home. But at least we had a washing machine now, and that tiny victory meant no more trips to the laundromat. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t glamorous, but it was ours. And for the first time in a long while, I felt a sense of possibility.

We promised ourselves that this wouldn’t be permanent. This wasn’t the dream—it was the beginning. We dreamed of open fields, animals, and a farm of our own. And a year later, that dream became reality. We found our farm, moved in, and started building a life we had only imagined while scrubbing and raking in that rough trailer park.

Looking back, it’s incredible to see how far we’ve come. When this memory popped up in my feed, I almost kept it to myself, but I realized it’s a story worth sharing. It’s proof that you don’t have to have everything perfectly in place right now. Dreams take time. Sometimes, you have to start small, messy, and imperfect before you get to the life you envision.

You don’t have to come from money to farm.
You don’t have to give up your dreams just because your circumstances aren’t ideal.
But you do need a partner who’s as wildly committed and as crazy as you are, ready to laugh, struggle, and celebrate along the way.

And let’s not forget little Billy—our tiny companion who has been through it all with us. From the moldy apartment to the rough trailer, and now running around on our farm, he’s been a witness to every step of this journey. Looking at him now, it’s impossible not to feel overwhelmed with gratitude for the messes we cleaned, the nights we wondered if we’d make it, and the unwavering love that carried us forward.

Our story is messy, imperfect, and wonderfully real—and it’s a reminder that dreams are worth fighting for, even if the beginning is rough.