I originally wrote this on my Facebook........

I originally wrote this on my Facebook........but it was met by so much love and support, I felt I should post it for everyone to see. In light of my birthday, I have been doing a lot of self-reflecting lately. 9 years ago, at the ripe old age of 18, I was constantly asked what I wanted out of my future; where would I be in 10 years?

I tell you, I NEVER imagined my life would take the path it has. I had every intention of going to college, getting my law degree, and serving on the bench, preferably as a Supreme Court Justice.

I assumed I would live in a big city like New York or D.C. I envisioned the 9-5 job with the briefcase and suit, eating on the go, and living in a condo / apartment in the city. I even considered the fact that I may enjoy may career so much, I might decide to never have kids (perhaps even a husband).

But now, nine years later, I find my life has taken a very different course. I am a stay-at-home wife with a husband, dog, and home in the country. I can remember thinking I would NEVER be the stay-at-home type, because I would go crazy sitting at home doing nothing all day. And, I remember a very proud feminist telling me that it is a woman's duty to work outside the home because otherwise she would be squandering the equality women worked so hard for. How DARE a woman even consider being a housewife!

Today, I am happily married, steadily approaching my 5th wedding anniversary. No kids yet, but I'm the proud parent to a Beagle / Bulldog mix. I don't have a condo in the city, but rather a home on 10 acres of woods.

I do not have, nor am I working towards my law degree. I have 52 hours combined in the fields of Political Science & Psychology. Neither fields, I discovered, have any actual interest to me. I don't want to practice law, or be a judge. I dealt with too many shitty ones while working in jails to want to work with them. I don't want to be a Psychologist because, lets face it, I have enough issues of my own. I don't need to deal with other people's issues all day.

In thinking of other fields of study that I would enjoy devoting my life too, I discovered that there was not one. Instead, i have found my niche, or "calling" if you will, here at home. I LOVE being a housewife. It's not the cushy "sit around eating bonbons & watching soaps" that I had once envisioned. Nor is it the the diva / drama life Hollywood has portrayed in "Desperate Housewives" and all it's reality spin-offs. Far from it! Staying at home has shown me I can do more than I ever imagined I could. Yes, I cook & clean & run the house, just as most people envision a housewife doing. But I also sew, patch, and mend our clothes, repair furniture, landscape & garden, preserve food (canning, freezing, drying), forage off the land (blackberries, polk greens, mouse melons, wild garlic, pecans, etc.), maintain an extensive stockpile of household necessities, split firewood, gather kindling, do general yard-work, up-cycle, reuse & re-purpose used items, and have become VERY resourceful. I can cook from scratch, make & preserve my own broths / stocks, butcher larger chunks of meat, and waste very little. I can make homemade potpourri, compost, and cleaning supplies. I have studied herbalism and can use a variety of herbs medicinally.

The list goes on & on. In 2009, when we had the big ice storm, I realized that if shit hit the fan, I would not be capable of surviving for long. Since then, I have worked hard to change that. I've learned to waste nothing, use everything, and be as resourceful and self-sufficient as possible. I have learned the value of sweat-equity, and have pride in my full-time job of being a housewife. I certainly do not do "nothing" all day, and my job doesn't start at 9 and end at 5. it is an all-day, every-day job. I don't see that I am "squandering my equality," as was suggested by a classmate so many years ago. If you major in Sociology, aren't you just as equal to someone who majored in Secondary Education? They will not have learned the same things as you, but you are both skilled in different areas. I may not have majored in law, psychology or business, or have a framed (expensive) piece of paper on my wall, but I am highly skilled in Home Economics and the "documentation" is in how we live. I can't do the engineering things my husband can do, but then again, he can't do a lot of the household things I do. I'm sorry, but living off Ramen noodles with salt as the only spice you own doesn't cut it!

If you would have told me when i graduated high school that in less than 10 years, I would transform in to a homesteading, country-loving, southern-bell housewife, I would have told you to stop hitting the bottle so much. But looking back at the journey I've been on the past 9 years, I couldn't wish for anything different. I love where I am, and more importantly WHO I am. I am a happy, resourceful, intelligent, hard-working, skilled partner who loves life, her family, and her job. I can't pinpoint the event that shifted the direction my life was headed, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is that, for whatever reason, it did, and I am here now, and I am SO happy.