Tell us a little about yourself:
I am a Farm Family Man. I’m kind of an anomaly in the family of my birth. I grew up in the city, but I love the woods. I am the only one in the family that I grew up in that hunts. I guess I’m just your average country guy — nothing special. Lucky for me, I fell in love with a big time country girl, Amy Bell! Together, we have been able to build a wonderful life together for our family.
By trade, I am a contractor. That makes all of the farm building that we do around here a lot easier, especially since my wife is also a builder. I am also a self taught knife maker. Knife making is something I truly enjoy doing. I like that I can take a basic piece of metal and craft it into a beautiful, useful and essential tool.
What about hobbies, what do you like to do?
I love shooting — both bows and guns. I love fishing, hunting and making knives. I guess there are many things that I enjoy doing, but these are the main ones. I spend a lot of my fall and winter on various hunting tasks. (Just ask my wife!)
We actually all hunt. I thoroughly enjoy watching one of my family members get a deer, pig or whatever as much or more than when I do. I know that when my boys have been in the blind next to me, zeroing in on their prey, I am shaking just as much as they are!
What are your future plans?
(You’ll have to ask my wife! HAHAHAHA!!!…. see that? family man!))
In the future I want many things; more hunting land and more time to use it would be an example. However, God’s plan for me is what I will follow. My personal plan for the future is just to have a happy healthy family.
We do have some basic plans that we are currently working on. We are in the middle of a big addition to our home. My wife is working on building her she shed. And she’s always working on expanding our gardening areas. However, one of my next planned additions is going to be a knife shop off of our barn. I already create knives inside our shop, but I would really like to have a dedicated space for that.
What are your thoughts about homesteading and this particular lifestyle?
Homesteading is logical. Why would you not want to know where your food comes from? I’m not much of a gardener, that’s my wife’s specialty. But, I love putting fresh, wild meat on the table, and raising animals. The best way I can describe this lifestyle is peaceful. Who doesn’t want that?
I was never able to do any of this in my life before I met my wife. I guess that is one of the reasons that things ended up falling together so easily for us. We both like the same things and want the same things out of life.
Since we both have similar outlooks and our backgrounds, at least, complement each other, it makes it easier moving forward with the same plans and ideas. (Of course, when my ideas don’t match her ideas, she drags me along until they match up! And folks, that’s what proves that I am a family man!)