Guest Post- Husband of the Farm Wife

By Joe Webel, Husband of the Farm Wife!

Seven years ago yesterday Emily and I were married! Our anniversary was a nice day for reminiscing about our big day, our friends who were there, those who pranked us, and how long its been since we've seen some of our dear friends.

As time has passed, it is interesting to see what has changed in our lives- 7 years doesn't seem like that much time, but it has brought a lot of changes- we've been through a few cars (we laughed yesterday as we wondered if the current owners of that red Grand Prix were still finding sparkly red hearts coming out of the vents- those were placed there 7 years ago yesterday- thank you Kristin D.- and we were still finding them before we traded it!)

Other changes include the passing of family members and loved ones, as well as the baby boom that happened in our family as with our dear friends! The circle of life keeps on chuggin' along!

One of the biggest changes, however, was the change in lifestyle as we moved from Double Income, No Kids to the farm supplying our sole source of income while Emily focuses on our three adorable daughters and taking care of me and my many requests- daily feeding, clean laundry, a dish of ice cream in the evening- important stuff!

The biggest surprise to me in all of this has been the way Emily has fully embraced our responsibilities and opportunities as farmers. Not everyone does- it is completely excuseable for a lovely farmer's wife to go about their business taking care of EVERYTHING to keep the household going without worrying about the how and why things happen the way that they do.

But not Emily. Emily saw that while we who grew up everyday in a farm environment understood what we were doing and why, she did not have that experience, and knew that about 98.5% of our population were in the same boat as she. Thus, the start of this blog!

Emily knew that we in agriculture have a pretty interesting story to tell, and that for the most part, the story that comes from storybooks, the media, and activist groups isn't the whole story (or real story) at all. We have an opportunity to show everyone who eats where their food comes from and help them understand why we do the things we do to make their food nutritious and affordable. She does such a wonderful job of painting a visual picture of what life on the farm is like, and soaks up the whole experience and puts it out there for you.

I guess that's one of the many things I love about my wife- what a wonderful honor that she believes that what we're doing with the life we've created together for us and our children is worth telling other people about! She has become a wonderful advocate for the lifestyle and industry that I love so much, and I look forward in great anticipation to what the future holds as we travel through the rest of our lives together! Happy Anniversary, Em!