Wait...What? I thought this was a farm blog?!?

OK, I'm back now. Lots of changes over the last 6 months since my last post. Just to keep everyone on the same page, here is what has been happening:

1: We're not in Kentucky anymore, Toto

...At least, temporarily not in Kentucky anymore. At the end of October, we closed up the farm for the winter, hauled the majority of the livestock (and one killer rabbit) to Smallfarmgirl, and packed up clothes, dogs and indoor plants. Then on the first of November, the girls and I u-hauled our way out to an apartment in Flagstaff, Arizona. Why, do you ask? Because...

2: I've met the love of my life

...and he lives in Flagstaff. Yup, remember when I gave up on men altogether? Not long after that I started talking to a fellow writer/blogger/bookworm/prepper I met on the internet. After e-mailing each other constantly, then talking on the phone incessantly, we ended up best friends who were falling madly in love with one another. So we decided to go on a date. In a car. All of us. For a week. I figured if we could survive that and still like one another, we might just have a chance.

Our first date consisted of: Seven states, Six days, Five major "Tourist" attractions (Shanksville 9/11 site, Gettysburg, Statue of Liberty, Philadelphia, and Manhattan,) Four travelers laughing hysterically most of the time, Three Kutztown, PA, graveyards looking for dead relatives of mine (we kept having to differentiate between "fresh Biebers" (those who had died in the last 100 years or so) and "Crunchy Biebers" (my immigrant ancestors from the 1700's. Kutztown has lots of dead Biebers.), Two bookstores, and One tin can rental car with an electrical short that kept turning the radio on at odd moments. Giselle came up with the saying, "Cuter'n a possum's butt" and Arabella invented Frisbee Halos. The car was impounded during dinner in NJ by Guido. (New Jersey has always been my least favorite state. This trip just reinforced that.) We looked up an old friend of mine in Pennsylvania, toured a cave, and generally had the time of our lives. Turned out a one-week-long date was nowhere near long enough.

For our second date, the girls and I flew out to Arizona--the girls to their father's place in Phoenix, me to Flagstaff to spend the week with Dan. Most of our second date consisted of us driving from Flagstaff to Tucson and back (three times!) to take care of Dan's son (a broken hand and $1500 worth of car repairs.) I had an allergic reaction, Dan had a cadaver lab for work, and Arabella turned 11 while we were in AZ, so Dan got the full Chuckie Cheese Birthday Party Experience (tm), complete with screaming children, dancing rats, and the ex-husband. When Dan didn't run shrieking into the distance after all that, I knew we were onto a good thing.

Our third date consisted of him flying out to help me close up the farm for the winter. So I guess spending the winter in Flagstaff constitutes our fourth (and final) date. Because...

3: We're getting engaged!

He's already bought the ring; we're just waiting to get it back from the jeweler to make it "official".

So, lots of changes, lots more to come. I'll be posting about our (non-farm) life here in Arizona for a while. But don't worry, we haven't abandoned Kentucky forever. Because as Dorothy and Toto found out, there is no place like home.