I live in a rural town just outside of Little Rock, Arkansas. I was born in "town", but my parents moved out here when I was 3 months old. They bought 60+ arces from the lumber company, and built a house here. On my way home from school, I would play in the creeks, do my homework up on the ridge, dig crystals out of our crystal mine, etc, until my mother came and made me come home.

Our mailbox. My dad designed him.

As I grew up, I became bored with school, and my parents pulled me out of the local district to homeschool. I hated it the first year, it was quite difficult, and living at school meant you couldn't get away from it at 3:15 in the afternoon. But heck, the food was better! Later, though, I began to love it. I was allowed to take classes that aren't even offered in public school! Try to take guitar at a public school, not to mention the second year I got an electric. I had quite a bit of free time if I finished my classes early and could devote attention to my hobbies.

From the side flowerbox

Also about this time, my father acquired a new job that would allow him to be home every afternoon! He would come home and we would go out and work on something. Since then, I have been amazed at what we have been able to accomplish! Tired of going from the shed to the barn to various other places to find tools, he decided that it was time to have a workshop. It was time to have a garage too, so we'd put the shop underground and the garage above. So, unwittingly, I agreed that that was a pretty cool idea. So, we began dragging trees and surveying. On New Year's day, he rented a backhoe, and we began digging. After pouring the main slabs and researching blocklaying we began the largest endeavor of our lives (so far). And we picked the hottest summer on record to do it. Go figure. Every day after dinner, we'd( me, my mother, and my dad) would go out and lay 46 blocks. Each Saturday, appox 92. I'd mix the concrete and mortar and supply blocks, mom would keep the mortar conditioned and clean up after dad, dad would lay them. Approximately 1 year and 2,700 40?lb blocks later, we were finished. I was thirteen at the time, and could have lifted pretty much anything I wanted. A chin-over from a dead hang was nothing. Boy, do I really miss that!

The field below our house, I've spent many hours here.

Following that, we have rebuilt generators, a tractor, converted a MCI8 motorcoach into an RV (Link), and tons of other stuff. I swear, my dad is not afraid to tackle anything! Just last week we dug a pit behind the shop so we can work on our "bus" and cars. Anyone who's ever dug deeper than 6" in the heart of Arkansas feels my pain! That blue shale is some serious stuff!

Following my dad around for my whole life has made me very mechanically inclined. One of my "hobbies" was electronics and I asked my parents if I could take it as an elective in my 9th (or 10th?) grade year. Now I'm electrically inclined. I wouldn't have a computer, a monitor, a TV, VCR, stereo, and much other electronic equipment had I not been able to fix them. I am especially proud of my TV. I found it on the side of the road. The owner threw it away because the picure was fuzzy and the speakers buzzed. Turns out someone had shoved pennies through the speaker slots, and because of several televisions I had attempted to repair before, I was able to fix this one. It has great sound and a wonderful picture. It even downloads a TV guide from RCA! I did not know that was available.

I am now 18 and still living in this wonderland. I'm hoping to never leave, but my parents think otherwise. :D I am going to college, and will start attendance at a nursing school this fall. There I will get my RN, and continue my studies until I recieve my CRNA. I have three sisters, and two dogs. My mom homeschools all of them (and cooks up waffles every saturday! Woot!). My dad and I are working on a sawmill (because we need a new kitchen table, that's how big things start around here) and finished it last weekend. We are really looking forward to having a virtually unlimited supply of lumber, who knows what he's going to want to build with it...