Things That My Parents Taught Me.

My parents are the best people in the whole word. 

Even people who aren't related to me will agree with that statement.

My Dad is serious, wise and a 100% farmer-man.

My Mom is kind, sweet and the hardest worker I know. 

They have been the strongest support system in my life and many other lives as well.

Each year new interns come to our farm and my parents take them in, love them, support them and teach them. 

Even if the individual doesn't leave our farm wanting to be a farmer, they leave with a sense of true community, hard work and friendship. 

We have an ongoing joke when all of the interns are sitting around eating dinner with us, where we ask my parents seriously. 

"What if all of these kids where yours?"

My dad flinches and act as if he could never imagine it and my mom just laughs.

But, the truth is, they are their kids. 

My parents have the most kids of anyone I know. 

Being the youngest of their actual children wasn't always easy.

There were times I would get jealous of the time and energy they spent on others.

My mom made a joke last summer that she thinks she may have actually spent more time with her cows over the years than with me.

It may be true, but in the little time that I do spend with them I learn some valuable lessons.

 I like lists, something about the neatness and organization of them. So here it is--

List number 500 on this blog I'm sure...

Things I've Learned From My Parents. 

(even if they didn't teach it to me)

1. Sitting down to dinner each night will bond a family forever.

2. The breeerrrr-brreeerrrrr of the coffee maker in the morning is one of the most soothing sounds. (That, and the rumble of the market truck at three in the morning.)

3. Hard physical work will make you into a truly solid individual.

(Totallyyy still learning this one.)

5. Sometimes you just suck it up, put a smile on, and do it. 

6. Planning a party where 4000 people invade your personal living space takes a lot of time and effort.

7. Love doesn't mean calling a person each night. It means having their back and hand when it counts most. 

8. True love forever does happen, it's hard work, it isn't always perfect, and it means you must learn forgiveness.

9. It takes more than parents and siblings to make a family.

10. Give. Give. Give. Give. 

Because the world should be built on people who think of others besides themselves.

I don't think my parents read this blog, but I know people who know my parents do. 

And they will know each one of these numbers on this list to be true.

<3