A Farmboy, a Hot Air Balloon, and a Dream
Around the Farm with Momma Yo — How It All Began
Well, hello there, friends!
Pull up a chair, and stay awhile. I’ve got a story to tell you!
If you’ve ever visited The Gathering Farm, you’ve probably wandered through our flowers, admired our old red barn, or maybe even gotten yourself lost in the corn maze.
But have you ever wondered how it all began?
Believe me, it didn’t happen overnight! And if you’d told me 17 years ago that I’d be living on a farm in Ohio, restoring an old barn, growing acres of sunflowers, and inviting complete strangers to come hang out in our backyard, I probably would have thought you were a little crazy.
But here we are!
And would you believe this whole adventure started with a cowboy, an online dating site, and a hot air balloon ride that nearly sent me over the edge?
Literally!
Along Came a Farmboy
Let’s go back to February 2009.
I was living in New Mexico, where I’d spent 43 years of my life. I met a farm boy named Robin on a Christian dating website.
Now remember, this was 2009. Online dating wasn’t quite what it is today. We’d both already experienced a couple of those dates that make you wonder what on earth you were thinking!
But something about this fellow was different.
We talked every day, sometimes twice a day, getting to know each other over the phone. By April, we decided it was time to meet in person.
Robin was flying to Albuquerque, and I agreed to pick him up at the airport.
Now, I had a plan.
But as it turns out, I wasn’t the only one making plans!
Meanwhile, Back in Ohio…
Robin’s family was understandably a little concerned about him flying halfway across the country to meet a mystery women
They were practically organizing a search-and-rescue operation before he even boarded the plane!
Apparently, his niece wasn’t taking any chances!
She insisted on having his complete flight itinerary, phone numbers, addresses of everywhere he planned to go, and every bit of information she could get about this mysterious woman in New Mexico.
That would be ME!
I can just imagine her thinking, Uncle Rob, you are NOT disappearing into the New Mexico desert without somebody knowing where to start looking!
So while Robin’s family was making sure they had enough information to track him down if things went sideways, I was preparing my own little safety plan.
Mine was considerably simpler.
If I didn’t like what I saw, I was just going to keep driving!
I was looking for a tall, 6-foot-3-inch farm boy wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat.
Of course, this was New Mexico. Finding a man in cowboy boots and a hat was about as difficult as finding a sunflower at our farm in August!
As I drove toward the designated pickup area, I kept my eyes peeled.
Well, I spotted him.
And I liked what I saw!
Better yet, he actually looked like his pictures!
Remember, technology has come a long way in 17 years!
Little did I know that this cowboy was about to take me on the ride of my life.
And I don’t mean marriage.
Not yet, anyway!
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up!
Our first weekend together was wonderful. We decided to take a hot air balloon ride over Albuquerque.
Now, if you’ve never experienced New Mexico in the spring, it’s beautiful. The Sandia Mountains, the Rio Grande, the cottonwood trees along the Bosque, and those wide-open skies.
It was absolutely majestic.
For about 45 minutes.
You see, when you’re ballooning, the wind is in charge. You can plan where you’d like to go, but where you actually land is another story.
Our pilot decided the winds were picking up and it was time to land.
He gave us very specific instructions.
Rule number one: Listen to the pilot.
Rule number two: Whatever happens, DO NOT get out of the basket!
Apparently, our combined weight was needed to keep that basket on the ground until the chase crew could reach us.
Sounded simple enough.
Well, friends, we touched down.
And then we bounced.
And bounced again.
And then came the hopping, skipping, jumping, and dragging across the sagebrush and sand dunes!
Hop. Skip. Jump. Drag.
Repeat!
By this point, the basket was tipped at what felt like a 45-degree angle, the balloon was dragging us across the desert, and I was hanging on for dear life!
Remember that handsome cowboy I had just met?
Well, he had a camera hanging around his neck.
And with every bounce, that camera came swinging around and smacking me right in the face!
Here I was, on my very first date with this man, getting slapped silly by his camera while being dragged across the New Mexico desert in a wicker basket!
I could practically step right out of that basket.
And believe me, the thought crossed my mind!
Forget this! I’m getting out!
But then I remembered rule number two.
DO NOT GET OUT OF THE BASKET!
So I stayed put.
What seemed like an eternity was probably only a few minutes. Eventually, the balloon deflated, everything became still, and we were safely on the ground.
We survived!
And somehow, after all that, I still wanted to see this man again.
Although, to this day, I’m not particularly fond of cameras swinging around my face or being trapped in small spaces!
Now, if that wasn’t a sign of the adventures to come, I don’t know what was!
And after that landing, I suppose Robin’s niece was right to be a little concerned about our adventures in New Mexico!
From a First Date to Forever
Four months later, in August 2009, Robin and I were married.
And where did we have our wedding?
Right here on the farm, in the backyard.
We were the very first couple married at what would eventually become The Gathering Farm.
We didn’t know it then, but that little backyard wedding was the beginning of something much bigger.
Robin, or Pops as we call him around here, is the love of my life and the man who has spent the last 17 years helping make my dreams come true.
And let me tell you, I’ve had some pretty big dreams!
Sometimes I think that poor man must wonder what he got himself into when he picked me up in Albuquerque!
But he’s been right there beside me, through the adventures, the challenges, and more projects than either of us could possibly count.
Then There Was That Old Barn
When I first came to the farm, one of the things that captured my heart was the beautiful old bank barn.
Built sometime around 1852, it was unlike anything I’d grown up seeing in New Mexico.
It had character. It had history.
And it was falling down!
The groundhogs had been busy tunneling between the bank and the barn, and over time, the foundation wall had collapsed inward.
That old barn was in serious trouble.
It was either going to have to come down or be completely restored.
Well, I couldn’t bear the thought of tearing it down.
I could see what it might become.
A place where families could gather, friends could celebrate, and memories could be made.
Now, mind you, this was long before we had a wedding venue, a flower farm, or a corn maze.
It was just a dream.
And fortunately, I’d married a man who was willing to dream right along with me.
So we decided to save that old barn.
And when I say save it, I mean we really had to SAVE it!
We hired a company to lift the entire barn off its failing foundation, build a new concrete-block foundation underneath, and carefully set the barn back down.
Can you imagine?
An entire historic barn lifted into the air!
And that was only the beginning.
Over the next several years, we worked on the barn whenever we could. Robin’s brother Chris and sister-in-law Talyana helped us replace siding and tackle some of those big projects.
Little by little, board by board, we began bringing that old barn back to life.
Of course, life has a funny way of interrupting even the best-laid plans.
We had jobs, family responsibilities, and plenty of other things demanding our attention.
The barn wasn’t finished overnight.
Not even close!
But the dream never went away.
And the Dream Kept Growing
Looking back, I realize that saving that barn was about more than preserving an old building.
We were creating a place for people to gather.
We didn’t know exactly what it would become, but we knew how we wanted people to feel when they came here.
Welcome.
Comfortable.
Like they belonged.
We wanted a place where someone could arrive as a stranger and leave feeling like a friend.
And that’s still what we want today.
The Gathering Farm has grown into something we never could have imagined back in 2009.
But it all started with two people, one old barn, and a dream.
And maybe just a little bit of crazy!
We’ve learned that dreams don’t always happen on our timetable. Sometimes you have to change directions, start over, ask for help, or figure things out as you go.
And sometimes you find yourself wondering what on earth you’ve gotten yourself into!
But along the way, we’ve been blessed with wonderful people, helping hands, unexpected opportunities, and memories that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
And friends, we are nowhere near finished!
There’s More to This Story
Next time, I’ll tell you how a neighbor’s simple question helped get our barn project moving again, how family and friends pitched in to help, and how a few hundred sunflower seeds eventually grew into acres of flowers.
And yes, there were a few bumps along the way.
But then again, after that first hot air balloon ride, I probably should have expected nothing less!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing a little piece of our story.
I hope you’ll come back often. There are plenty more stories to tell, recipes to share, lessons we’ve learned, and a whole lot of laughter waiting around the farm.
Because life isn’t always picture-perfect, but there’s almost always a story worth sharing.
Until next time, keep gathering memories!
Love,
Momma Yo ❤️
At The Gathering Farm — Where Friends Come Together
Real life. Good laughs. Lessons learned. Memories shared.
