At my house, holidays are a time for us to be home together, have fun, eat great food, and remember times gone by. Being a native-born Texan, married to a Dane, living in New England, our holidays are like a quilt of different cultures! Come do a bit of celebratin’ at the Christensen household!
Got your holiday best on?
is a certified farmgirl at heart. She’s happily married to her beach bum Yankee husband of 20 years. She went from career gal to being a creative homeschooling mom for two of her biggest blessings and hasn’t looked back since. Debbie left her lifelong home in the high desert of Northern Nevada 10 years ago and washed up on the shore of America’s hometown, Plymouth, MA, where she and her family are now firmly planted. They spend part of each summer in a tiny, off–grid beach cottage named “The Sea Horse.”
“I found a piece of my farmgirl heart when I discovered MaryJanesFarm. Suddenly, everything I loved just made more sense! I enjoy unwinding at the beach, writing, gardening, and turning yard-sale furniture into ‘Painted Ladies’ I’m passionate about living a creative life and encouraging others to ‘make each day their masterpiece.’”
is a “MaryJane Farmgirl” who lives in a large metropolitan area. She is a lawyer who has worked in both criminal defense and prosecution. She has been a judge, a business woman and a stay-at-home mom. In addition to her law degree, she has a Masters of Theological Studies.
“Mustering up the courage to do the things you dream about,” she says, “is the essence of being a MaryJane Farmgirl.” Learning to live more organically and closer to nature is Rebekah’s current pursuit. She finds strength and encouragement through MaryJane’s writings, life, and products. And MaryJane’s Farmgirl Connection provides her a wealth of knowledge from true-blue farmgirls.
an old-fashioned farmgirl with a pioneer spirit, lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. As a “lifelong learner” in the “Live-Free-or-Die” state, she fiercely values self-reliance, independence, freedom, and fresh mountain air. Married to her childhood sweetheart of 40+ years (a few of them “uphill climbs”), she’s had plenty of time to reinvent herself. From museum curator, restaurant owner, homeschool mom/conference speaker, to post-and-beam house builder and entrepreneur, she’s also a multi-media artist, with an obsession for off-grid living and alternative housing. Cathi owns and operates a 32-room mountain lodge. Her specialty has evolved to include “hermit hospitality” at her rustic cabin in the mountains, where she offers weekend workshops of special interest to women.
“Mountains speak to my soul, and farming is an important part of my heritage. I want to pass on my love of these things to others through my writing. Living in the mountains has its own particular challenges, but I delight in turning them into opportunities from which we can all learn and grow.”
Dori Troutman is the daughter of second generation cattle ranchers in New Mexico. She grew up working and playing on the ranch that her grandparents homesteaded in 1928. That ranch, with the old adobe home, is still in the family today. Dori and her husband always yearned for a ranch of their own. That dream came true when they retired to the beautiful green rolling hills of Tennessee. Truly a cattleman’s paradise!
Dori loves all things farmgirl and actually has known no other life but that. She loves to cook, craft, garden, and help with any and all things on their cattle farm.
describes herself as a goat charmer, chicken whisperer, bee maven, and farmers’ market baker renovating an 1864 farmhouse on an Ohio farm. With a degree in Design, Mary says small-town auctions and country road barn sales "always make my heart skip a beat thinking about what I could create or design out of what I’ve seen.”
Rooted in the countryside, she likes simple things and old ways … gardening, preserving the harvest, cooking, baking, and all things home. While you might find her selling baked goods from the farm’s milkhouse, teaching herself to play the fiddle, or sprucing up a vintage camper named Maizy, you will always find her in an apron!
Mary says, “I’m happiest with the simple country pleasures … an old farmhouse, too many animals, a crackling fire, books to read, and the sound of laughter … these make life just perfect.”
is a budding rural farmgirl living in Palmer, the agricultural seat of Alaska. Alex is a graduate student at Alaska Pacific University pursuing an M.S. in Outdoor and Environmental Education. She lives and works on the university’s 700 acre environmental education center, Spring Creek Farm. When Alex has time outside of school, she loves to rock climb, repurpose found objects, cross-country ski on the hay fields, travel, practice yoga, and cook with new-fangled ingredients.
Alex grew up near the Twin Cities and went to college in Madison, Wisconsin—both places where perfectly painted barns and rolling green farmland are just a short drive away. After college, she taught at a rural middle school in South Korea where she biked past verdant rice paddies and old women selling home-grown produce from sidewalk stoops. She was introduced to MaryJanesFarm after returning, and found in it what she’d been searching for—a group of incredible women living their lives in ways that benefit their families, their communities, and the greater environment. What an amazing group of farmgirls to be a part of!
Suburban Farmgirl Nicole Christensen calls herself a “vintage enthusiast”. Born and raised in Texas, she has lived most of her life in the picturesque New England suburbs of Connecticut, just a stone’s throw from New York State. An Advanced Master Gardener, she has gardened since childhood, in several states and across numerous planting zones. In addition, she teaches knitting classes, loves to preserve, and raises backyard chickens.
Married over thirty years to her Danish-born sweetheart, Nicole has worked in various fields, been a world-traveler, an entrepreneur and a homemaker, but considers being mom to her now-adult daughter her greatest accomplishment. Loving all things creative, Nicole considers her life’s motto to be “Bloom where you are planted”.
Love the post, especially about your Turkey trial. I would be scared too. Traditions – here are a few things we do. We put up the tree and decorations usually the day after Thanksgiving. Many favorite ornaments and we talk about when we got them or a funny story that might be linked to them. I have all my childhood ornaments I received from my piano teacher over the years. We usually watch It’s a Wonderful life, Rudolph (traditional one), Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation. A lot of our decorations are fun and we have a rockin santa that we all enjoy and try to mimic. We started an advent wreath a couple years ago and have added that to our "traditions". We used to go and cut a tree, but several years ago we just didn’t have the funds and opted for a "fake" tree that was my mothers. We have been using it now for 6 years. The boys and I would like to cut a tree again. Maybe next year!? Food wise, we have always had the traditional turkey and dressing but this year we did a Mexican fiesta! And like you we are from TEXAS so we always have ham, black eyed peas, cabbage and all the works for New Years!
Happy New Year
Hey fellow Texan! Christmas sounds like a fun time at your house! MMMM..Mexican Fiesta sounds yummy! We love the traditional Rudolph, too! I still haven’t sat down and watched "It’s A Wonderful Life" this year yet, maybe tonight! Thank you so much for sharing, and have a Happy New Year to you too! -Nicole
Merry Christmas, Nicole! What a lovely collection of traditions you have developed in your family … everything so special and very meaningful! This is the first year that our family has had a live tree and used our own personal family decorations since we moved to our inn 7 years ago. We decorate the inn of course, but all our personal items have been in storage. Even so, each and every decoration still brought back memories of who gave it to us, or what we were doing on a particular year. They are like little time machines to precious memories! We have developed a tradition of a Christmas brunch, with special dishes we only make on Christmas morning. We nibble throughout the day and have dinner in the evening. Of course sometime during the holidays I have to watch It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street! We also used to have a tradition when the kids were small of reading a passage from a book called Jotham’s Journey each day of Advent. Even though we only have 1 teenager still left at home, I think we will revive that tradition next year. Merry Christmas Nicole and have a fabulous New Year! Much love, Cathi
Merry Christmas, Cathi! Your inn sounds so lovely. You hit the nail on the head saying decorations are little time machines. So true! Sounds like you have some wonderful traditions, too. Merry Christmas and Happy, Happy New Year! – Nicole
Your tree must be beautiful. The lace and candles are truly lovely.
Every year I give my daughter a pair of PJs on Christmas Eve. Just after dinner we take a drive around to see everyones lights. I believe the combination of new PJs and cold fresh air helped her to fall asleep faster.
Well in 2 months she will be 27. Gosh, where has the years gone to? I still give her PJs on Christmas Eve. But it was just my husband and I that drove around town checking out the wonderful lights. Too bad we didn’t have a little snow.
Kathy, my mom STILL gives me new pj’s each Christmas, and I am going to be forty! I carry the tradition with my daughter, now, too. We open that one gift Christmas Eve Night, and take pictures by the tree in our new pajamas. Did you see alot of Christmas lights where you are? We saw more this year than previous years, but still not as much as we used to. Thank you for reading and commenting! -Nicole
Howdy Sister Nicole! You certainly do travel around for the holidays don’t you. I LOVE the addition of black eyed peas to your Christmas menu! They were a favorite around our family table when I was growing up due to the fact my dad was a Texan!I’ve got a big ham hock left over from our Christmas Ham and I’m thinking a nice pot of pinto beans and ham with cornbread and a crisp garden salad on the side.. Oh and biscuits too for New Years, but I bet my hubby brings home lobster to steam too! How’s that for a mix of east west cultures? Your drive through Santa story is a hoot! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by to see me and Happy New Year to you and yours!
Hugs, from your bloggin’ sis Deb
Hey Girl! You are making my mouth water with the beans and ham and cornbread….I used the last of my ham last night in a ham, onion, broccoli and cheese quiche. I used MaryJane’s pie crust recipe, of course! Have a Happy New Year!! Farmgirl hugs, Nicole
Coming from a Norwegian background, my family also had the tradition of having rice pudding with the almond for Christmas eve supper. Whoever got the almond would be blessed with good luck for the coming year. "Christmas Vacation" and "It’s a Wonderful Life" are mainstays. We have watched it so many times we can pretty much recite the dialog verbatim! It is not uncommon for us to start a phone conversation with "heehaw" or finish up with "see you in the funny papers." My daughter gets the biggest kick out of that…lingo she has never heard of before! A rusty, broke down RV lumbering down the road is a "Cousin Eddie!" After all the fun and light heartedness, we gather around the table piled high with awesome food, hold hands and give thanks for all our blessings, for they are many. Even though our country is facing many problems, how blessed we all are to live in our beloved USA. And….living in So. California, tamales and beans will be on our table for New Years! Happy New Year, fellow farm sisters!!!
Hi Victoria! Don’t you love re-visiting favorite Christmas movies? A new favorite of mine is Christmas With The Kranks. On a serious note, we are all so VERY blessed. Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful New Year! -Nicole
Love your post! Being half Swede and the rest Danish and German, many of our foods and decorations are similar. We have a few candles on our tree that I bought many years ago in Denmark. At our church we have a Scandinavian Festival every other year which includes aebleskiver, every sort of butter cookie, sausages, lefse, etc.
It is our tradition to cut our own tree in the woods, an activity we now share with our grandchildren. Our church is a big part of our traditions. Hubby decorates the house outside every year with lights and figures.
It is our tradition on New Year Day to take the decorations down and put the tree outside for the birds to enjoy for a few weeks before it goes to the recycler.
We usually spend lots of time out in the snow but alas no snow this year at all. Boo hoo.
Hi Sandy! My husband and I love to go to the Danish festival in New York put on by the Seaman’s church, but the one we go to is in the summer. Would love to go to a Christmas one! No snow here either…but it was a nice sunny, cold Christmas morning. Gladelig Jul! -Nicole
Happy New Year! Your black eye pea salad is close to my mother’s kidney bean salad. I’m not sure I would buy turkey from that company, I would eat turkey again though. Or maybe by fresh from a farm.
I take my tree down New Years day. I always make a new craft or two to either give away or add to my Christmas decorations. I had two places to decorate this year, my place and my dad’s room for he is in a medical care facility right now, just had to make his room cheery. So that means two places to take down the decorations! haha! Oh well.
I just thought of a memory from Christmas past, I remember standing in line to see Santa at the Pontiac Mall in Michigan, and it was long and when it was my turn I cried and wouldn’t sit on his lap! Than a year later we move to Midland Michigan and Santa came right to my house. I answered the door and he picked me up and I didn’t cry, I went to tell my mom in the kitchen and she wouldn’t believe me till I dragged her out to show her.
Once again…Happy New Year!
Kimberly, thanks so much for sharing! What a great story! My daughter and I waited in line several times, all dressed up to see Santa. When it was her turn, she would burst into tears. I couldn’t be mad at her – I totally understood! Last two years she went right up to him, and had her picture taken.
I’m glad you decorated your dad’s room. What a sweet thing to do (and important, if you ask me). I’m doing the same thing you are this week – taking down the decorations. Makes me a little sad, but I guess that means we had a nice holiday, right?
Thanks again so much for reading and commenting. Happiest of New Year’s to you and your dad. -Nicole
Guess what I used the leftover tulle from decorating for my daughter’s wedding?
When the first grandchild was born, i used the tulle to wrap around new large sized baby blocks, but let the colorful side show through, then tied pink ribbons around the top. The next grandchild was a boy, so blue ribbon was used. Last year, four grandchildren’s names were spelled with blocks. This year, I didn’t have enough blocks to spell all names, so I just spelled the new baby boy’s name.
Linda, What an adorable idea! Thank you for sharing it! -Nicole