Just call me Jenn.

I am the lady behind the blog. A southern stay at home mom raising my family in Northwestern Minnesota with a wonderful truck drivin’ husband.

I have three kids plus two step sons that keep me on my toes. Kayla, 13, lives with grandma in Tennessee while my boys (J – 10 and Wild Man – 5 years old) live with me and Trucker Hubby in Minnesota. My my two step sons (Richard-10, Lance-7) live with their mom in Indiana. (Yes, our family stretches all over the map!)

I cannot forget our fur-babies. There’s Zee, the cat and Max, our little teady bear (shih tzu/maltese mix).

Yes, it’s quite chaotic around here sometimes. ;D

Meet trucker hubby.

Rick was an over the road truck driver for over 10 years when we decided to sell our trucks and close our family trucking business in December 2007.

After a brief time where he put his University of Texas (hook ‘em Horns) Dairy Science Degree to use as a commercial dairy manager in Northwestern Minnesota, he broke his back and went back to trucking driving.

You can read more about the year and half of countless physical therapy appointments, back surgery and his recovery process on the blog.

Raising Trucker Kids

Not long after moving to Minnesota, we discovered J, my oldest boy, was Autistic. He is considered high functioning on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with short term memory deficit which is a long way of saying he has trouble picking up on social queues (like facial expressions, body language and tone of voice) and has difficulty with academics like remembering math facts and letter combinations for spelling and reading.

While it was hard to hear, it was a welcome relief to know what the issue was so we can face it head on and learn how to work with ASD. The fact is, any disability changes your life and requires you to adapt but we’ve made great strides in the past two years integrating more and more with his classmates.

And now Wild Man has entered preschool my daily schedule is on it’s head. This has been an adventure unto itself. Thankfully we’ve detected no signs of ASD in him but it’s something we watch for just to be safe. By far he is the MOST ADVENTUROUS child I’ve raised. He has no fear which can be a blessing and a curse. He plays hard and is so loving and kind. He’s earned his nick name “Wild Man”.

I just pray I can get him to 18 without any massive injury. lol

The rural Life in Minnesota

Moving from the city with tons of shopping and dining options open 24/7 to a rural community of one small grocery store, 2 places to eat, and everything’s closed by 8pm except for one gas station & the local bar requires some adjustments. Fast food and last minute trips to Walmart are luxuries no more! I’ve had to embrace my inner Martha plan our grocery needs and get creative with the items we already have in the home.

I enjoy cooking, sewing and crafting but I’m no Pioneer Woman. I do the best I can but one thing is for certain: I HATE HOUSE CLEANING. I would probably cook and bake more if I didn’t have to clean so much but Laundry is my nemesis! There’s always piles of it everywhere and I think it’s conspiring to take over the house! lol

Blogging is my passion.

I am blessed I can share my life and experiences here on my blog. A release from the day to day stresses of being a mother, wife, keeper of all the appointments, household accountant, and Chief Executive Officer of Casa Clark! This has turned into a place that helps define me as more than all those things.

It’s exciting to make new friends and see how other people live. The world doesn’t seem so big and intimidating as it once did now I talk with people all over the world.

a future in web design

Most recently I’ve added the hat of student to my repotoir. I am just two terms away from my Associates in Web Design. I plan to go on for a Bachelor’s but I’m having so much fun I’m not sure what I’ll do once I have my BA!

I’m very excited about this next phase of my life as I hope to build my own professional web design firm and add another layer to my individuality. I’m sure there will be more to add to this chapter in the coming months!!!

There you have…hopefully you’ve learned a bit about me and my family. 

Some fun facts about my family tree:

• My family history traces back to the Talleyrands of the Blackhills area of France.
• Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Perigord served as one of Europe’s leading diplomats in the 1800′s.
• My mother’s family name evolved from Perigord to Peregoy to Pedego to Pedigo
• The Pedigos arrived in Maryland from France around 1685 as an indentured servant then went on to
• My great grandpa (x6) Robin Pedigo ran away from home (& his evil step mother) when he was 12 years old and lived to be 94!
• My g-pa died before I was born but he was married to another woman before he married my g-ma! (This was DEFINITELY omitted from the family stories)
• The family liked the names Robert, Elijah & Henry. Those names were used repeatedly throughout the generations.