Introduction

Welcome Y’all, my name is Sandara Brock, and I'm from Southeastern KY, where the Appalachian Mountains kiss your face from both sides. I live 7 minutes away from my childhood home, and it's strange, you see, when I was young, I had these big dreams of moving to a big city and being the life of the party scene! I have always had the act first, think later, unpredictable character vibe, instead of most people having a main character vibe, IYKYK! I always felt like my personality didn’t fit into the small-town vibe. I'm not lady-like or laid-back and soft-toned; I’m loud and a lot, and my husband truly needs a trophy for how well he manages me. However, that’s not what life had in store, and thank goodness for that! I found peace and solitude in the simple things, the quiet, and these hills are my home.

I’m almost 26 now; I've settled into a role as far from that life as fathomably possible, married the man of every woman's dreams, got a backyard full of chickens and a home full of love, and I couldn't be happier.

What we don't realize as we’re growing up is that dreams change, goals change, desires change, but you change most of all! Through every experience, person, challenge, success, and/or failure in life creates the version of you that you carry with you. Every small interaction alters you, even if just in a tiny way that you'll never notice; it's there. I can't imagine living any other way. The simplest solutions are usually the best ones, and that saying stands true here, too.

I graduated from RN school in 2021; I was working in the ER before I could buy my own drink at Applebee's. Due to laws and regulations, my experiences and opinions will be indirect and very rarely mentioned. Though I have recently quit my full-time home health career to pursue my dreams and leave a field that I no longer can put my good faith in, with that said, without my husband, emotionally and financially supporting all my crazy dreams, I would not be here today writing my introductory piece for my very own blog. He deserves all the praise and acknowledgment for all he does for me! Not only does he work long, hard hours and weeks, but comes home with a smile on his face and his arms around my waist, and he just listens to me going on and on about the one million small details of my day, and if I'm excited, you can make it 2 million and on double volume! If not for him, I'd be stuck in a job I hated and didn't believe in anymore, 4 years of being loved by him, and now I'm spoiled and get to cook every day, keep the laundry caught up (this never happened while i was working, we celebrate little victories as good as we do the big ones in this house), and I actually get to take my dogs for walks instead of buying leashes for them to hang by the door. Owning a business I believe in and getting to write articles for my own website and blog has been 2 dreams I've carried since childhood that didn't change (they started out as loving reading and writing about anything in school, and I've been entrepreneuring since the 2nd grade, reselling candy bars on the playground and selling Girl Scout cookies). Some traits in people just never change; learning to embrace my own skill set and hobbies and turning it into my 9-5 has been challenging, present tense, is challenging, but so so worth it!

There will be a wide variety of categories here for you, from herbalism to my daily routines and experiences, all the way to crochet patterns and reviews and recommendations on products I do believe in, that you may also be in the market for or didn't know you needed! I would also like to add that I am new to the website and content creation, and as I'm learning, the blog will grow and better as we go as well. If there's a topic or content you wish to be covered, contact me and let me know! A good research project a day keeps the winter mind demons away, they say!

Personal Lifestyle Blog from Hook&Homestead