Happiness Unscripted
Welcome to Happiness Unscripted with your host, Kristin DeSouza.
Here, we are on a journey to build a deeply happy and joyful life.
Here, I'll share stories about my journey, talk with people finding their way to a happy life and with experts in many areas of life - wellness, communication, relationships, career, and more. Join us on this journey to explore ways to take control of building a life you are genuinely joyful living!
Let's go get happy!
Happiness Unscripted
Elaine V_From Free Spirit to Military Veteran_How 9/11 changed her trajectory
Elaine Vandiver’s Inspiring Evolution: Free-Spirited College Days to Military Veteran to Thriving Farmer
In this 3-part series of ‘Happiness Unscripted’, host Kristin DeSouza interviews her good friend, Elaine Vandiver. Elaine shares her evolution from a free-spirited college student to combat veteran, turned thriving first-generation farmer and entrepreneur. Elaine operates two complementary agricultural businesses at a historic homestead in Walla Walla, Washington. In today’s episode Elaine shares her early experiences, including how 9/11 changed her trajectory and led her to join the army upon graduation from college while also facing her mother’s cancer diagnosis. Elain details how her military experience helped her gain confidence to know she has the grit to build something of value in life.
Main Takeaways:
· Sometimes the most unexpected detours become the most meaningful journeys
· Structure and commitment can provide stability during life's most challenging transitions
· Military experience taught her she could not only survive difficult situations but transform them into something valuable
This episode explores themes of resilience, unexpected life pivots, and finding purpose through service - both military and agricultural.
Key Time Stamps:
00:00 Introduction to Elaine Vandiver’s Journey
02:16 Elaine’s College Years and Early Aspirations
08.31 The Impact of 9/11 on Elaine’s Life – The first pivot
19:19 Joining the Military and Early Challenges
26.17 Deployment and Personal Growth
33:50 Conclusion and Teaser for Elaine’s Next Episode
Social Media:
Elaine:
https://www.facebook.com/OldHomesteadAlpacas
https://www.instagram.com/oldhomesteadalpacas/
https://www.oldhomesteadalpacas.com/
https://www.facebook.com/gholsongardens
https://www.instagram.com/gholsongardens/
www.gholsongardens.com
Happiness Unscripted:
https://happinessunscripted.buzzsprout.com
https://www.facebook.com/HappinessUnscripted
https://www.instagram.com/happinessunscripted/
Hey there friends! Just a firendly reminder that this podcast is all about sharing ideas and having fun conversations. I'm not an expert in this subject over here - jut a curious person eploring topics I find interesting. So please don't take anything said here as professional advice. When in doubt, chat with the real pros who know their stuff. Thanks for listening and hope you join us for the next episode! Now, let's dive in and get happy!
Today, Elaine Vandiver is joining us to share her story of evolution. Elaine, I'm so happy you're here.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Thank you for having me.
Kristin - Host:Elaine is a military veteran turned first generation farmer and entrepreneur who operates two complimentary agricultural businesses, on a historic 1870s homestead in Walla Walla Washington, alongside her husband Mike. At Old Homestead Alpacas, she raises suri alpacas for their luxurious natural fiber, which she transforms into craft, yarns and professionally machine knit garments, including hats, scarves, and mittens that are 100% made in the USA. In 2018, she launched Gholson Gardens, which provides seasonal specialty cut flowers and has become a revenue stream that allows her to make farming her full-time occupation. Elaine describes the farming experience as both uplifting, and therapeutic, also providing her an opportunity to give back to the community and preserve the heritage of the historic Gholson Homestead. However, military veteran and full-time farming are not what Elaine would have described as her path when I first met her at Indiana University when we were freshmen. I'm very excited to talk with Elaine about her unique and fascinating journey to what she describes as the most meaningful work of her life. So, Elaine, before we get into your life today, let's set the stage of your journey a bit. I said, we first met as freshmen in college at Indiana University or IU, as we will probably refer to it. Back then you were not saying you planned to be a first generation full-time farmer. Tell us about what the Elaine from college envisioned her life goals and career would be.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Oh wow. That was numerous decades ago at this point. Um, yeah, it feels weird to be able to say that. Um. Yeah. Elaine of the 1990s and early two thousands, goodness, how's the best way to put this? I probably was the, the least driven of all of us. I would, at least that's how I, you know, in my mind's eye, see myself, I, I went to college as a, you know, that was kind of a requirement in my household, you know, and I can't say that that was a bad one, but it was a predetermined path for me. And so at the end of school, at the, you know, senior year, it seemed that everyone except for me, kind of had a plan. Um, you know, I, I kind of got to the end and was like, wait, wait, wait. This, wait. The ride is over. Um. You know, so you were going on to graduate school. Christine was doing, she's gonna be a paralegal and then go to law school. We had a couple student teachers, we had, everybody had a, a next path. And, you know, I, I didn't really leading up to it. Like I said, I going to college was kind of a requirement and so it wasn't like a dream per se. So I didn't really, I didn't really know what I was going to do.
Kristin - Host:Did you feel like, uh, college was just kind of a continuation of that school path that we had all been on and it just kind of hadn't dawned on you that like, oh, wait, when I finish this, there isn't the next thing laid out for me? Like I, you know, you hadn't really clicked that you needed to start figuring out what you wanted individually?
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Yeah, pretty much. You know, and, and that's, that's largely because I think my personality, like I'm, I'm sure I knew that to some degree. It's like, okay, it's kinda time to graduate and like grow up a little bit and have a plan. But truthfully, I didn't really think about that. Um, I was real, I was living in the present, you know, the things that we all struggle to do now. I really wasn't thinking deeply about the future. I think the only thing I thought really about the future was that. I did not want to return home and settle there up in, you know, in the region, in the northwest corner of Indiana. So, I mean, that was really, that was really my only plan was like to, to do what was expected, which was get a college education. Um, and then kind of just see where, where it took me.
Kristin - Host:Yeah. Well, and I feel like our generation, I, I feel like our parents' generation, just having the degree, like opened up a certain amount of automatic doors for you of like, oh, you've got a college degree. You can do higher level, you know, thinking jobs. And I feel like our generation is where things started to pivot a bit. That's like, yes, the degree is good, but that doesn't just automatically get you in the door as much. And you did kind of have to figure out like this degree and the what it says on this piece of paper, like, what, will they let me in the door?
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Exactly. You know, to me, college was always, at least my perspective of it, it, it was the version of a high school diploma. You know, not, it wasn't the same, but you know, you know what I mean? Like there was an expectation you were gonna finish high school and then you were gonna finish college, and then the path would magically appear
Kristin - Host:yeah, yeah. No, I can, yeah, I can relate to that. Like I, you know, I think both of us are similar in that, you know, our parents had gone to college and so it was, it was kind of spoken about that this is just what you do. Like you are capable intellectually to do this, and we are able to support getting you into college, and so that's what you go do.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Exactly. You know, and I, when I was thinking about it, my, I think I'm like for sure third generation to go to college at, at least on my mom, my mom's side. On my dad's side, probably second. But you know, like it was, you know, it's funny because before that I would largely expect at least 4, 3, 4 generations back. My family were probably farmers
Kristin - Host:Oh,
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:isn't that funny
Kristin - Host:a little foreshadowing.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:You know, like, well, if you think about it, you know, very common in those days to still have some agriculture in the family, so, yeah, it's funny.
Kristin - Host:my great uncle is a farmer because his dad was a farmer and now, you know, I have, that would be like second cousin of my mother and cousin once removed from me are, you know, they continue to farm.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Yeah. Yeah. It's funny. Yeah.
Kristin - Host:Oh goodness. Okay. So kinda, you're getting towards the end there and you're like, okay, what next? And you had to like figure out a plan there. Well I think that leads in very nicely to my next one. So, I will share with everyone that you and I were college seniors on September 11th, 2001. Uh, and you know, while that day changed all of us, it really changed, I would say the trajectory of your entire life, at least from what I had known you seem to be going towards and all of a sudden there was like this whole new avenue that was like, where the heck did this even come from? Um, so would it be fair to say that this was like the first of several pivots in your life?
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Well, yeah, for sure. Um, pivot or pirouette depending on how you look at it. Um, um, yeah, for sure. And I think so, you know, we went through that morning of September 11th, uh, getting dressed and just kind of watching the rest of the changes of the world kind of unfold on our little tiny tv.
Kristin - Host:Yes.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Um, and then just the craziness of that day on campus and the, the chaos, you know,'cause that was pretty smartphone, you know, I remember, um. I mean, there was definitely cell phones, but not smart phones. And I remember cell phones being down and reaching people and it was just chaos. Um, yeah. But I would for sure describe that as a large crossroads in my life. Um, you know, going back to the, I had a plan to go to college when September 11th happened, and I, you know, there was a very big patriotic movement. At least I felt it, um, different than the patriotic movements that we kind of semi observed as of late.
Kristin - Host:Well I feel like we talked about it as um, maybe giving us some understanding of like how our grandparents talked about World War II and like coming together as a country and you know, everyone finding their way to support.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Yeah, for sure. You know, that was, and that part was something very, uh, visceral that I could feel. And then, you know, at the, at the same juncture, I, you know, that was the very beginning of our senior year and, you know, that's when everybody was making their applications and really solidifying the plans they'd been talking about. And there was a big move for folks to get into the service. And in, in my young brain, I remember thinking, wow, well that, that would be a path, you know, honestly, I mean, you know, when you have a, you have the inspiration of your country kinda needs you
Kristin - Host:Yeah.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:and I need some direction, I need a purpose.
Kristin - Host:okay.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Um, and the army is, you know, I, I would later learn is very purpose. What is it? Uh, purpose, direction, and motivation
Kristin - Host:Okay.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:kind of like the, how everything kind of comes together in the military. And so when, when 911 happened, and, you know, I also had some other things going on in my personal life, my mother had been diagnosed at that point with stage four lung cancer. And so there were just so many uncertainties. And truthfully, on top of the fact that like, I didn't really know what I was gonna do with my life when it seemed like everybody around me did.
Kristin - Host:Okay.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:My mother was having this big health crisis. And then the looming student debt, which I
Kristin - Host:yeah.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:somewhat laugh at now because I went in state, um, I think all told between my parents and me, I had less than$50,000. But that was a big
Kristin - Host:That's a huge chunk. Would you have not made an income yet
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Exactly. And didn't really have any like, um, professional skills either. You know, I'd had jobs here and there, but nothing, you know, so I. Yeah, it was, that was for sure a pivotal moment, and it, it was everything I kind of needed at the time, um, to kind of launch me to the next phase of life. So, you know,
Kristin - Host:That's very interesting way. I think that was part of that process that like, I wasn't aware of at the time, like that thought process on how you got there. And, uh, if I'm being honest, it was probably because I was, uh, absorbed enough in figuring out how to get myself onto my next step that I was like, Elaine's, what is this like going to join the military thing that Elaine's talking about? Where did this come from?
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:You know, and truthfully like this has really only come with self-reflection because at the time I'm, I'm a. I'm a very impulsive Gemini. And, and so like, that was similar to how I even ended up at Indiana University. It was like, well, I gotta go in state. Uh, I'm not going to Purdue'cause my brother's there. Uh, Indiana state's too close, so it looks like I'm going to IU. I mean, I was very much
Kristin - Host:Yeah.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:kind of person and I just was like, it'll be fine. I mean, like, you're going to college,
Kristin - Host:Yeah.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:and I think I just took that, that was kind of my MO at the time. Well, if I'm being honest, that probably still is largely, uh, the underlying thread in my life. But like, I, I just, I picked something and I go, I can make this work. Let's just start. Let's try it.
Kristin - Host:Just gonna say like, know, I, I have heard you kind of talk about your willingness to jump in in that, in that, oh, I'm just impulsive. But, um, as someone who is very much a, like planner and thinker and, you know, the analytical scientist, uh, was an easy fit for me career wise with my personality. Um, I've, always been impressed with your willingness to jump in and from my perspective, have the confidence that you'll figure it out. You know? And I think that's something that, um, has been a work in progress for me to have confidence that like, I'll figure it out as I go, uh, you know, I don't have to have everything sorted. And you, you know, you always kind of had that ability to be like, it out and, you know, go for it.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Well, it's amazing to hear you say that'cause I don't think I would've described anything I did in my twenties as being remotely confident. I mean, truthfully, I think a lot of it is fear-based. I'm scared I don't have a plan. I'm scared I don't, you know, I've got these loans,
Kristin - Host:Yeah.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:scared everybody knows what they're doing. And I don't like, I mean, it was more, you know, like, I think especially, you know,'cause yeah, I was confident like, well join the military, like right as we're going to war. Like that was largely the biggest gamble I've made in my, to my whole life. And I will tell you, I did not approach it with the, the gravity I probably should have.
Kristin - Host:Mm-hmm.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:that, um, you know, the invincibility of youth,
Kristin - Host:Yeah. Yeah.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:it kind of pushed me through on that one. Um, but yeah, I, it's, that is very lovely to hear that it came off as confidence.
Kristin - Host:Well, I, I certainly didn't have the confidence to go join the military. I was like, oh my gosh. That's quite an endeavor that you're on. Well, so let me maybe ask a little bit more specifically, like what, what, was that the thing that made you say like, yeah, the military is what I'm gonna go do? Was it just kind of the, the patriotic state of our country at that time, and there was a lot of talk about it? Like, what did you envision joining the military was going that you were gonna give to the military, or the military was gonna give to you in taking that route.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:I truthfully, I think it really was just I needed a path and a direction. I felt so very lost, you know, like it really did, senior year, I, really crept up on me. And that was the fastest year. And I just, I felt really outta sorts when, you know, like when you finally lift your head up and you look around, you're like, oh my God, everybody else knows what they're gonna do. I don't, and I knew enough about the military. My mother had a friend that was in it that had retired
Kristin - Host:okay.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:he, you know, like did twenty you know, went outta right outta high school, retired after 20 years, so he wasn't even 40. Um, and I remember her just briefly talking like, oh yeah, he just, he could start a second career. And I was like, well, you know, I never thought about it until 911. And you know, when I was seeing like the, everything kind of clicking together about like being on my own or. Truthfully, and this sounds really bad, but like I was really adverse to going back home, home without a plan for fear that I would end up staying there.'Cause I did not see a future. I just knew enough. You know, it's one of those places that like, so glad I grew up there and I cha cherish those times and I love going back the few times I do get to go back, but like, I just didn't see a future to me. And that felt a future there for me. So that felt in tandem with like, the craziness of the world and, and knowing the impulsive person I am, I really need a path laid out for me.
Kristin - Host:Okay.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:And I, I didn't have the grades, the motivation or the money to, to do graduate school and I didn't feel like that would've been a good investment for me. That like, it, it really was kind of like, okay, I'm gonna do that. Uh, they need people, they need good folks in the military. So here I come. That was coming. It's.
Kristin - Host:Yeah, I can, all right, I can follow that. Like, I can follow that logic. I can remember, you know, our 20 something early, 20 something selves. It just, I mean like, all right, how do I put a plan together? Okay. So kinda jumping forward to, you know, you've joined the military and you end up spending, am I remembering correctly that it was a year in Iraq? Okay. Um, was in a combat situation and, know, I do wanna like take a moment and acknowledge for you and the audience that you know, that is a very complex life event that, um, I am touching on here, but I'm really curious to hear, like, would you share what this experience taught you about trusting your instincts and, um, like particularly when that path is not the conventional one or the one that you had envisioned, had never envisioned for yourself until suddenly you did.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Yeah, so that was, that was, okay. So let me paint the timeline because it was a lot of things in a very condensed period. So we graduated in May of 2002, and I had enlisted in March. So a couple months before graduation, they did a delayed entry to allow me to graduate. And then I was in bootcamp shortly after my 22nd birthday, which would've been after May 26th, 2002. And then I finished bootcamp in, I think it was August in South Carolina. Boo don't go there in August is hot and muggy. Um, and then I went up to Virginia to do my advanced training. I was not quite halfway through that. I got a red,
Kristin - Host:training? Remind me like what were you
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:it was,
Kristin - Host:do?
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:I was training to be a supply specialist or a supply sergeant. Yep. So acquisitions and management of supplies. Um, so I wasn't even halfway through that and I got a Red Cross message, which is how they communicate how your family can communicate with the military, um, when they otherwise can't.'cause when you're in initial training like that, um, you don't have access to, to talk to anybody in the outside world really on any regular basis.
Kristin - Host:okay.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Um, and the Red Cross is an official message, particularly as it relates to illnesses within the immediate family of the service members. So I got a Red Cross message, um, that I feel like I kind of knew was probably coming. My mom was stage four. This was not something that she was going to overcome. We just weren't sure the timeline. Um, so midway through training, so I went from collegiate experience to the military. Very, very different. Um, and then they gave me about a two week break to go home. My mother was on hospice at the time and she passed and then I went back to training, had to kind of resume. I ended up finishing and then, so that would've been September, October. By November I was at Fort Lewis Washington, which is on the other side of the country, um, in the Seattle Tacoma area. That would've been November. And in February of that next year I was deployed.
Kristin - Host:Wow,
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:So very swift. It was not even a year from graduating college, doing the sorority thing, doing the collegiate, kinda,
Kristin - Host:you're freewheeling a little bit.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:yeah. To now I'm trained and I'm with a unit of people that like. I don't really know at this point.'cause I got to know him for like a month or two and then it was all hands to train and pack and deploy and at the time,
Kristin - Host:like in the midst of all of that, mother had passed away and you were having to deal with,
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Yeah.
Kristin - Host:that which is, that sends people, you know, spins people off their axis just by itself.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:You know? Yeah. Yeah. And I am so grateful to the military because not only did they afford me the time
Kristin - Host:Mm-hmm.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:that I needed to be with my mom, but that structure kept me.'cause I am a hundred percent that type of person that would have used that my mom died and everything as, as a, as a way to like, who knows, you know, like you're so young at that age that like, I a hundred percent could have been like, well, I have to go home and be with my dad, and then who knows what would've hap, you know, like, um, which was the, the one of the very few things I knew I didn't want to do. So I was very grateful that I had not only a path, but but a path that you can't exactly cancel out of. I mean, I think you could, but that's not easy either, you know? So it, it was a great. That is
Kristin - Host:fascinating to me because, um, like, yo, watched you. Moving forward through this process. Um, you know, being very impressed that, like, you could keep going on this, but like, it hadn't, you know, but I'd also been like, oh my gosh, like, you know, she just has to keep going forward. Like, she doesn't get the time to, you know, maybe slow down if she needs to. And it just hadn't crossed my mind that maybe for you having that regimen of like, Nope, we're just gonna keep doing the everyday things and seeing that like you can keep doing the everyday things after this event was possible and you could handle it.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Y Yeah. You know, but with some reflection though, I will say that, like the other component of my personality, I'm very avoidant. I'm a, I'm a stuffer in a lot of ways,
Kristin - Host:Yeah.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:So it was great, that I had the military to kind of keep me on track to keep me moving forward. But yes, it did not really afford me much time to process and for sure did not pro provide a venue in which processing would've even, that would've been, you know, like
Kristin - Host:Yeah.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:the military is. Yeah, it's very different. And so like, yeah, I mean I'm grateful that I had it, but I have done a lot of, like, especially on the farm now, I've done a lot of digesting.'cause I do share my story very openly in a lot of contexts. Um, that, like, I've done a lot of that processing, but, you know, it might not have been the healthiest to have waited all these years, but like you just kind of go with it. So,
Kristin - Host:Okay.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:yeah.
Kristin - Host:So, um, I guess I'll, I'll circle back to you feel like having, j oined the military and then, gone to combat helped give you some confidence to, did you become more self aware of your, like, can make changes in my life and work my way through them, or, that had not happened for you yet at that stage?
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:You know, I think it's a little bit of both. I think during the deployment itself, because the, the, the plan, the plan for the deployment was shock and awe. I don't know if you remember that.
Kristin - Host:do remember that.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:90 days or less.
Kristin - Host:Yeah.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Yeah. Um, so, you know, we go into it and I am like as fresh to the military as. Pretty much possible. And they're saying 90 days. And to me, I'm like, oh, that's a long time. You know? And at about the 30 day mark, they're like, yeah, it's probably being closer to six months. And I'm like, and then it was pretty obvious they stopped talking about an end date
Kristin - Host:oh, okay.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:pretty quickly. So it was when people say, oh, you're drinking from the fire hose, I, I really, uh, figuratively and almost literally drank from the fire hose because it was changing every day. And so I learned real quick, or at least I, um, I don't know if I learned so much as, like, I just really focused on, I can only be here right now, you know?'cause it was, you know, like, and I was also newly engaged to Mike.
Kristin - Host:Oh, that's true. I forgot.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:We got engaged literally two or three weeks before I left. And so I was only physically with Mike for some a few months, you know, and so I couldn't think about, um, you know, the wedding or a, because we didn't even have a date, you know, like I couldn't, I couldn't think about what he was doing, um, or what all of you guys were doing, you know, like it was just because things were changing. We were moving so much.'cause I was there a couple weeks before the Iraq war started. We were in Kuwait and then my unit, um, were combat heavy, uh, engineers. So we had all of the bulldozers, like the heavy armored bulldozers. And so they like let the third infantry division in by like bulldozing the, the border
Kristin - Host:Ah.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:and our, our unit was there day one? I didn't come in until like day two, but like it, you know, like,
Kristin - Host:how you say that as though like, you know, I wasn't there until day two of this thing that we now know went on and on.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:yeah. But like, it was all very new and we weren't supposed to be there that long. And, and I was so fresh to the military that like, I hadn't picked up like, you know, the nuances of being in any organization of like what they say and what they mean and like, and then there's this whole structure system and
Kristin - Host:Yeah.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:yeah, it was very overwhelming and so like I just couldn't do anything but accept the reality was that like you chose this path. You might not have known that you were gonna get here as fast as you did because I mean, I was a post 911 in enlistee, but like. None of us thought we were gonna deploy right away. And I absolutely didn't think I was going to Iraq. I thought I'd be going to Afghanistan, but that's a separate discussion, you know? Um,
Kristin - Host:I wasn't aware of.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:well, I mean, because you know, it was like,
Kristin - Host:That's where
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:it went from
Kristin - Host:like,
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:yeah, we went from Osama to now we're going after Saddam and Yeah. So,
Kristin - Host:Okay.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:um, yeah, so I forgot what the question was, but like,
Kristin - Host:just, um, I was just asking, did you, do you feel like that experience helped you have confidence in your ability to pivot, you know, to pirouette, as you said previously, and, you know, and make it through a big change?
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:yes. So the answer would for sure be yes because I am lucky. I did come home, you know, I was very lucky. Um. It does, it did teach me a, a, a certain measure of resilience that I don't think I knew I had. You know, like it's one thing to follow a path, whether that's to go to school or to join the military, and it's another to go, oh my goodness, I, I signed up to potentially give my life. And, and, and a number of occasions almost did
Kristin - Host:Oh
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:and then came home. And of course this wasn't all during it, but like upon reflection being like, wow, I can do hard things and like I can honor my commitments. I can pick a path that might be very scary and not at all what I really think I was after, you know? Um, and, and not only make it through, but like I. Truly come out the, the other side, as you know, a a little more fully formed person than I was in initially, and that's after a bunch of digesting. But yeah.
Kristin - Host:No, but I, I love, I love that, you know, a more fully formed person, um, you know, even if you're, that's something that you put together, you know, years down the road looking back that, um, yeah, I can say that, um, you know, the college version of you that I knew was a very, just, there was a certain amount of happy go lucky, you know, that you're like, oh, we're just, we're gonna go do this and we're gonna figure it out. And I would say the version of you I know today is still an extremely happy person and, you know, has confidence that you're gonna figure it out. But like. um, I don't even know how to describe it. There's this level of, um, self-assurance in you about doing Yeah. That you're gonna figure it out now. Um, whereas before it was like, eh, you know, the path will appear before me. And you're like, no, I can lay that path down. Like
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Yeah.
Kristin - Host:build it.
Elaine - Old Homestead Alpacas:Well, I appreciate hearing that because there are definitely days where I am regularly asking myself what am I doing? Um, but no, I do think that the experience in the its entirety did give me, I don't know, it's just that the military is, it's, it's, it's, it's an entirely different culture. And I, yeah, I, I really walked away from that experience realizing that like, I'm harder, I'm, I, I can do hard things and, and not only come through it, but like. Bring something back with me. You know what I mean? Like, not just get through it, like I can make it into something. So yeah, it was, it was a, it was a good experience. Yeah.
Kristin - Host:Well, that's a wrap on this episode of Happiness Unscripted. I'm so grateful you chose to spend this time with me today exploring what it means to build a life we truly love. But here's the thing, we're just getting started with this incredible story. Make sure to tune in next week because we'll be continuing our conversation with Elaine, diving even deeper into her farm journey and the lessons she learned along the way. Remember, the path to happiness isn't always linear, and I can't wait for you to hear what comes next. Joining me here means so much. Before you go, please take a moment to think about one small thing from today's conversation that you can put into practice this week. Then please share it in the comment section to inspire others, and if you found value in what we discussed, it would be amazing if you share this episode with someone who might need to hear it. Please follow on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to this podcast so you get updates on the next episode release. I'm Kristin DeSouza and I can't wait to continue this journey with you next time on Happiness on Unscripted, let's get happy.
