“It was 2006. I can still remember the moment, Zeb and I were sitting in our tiny apartment in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, our backs against one wall, sitting side by side, staring at the other wall as if hoping some answer to our future would magically appear.

We were having that “fork in the road” conversation, knowing the decision to be made would forever change our lives. We had it pretty good for being 21 years old, Zeb was working for a hydraulic repair company, made good money, and had potential to move up the ladder to some great positions. I was in the last weeks of my bachelor’s of nursing program and had a job waiting for me in a pediatric unit of one of the nation’s greatest hospitals with my eyes set on being a pediatric flight rescue nurse. Sioux Falls was a wonderful city and we had a lot of great friends. Life was good. So what was prying at our hearts to leave all of that behind? Bedford.

We grew up in Bedford, and honestly took for granted all of the great things that come with growing up in a small town. We graduated, left town, and spread our wings like so many do.

Granted, we had discussed going “home” a few times, but Zeb’s degree wasn’t one with job openings in Bedford, so why all of a sudden this ‘fork in the road’ urgency? Opportunity knocked. Zeb’s father had met a man from northwest Iowa who processed deer for a living. Bedford was known as having a plethora of whitetail deer and trophy bucks. This man’s business had a glimmer of hope of being a ticket home. This spurred the conversation that ultimately led to our decision. Children. While we hoped babies would be in our future at some point, they weren’t in the ‘any time soon’ category. However, with this opportunity at hand, it brought up the conversation of our future little ones, and what kind of life we wanted for them.

The decision to be made; were we willing to turn away from our comfortable “safe” future in Sioux Falls, and raise our kids in the city; or instead, take a leap of faith, and attempt to start a new business in a small town? That was a hard one to swallow… security or uncertainty?

We knew it was now or never, and for us raising children near family in a caring community meant more than the comfort of financial security of the city. It was truly on a leap of faith and a prayer that we said “let’s do it” and our lives forever changed that day.

Zeb started an apprenticeship to learn the trade, ensuring we would hit the ground running with a time proven high quality product. He found an abandoned Napa building that offered potential, and with the help of family, friends, and our first employees, we had one summer to transform Napa into a meat locker. I became a labor and delivery nurse for St. Francis Hospital in Maryville, Missouri, and when I wasn’t working I helped Zeb however I could. It was all a blur, but the doors were open for the first hunting season that fall. We made it our goal to deliver a high quality product and to make sure to have fun along the way. We were so excited when our first deer arrived. We had done it! We had ONE deer!

Flash forward 12 years, through God’s grace and a lot of hard work, we are blessed to have two children, are surrounded by family and friends, and Zeb’s Smokehouse has become more than we could have ever dreamed it to be. We are processing wild game from all over the country, serving hunters nationwide, selling our retail products in other stores, and we just expanded our services to become the first farm to table butcher in the state of Iowa.

This has been our venture, but we want to use this opportunity to reach out and invite others to Bedford. Bedford is a great place to call home and a wonderful place to raise a family. For those of you with an adventurous spirit, Bedford still holds a lot of potential and opportunity for new dreams to become reality. Bedford is historic, beautiful, and alive. Our community, our schools, our churches, and our businesses are full of people who are friendly and truly caring. Our parks are breathtaking and the serenity of Bedford is beyond words. People from all over the United States who visit the smokehouse will say the same comment to us, “This is God’s country,” and they are right.

Security or uncertainty? The truth is every day is in God’s hands, and all you can do is pray and follow your heart. That is where security lives. As far as the leap of faith to make Bedford a place to call home, or maybe even a place to start a new venture, as for us… we wouldn’t have had it any other way.”