Where It Started
Simpler Days didn't begin with a business plan.
It began with family.
After Cristina's father passed away, we found ourselves wondering what to do with a piece of property he had been working on. He had started developing the land with a dream of building something of his own — a small Hispanic produce store combined with a nursery.
He loved farming. He loved cultivating the land. And he had a vision for turning that little piece of East Texas into something useful, welcoming, and connected to the community.
Unfortunately, health problems eventually forced him to stop working on the property.
But the dream never really left us.
Keeping His Dream Alive
We started asking ourselves a simple question:
What if we finished what he started?
The more we talked about it, the more it felt like the answer was right in front of us.
We would continue the nursery.
Not because we wanted to build just another plant business, but because we wanted to preserve something that mattered to our family.
We wanted that connection to the land to remain.
And somewhere along the way, that idea grew into something bigger.
Simpler Days was born.
More Than a Nursery
Our original idea may have started with plants, but Simpler Days has grown into something that reflects much more of our family.
We love plants.
We love growing things.
We love making things by hand.
We love good food and gathering around the table.
We love the little places and people that make East Texas special.
And, maybe most of all, we love the idea of slowing down enough to actually enjoy those things.
That's where the name Simpler Days came from.
It isn't about going backward.
It's about remembering what is worth holding onto.
What We're Building
Today, Simpler Days includes a little bit of all of those things.
Our handmade planters came from our love of plants and making things.
Our Piney Woods Honey came from our love of food, local ingredients, and creating something we could share with other people.
Our nursery is still part of the dream.
And this Journal is our way of sharing the rest of it.
We'll talk about the things we're growing, the things we're making, recipes we're cooking, places we're discovering, local businesses we love, and the lessons we're learning along the way.
Some of it will be polished.
Some of it probably won't be.
And that's okay.
We're building this as we go.
Rooted in Family
There is something special about knowing that a dream can outlive the person who first imagined it.
Every time we work on the property, grow something new, or talk about what the nursery could eventually become, we think about where this all started.
A father who wanted to build something.
A family that didn't want that dream to disappear.
And a piece of East Texas land that gave us the opportunity to carry it forward.
That's the heart of Simpler Days.
We're not just building a business.
We're building something our family can be proud of.
Something rooted in where we came from.
Something we can grow together.
And hopefully, something that makes life feel just a little simpler for the people who find us along the way.
And this is only the beginning.
There is still a lot to build.
The nursery.
The garden.
The products.
The recipes.
The places we'll discover.
The people we'll meet.
And plenty of mistakes we'll probably make along the way.
We'll share all of it here.
Welcome to Simpler Days.
We're glad you're here.
