Meet The Doeuns

I have to admit that after the Duck Dynasty fiasco around Christmas time I was curious so I watched the show for the first time and admittedly liked it. See I am attracted to real people, quirky people, funny people, people who are comfortable in their own skin. Even if I don’t agree with them. One thing I noticed on the show is when the family says, “You’re a Robertson” they all seem to have an idea of what that means.

I was reminded of one of my favorite movies, “Meet the Robinsons” where a young boy finds the family he always wanted in a surprising way. The Robinsons are definitely quirky but also perfect, they also have a family identity and slogan, “Keep Moving Forward.”

It got me thinking, who exactly are the Doeuns. I know the family that I grew up in was all about history and animals. The family Proeun grew up in was all about family, even extended family. But who are we?

I can tell you what we love–family, food, animals, and learning especially about the things previously mentioned. Family is a driving force for us. It is what brought us to farming, what drives us to pursue a simple life, it is fun, it is comforting.

Food is also a driving force. We love great food, especially with simple, fresh ingredients (which pretty much describes Cambodian food). I love cooking, baking and creating tasty food, now I have 3 little girls (and sometimes I can pull the boy away from TV to join us) who love cooking with mommy and we can combine two interests. Proeun’s and my idea of a great date night is cooking something together in the kitchen.

Animals also are a great passion. When our oldest was 3 we went to the State Fair’s “Miracle of Birth Center” the next 45 minutes were very stressful for this mama as he seemed on a mission to touch and look at every animal regardless of the crowds of where his parents were. When we moved to the farm we were advised not to get animals right away but that was a huge reason we wanted to move. Now we love learning about animals and how to better care for them. We might have a horse trainer in the family, maybe a veterinarian, who knows.

Learning is great. Our philosophy is that you should always be learning. Farming is great for challenging you mentally and physically. There is always something to learn. This is also why we homeschool, because we want to make sure the children have time to pursue their interests and get fired up about learning.

Finally we love the outdoors, though some of us more then others (we have a princess in our midst who would much rather stay inside but she humors us). We love being outdoors whether working, playing, learning or cooking.

Yes now I have a bit more of an idea of what it means to be a Doeun and I hope you do to.