Molly Wilson loves variety. She gets that in abundance at Associates in Family Medicine’s urgent care office on Horsetooth Road. From the myriad of injuries and illnesses she and the doctors and staff see every day to the challenges and rewards that come with her Nurse Manager role, life is anything but bland. “I truly love what I do,” Wilson says. “I have held a lot of different jobs in healthcare, all with a single degree. The variety of opportunities I’ve had in my life have been amazing.”

Early on, she sampled a number of potential career paths from working as a makeup artist in Hollywood to being a nanny for the wardrobe person on the hit TV show Malcolm in the Middle. She even looked into joining the FBI. But her love for kids and her interest in anatomy and physiology ultimately led her to nursing school and, ultimately, to Associates in Family Medicine.

Originally from Nebraska, she met her husband, John, while working in the neonatal intensive care unit at University Hospital in Omaha. His family is from Colorado and when the couple decided to get married, they chose Fort Collins as the setting. It didn’t take long for the amazing weather, the wilderness camping, and the active mountain lifestyle to speak to the couple. They headed west and now make their home on the family farm outside of Fort Collins with their two young daughters, Jaymeson and Presley.

While farm living can take a lot of time and effort, she finds the rewards of raising fresh vegetables are well worth it. “The funny thing is, neither of us grew up on a farm,” says Wilson. “When we moved here in 2013, we decided to start a huge 50’x75’ garden and we planted whatever we could. We were expecting our second child and we wanted to have fresh veggies to make baby food, homemade applesauce…whatever we could. We liked the idea of providing the freshest natural options we could, and it made sense to raise them ourselves.”

That giant garden produced a bountiful crop of fresh produce—much more than the two of them and a baby on the way could enjoy. Wilson recalled how her grandmother used to do a lot of canning and decided to give it a try. After that first season, she was hooked. She fell in love with homegrown foods made from scratch and has been canning ever since. She enjoys sharing homemade salsas, pie fillings, and applesauce with friends and coworkers, often giving her canned goods as gifts, including the more adventurous varieties. “My in-laws have a plum tree so I made plum chutney one time,” she said. “It was actually quite delicious!”

Of course, life at the Wilson farm isn’t all work and no play. Molly and her husband, a former baseball player, have both been in competitive softball and volleyball leagues since the moment they met and continue to play on coed teams together. “We’re both very competitive,” she says. “Thankfully, we’ve never played against each other…yet!”