Hello, and welcome to my corner of the internet!
I am passionate about creative and wholesome living.
These days, that takes the form of feeding my family, finding ways to flourish as a Mama to four little ones, and living in and loving the small cottage my family and I call “home.”
Basically, I try to embrace what life throws at me and make the best of it.
A few details about me:
I grew up on a farm in Washington State, and married my best friend, Gabe, in 2012.
We quit our jobs in 2015 and moved to Thailand to teach at an elementary school for a year. Then we backpacked around Asia and Europe a bit, before landing in the South Pacific islands.
We ended up in New Zealand, participating in a Discipleship Training School with a Christian ministry on the North Island. Although we thought it would be just a stop-over, we couldn’t resist the green hills and sunny winters.
So, we decided to stay – first for just “a while.” But now we’re facing up to the fact that we might spend a good chunk of our life here in Aotearoa.
All four of our children have been born here, and we’ve also miscarried two babies here. This is where I have undertaken significant growth in my adulthood. I’ve journeyed into motherhood and waded through issues of identity and what merits “success” in my eyes. After years of being a driven, to-do list wielding woman, I started deconstructing my paradigm of work and worth (but I held on to the to-do lists!). I am firmly convinced that the greatest riches in life are relationships, and I want to value my family and community in a way that reflects that wealth.
Some fun facts:
- We are obsessed with kombucha around our house. We make and consume a LOT of it!
- I was homeschooled, graduated university, and then spent 6 years teaching as an adjunct instructor at a community college. I’m excited to be homeschooling our kids.
- My husband and I love working out with Daniel and Kelli over at Fitness Blender – seriously, if you need a FREE way to workout at home, they’re an awesome choice. A fantastic alternative during my pregnancies and postpartum has been Pregnancy and Postpartum TV on YouTube.
- After getting pregnant with my first child in 2017, I took a deep dive into all things natural birth. I’ve now become a birth doula, and am still exploring the depths of the natural, physiological birth. It is one of my greatest honors in life to get to support friends and family as they journey through the birth process.
- I am a big Star Wars nerd… the old school universe. I read a lot of Star Wars books in my teens, asked for (and got) the hard bound, extra large Star Wars Encyclopedia for my birthday one year, and created an insane amount of Star Wars fanfiction that is probably inaccessible but still saved on a floppy disk somewhere at my parents’ house!
What you can expect here:
On this blog, I will be writing about how we do life in a small(ish) space with four kiddos. (Our current home is about 750 square feet / 70 square meters.) I will also share how we live frugally while still eating nutritious, delicious food. And I’ll be writing about how we try to live with intentionality – in our relationships and mindsets, as well as in our positions as consumers, as creators, and as global citizens. I believe intentionality leads to flourishing.
In a world that feels busy and ever increasing in pace, we seek to foster simplicity and develop contentment in our family. And I say “we” because my husband is my biggest cheerleader, and these values and goals are not just mine, but truly ours.
My posts are pretty personal – I have a strong value for authenticity, and a strong belief that everything happens for a reason. So, who knows? Maybe my experiences will be just what you need to spark a creative idea or identify a solution in your life. Or, maybe they’ll just be helpful in a practical, useful, money-saving, values-living kind of way. Or maybe they’ll just be a way for you to feel like someone else out there is experiencing some aspect of what your life is like.
Whatever the case, thanks for stopping by, and thanks for taking time to read my words. Know that you are welcome in this place – I hope it feels like home to you!