I am a homeschool mama who loves Jesus, my husband and family, coffee, all things nature, amazing literature, homeschooling, simplicity, mason jars, horses, books, good foods that nourish our bodies and souls, and making home a place everyone wants to be.
I spent the first 20 years of my life growing up in the desert southwest, a border town, overflowing with culture, amazing people and food. I love the desert abloom with poppies in the spring, the rolling white sand dunes at sunset, the shady tunnels of the pecan orchards along the Rio Grande river, the smell of the warm onion fields in the summer, talavera dishes and red chile ristras, and the sound and energy of mariachi music and folklorico dance. I love the food and all the amazing smells that remind me of home like red chile sauce simmering on the stove and roasting green chile on cool fall mornings. I am a desert southwest girl to my core.
You can take the girl out of the desert but you can’t take the desert out of the girl. As life (graduate school and horses) led me to Colorado… I found new adventures, an even greater love and respect of nature and its Creator, and eventually – the love of my life. Oh Colorado… where do I begin. I love your mountain streams and high alpine lakes, raging rivers at spring run-off, snow-capped peaks contrasted by colorful fields of wildflowers below, double black diamond runs through champagne powder and simply wandering in the woods. There is nothing like the power of the rivers and the greatness of the mountains to remind me of my great Creator and His undeniable power.
It was in Colorado I met and married my soulmate. In a small mountain town, in a 100 year old church (his 9 year old daughter as our flower girl and his 8 year old son as our ring bearer), we began our life together surrounded by the people we love most. A couple of years later we had children of our own. They were born in a mountain town (known for its world class skiing), in the hospital where I worked as a Dietitian and Food Service Director, and in the Labor and Delivery unit their Daddy built as a construction Project Manager (the same hospital we met in years ago). I spent the second 20 years of my life in Colorado… and now I can say I am a Colorado girl through and through.
The only constant in life is change, and yet again I find myself letting go of a season that shaped who I am, and moving on. Once again, life (and horses), led me on – this time to the Midwest prairie. I truly never thought this desert / mountain girl could move to the Plaines… but move I did. It is here I begin the next 20 years of my life… Chances are I will call myself a prairie girl – though the truth is, I already do. I am truly captivated by the prairie. It has called me in, captured me, rooted me and sang to my heart in a way no other form of God’s creation ever has. It is in the prairie that I am home! And so my story begins – again. A new season is upon us, and I am inviting you in.
I write, because as I do… I discover so clearly the hand of God upon my life. It is in the musings that I reflect upon and more clearly see just how much my heavenly Father loves me, what He has done in my life, and where He is leading. I don’t by any means have it all figured out… but He does, and so I follow Him.
I am a homeschool Mama of a 10 and 8 year old, with two grown children who are 21 and 20. I am blessed to be able to stay home fulltime growing and learning with two of my very favorite people day after day. There is no place I’d rather be. Prior to being home fulltime, I worked as a Clinical Dietitian and Food Service director at a hospital in Aspen, CO for almost 10 years. I am a Registered Dietitian with a Master’s degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition from Colorado State University (2003). I completed my Dietetic Internship from Cornell University (2000), and my undergraduate studies in Food Science and Human Nutrition at New Mexico State University (1999).