My Why

Before becoming a mom, I absolutely thrived on structure. I loved a clean house, a color-coded closet, and knowing exactly what came next. (My closet was literally organized by color and by type. These days, I’m doing well if the clean clothes actually make it onto a hanger!)

Then we had our first child. Life got a little less predictable. Then came another. Then another. And eventually…4 whole kids!

These days there’s almost always someone talking, someone singing, someone asking for a snack, someone looking for a missing shoe, or someone yelling, “Mom!” Our uncle jokes that every time he calls, it sounds like we’re hosting a party.

Honestly…he’s not wrong. There is never. a. dull. moment.

As someone who recharges in quiet, peaceful moments, I still find myself craving a little more margin, a little more order, and a little more space to simply enjoy the family life we’re working so hard to build.

I don’t think that desire comes from wanting less.

If anything, it comes from wanting to be more present for the life we already have.

Our oldest son has muscular dystrophy, and as his mobility needs have changed, we’ve found ourselves asking what schooling might look like in the years ahead. Somewhere in those conversations, he asked if he could be homeschooled.

That wasn’t the beginning of this story. But it’s becoming another chapter we’re still writing.

As I’ve learned more about what homeschooling could look like for him, I’ve also started wondering what that kind of flexibility might mean for our whole family. More time together. Less rushing from one thing to the next. More opportunities to learn, travel, explore, and simply enjoy being together.

At the same time, working remotely after COVID quietly shifted something in me too.

Like so many families, we realized life didn’t always have to look the way we’d assumed it would. We moved, stayed connected to the work I loved, and discovered that maybe we weren’t as tied to one place or one version of “normal” as we’d always believed.

Once that assumption changed, I found myself wondering what other assumptions deserved a second look.

I’m still asking those questions today.

Some ideas have been exactly what our family needed. Others haven’t lasted very long. We’ve changed our minds more than once, and I’m learning that’s okay. Every season has looked a little different, and I have a feeling the next one will too.

Travel has become one of the ways we continue asking those questions.

Not because vacations are an escape from real life, but because they have a way of reminding us what matters most. They help us slow down, reconnect, and often return home with a clearer picture of the kind of life we’re trying to build.

This website isn’t my attempt to tell anyone else how to live.

Every family has unique circumstances, priorities, and trade-offs to consider. Ours certainly does.

I’m simply sharing the stories, questions, and lessons I’m learning as we continue figuring out what matters most to our family. My hope isn’t that you’ll make the same choices we’re considering. It’s that these stories encourage you to ask some of those same questions in your own life and give yourself permission to thoughtfully build a life that reflects what matters most to your family.