Our Story

In a nutshell... 

My name is Amanda* and I am married to my best friend, Paul.  We have 3 children: Carlin (infant) Abigail (5) & Devlin (15). 

I am currently a stay-at-home, breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth diapering, bed-sharing, politically active activist, yoga practicing (I'm an amateur if anything! LOL) , Earth conscious, composting & recycling Hippie Momma. 

My husband and I do not claim to be perfect by any means, but we do strive for perfection... our own kind of perfection... in that we make all of our decisions and life choices based on what we feel is in the best interest of our children (as I know most parents do) for both their minds and bodies, while keeping the best interest of our Earth in mind, continually showing our children the true values in life. 

We believe in..... 

Karma (both good and bad)... Encouraging free expression in our children... Living with an open mind.... Education/knowledge is ones best weapon.... Our children are the future... Being a good person is our religion... Beauty is all around us and it is up to us to notice it. 

Now, more about our story!

We moved to the Pacific NW around 10 years ago, after spending our lives in the South. The PacNW instantly felt like home to us. It was just in the air. 

At one point when we were sitting in our hotel parking lot on the first day we arrived, a woman with dreadlocks and loose, colorful clothing walked by and said she sees pure beauty and love when she looks at us. She told to have a beautiful day and walked off. 

Oh yes. We were home. 

Even though we knew we made the right choice, we were still pulling our 12 foot trailer that had everything we owned piled in it, our cat (aka first baby) asleep on our dashboard... and we had arrived spontaneously with no place to live, no job and did not know anyone. 

The slight fear of the unknown in addition to the pure adrenaline that rushed through our veins had us anxious until we found an apartment a couple days later. It wasn't anything special. Actually, it was way below special. But, it was a roof and that is all that mattered after 3 straight days of driving and taking showers in truck stop convenient stores. A hot meal and bed sounded like heaven. 

Fast forward to now. Now, we live in a house we bought almost 5 years ago, have recently expanded our family with a sweet baby boy, and suddenly life is different again. We entered another chapter of our lives together. 

As the years have passed, we've been through a lot of life. Magical times, sad time, happy times and lots of memories have been made, all while we have all grown stronger as individuals and as a family in the process. 

That is just part of the human experience. 

One of my favorite quotes.....

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." -Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

And now, being home with our little man, I find my mind with so much more room to think of things that mean something to me, that otherwise get pushed to the back for another time because of work and the simple 'rush of life' gets in the way. Writing seems only natural. 

So this is my journal. Thank you for reading. :)