A Little about us…

My husband Dave and I have been living in Hawaii for nearly 22 years.  We moved to Oahu for my husband’s (3-year) medical residency training with one son. By the time he finished we had two more boys, and decided Hawaii was a good place to raise them. 🥰 (Our fourth son came a few years later.) We live on a little tropical farm on the North Shore, overlooking the “7 Mile miracle” — 7 miles of some of the best surfing beaches in the world. I now spend most of my time between homeschooling, writing, podcasting, and finding one more way to bake with bananas.

Our oldest two sons are now living in Southern California (one in college, one a recent college grad with a real job! 🥳) but we hope they will move back to Hawaii one day…Our third son is a professional surfer, taking online college classes and living at home between surf travel. And our 4th son is a 12- year old homeschooler, working hard to rack up his 10,000 hours of golf. 🙂

I’m crazy about my boys and if I could freeze time — (a few years ago – )– I would.

I spent most of my early parenting years as a full-time homeschool mom and a part time fitness instructor. We moved to the country and I started blogging shortly after my fourth son was born. I have grown passionate about this online writing life, which has now led to book-writing, speaking, and podcasting. (I can still hardly believe it!)

My greatest calling will always be to be a great mom and wife, so I am always working to keep my priorities straight. I do a lot of my writing in the fringe hours, or when my husband offers to home school Levi (which often leads to more surfing or golfing than schooling…) Most days, I am juggling deadlines with laundry, school work, and a whole lot of time in the kitchen (which I love!)

My husband Dave is a hospital doctor, and when he isn’t saving lives (actually) he is usually either on his tractor, at the beach filming our surfer-son, or caddying for our golfer. He is a wise and humble man who keeps me grounded daily. We balance each other really well I think (which, you younger-married folks should know – sometimes takes years to truly appreciate. ☺️. Trust me!)

We think that marriage is as good as you make it, and we are big believers in investing time into the one relationship that will still be here when the kids are grown and gone.  (because, as we have discovered, that day really comes.) We pray together, run trails together (with our dog Thor,) and try to keep a sense of humor in the midst of the crazy.

Other stuff about me/us?  Here’s a quick list…

1.  The best thing I ever did was give my life to Jesus in my mid-20’s.  His amazing grace changed me and sustains me.  Any wisdom or encouragement you find in my writing is all from Him.  I believe the Bible is the handbook for life, the greatest love story ever told, and holds the answers to all of our questions.
2. My husband and I are both from the Pacific Northwest. I grew up in Gig Harbor Washington, (one hour south of Seattle) and still love to visit when I can. Fall is my very favorite.  (Every September you are likely to hear me whine mention my disappointment that there is no fall in Hawaii.)  Dave is from McMinnville, Oregon.  We both have wonderful families which is the biggest blessing on earth.  
3. We have a dog named Thor and a cat named Coconut.  You’ll see them around as they are definitely part of the family. We started raising chickens last year as well, and who knows what will be next. True story:  When my husband was in elementary school, a local newspaper did one of those stories where they interview kids and ask them what they imagine their life will be like in 20 years… Dave’s mom saved the article, where as a little 4th grade-Oregonian, Dave said:   “I’ll be living on a tropical island surrounded by animals.” ….And there ya go.😉
4. A few more things about me: Like a true Seattle girl, I drink a lot of coffee and I love a few quiet hours at a coffee shop to write. (Turtle Bay Resort coffee lounge is my unofficial “office” 😉) I grew up with only brothers and now with only boys at home I rely on awesome girlfriends (and online friends) to keep me up on girl things. I do love clothes and occasionally share a “style post” though most days I live in shorts or comfy sweatpants and tank tops. I push myself pretty hard in all areas, so I need lots of reminders to chill out and not take myself too seriously. I love teenage boy humor (which helps with the last statement) and one of the coolest things ever is realizing my boys are growing up to be my best friends!
5. My book-writing life has gotten very busy, and though I seriously LOVE blogging, (for so many reasons!) I don’t get to write as many blog posts as I would like. 😌 However, if you scroll through my blog categories (in the top menu bar) you’ll probably find some fun old posts that I put a lot of time into (many which would now embarrass me…and my kids!)
   You’ll find posts about my hardest years of parenting and how I struggled with anger. You’ll find posts about building connections with your kids, and about our homeschool journey. There are light-hearted posts, travel posts, and posts about the ups and downs in Luke’s surf career. I have written quite a bit about my background in fitness and my personal journey with body image and getting free from hangups. Also: marriage, birth order, and so many posts about BOYS. You can click through the categories or use keywords in the little search-thing to find topics!
6. Though I was terrified to start my podcast, I have grown to love it! I release a new podcast episode every Wednesday (!!) where I interview some incredible guests and cover a lot of important topics! Close to 2 million people have downloaded episodes, and I am blessed with the best podcast community in the world (and I’m not biased. 😉)
7. Of course I hang out on Instagram a lot, so hopefully you can say hi there!