From a Small Town in Northern California to the Mountains, Israel, US Northeast, Germany, Arizona, Mid-West & The South!
I was born and raised in beautiful northern California’s wine country! Though we don’t drink alcohol, I enjoyed the view of the rolling hills, lovely grape vineyards behind our backyard, and pear orchards on the other side of my very small neighborhood. We were just a forty-minute drive to the lovely rocky shores of Mendocino.
My dad was a plant and soil scientist who purposely chose to specialize in the Mediterranean climate so we could enjoy great weather and a great family garden! My mom, in addition to raising her six children, was involved in the community in amazing ways…always! For example, she was the local PTA president multiple times and went up to the highest levels in the state. She is soft-spoken but mighty, having a big influence on for positive changes such as banning smoking zones on public school campuses.
With me being the youngest of my parent’s six children, and with an eight and a half+ year space between me and my older siblings, I was able to spend many summers with my older siblings when they would have new babies or just helping them out with young children. These times were the highlight of my young life!
School was not so exciting, and it felt largely like “jumping through hoops” and not really accomplishing anything super meaningful…other than working to get into college!
And thankfully I did get into college, as that is where I met Tony and got engaged—but I had already decided to go study abroad in Israel for a winter semester and spring term. We wrote tons of letters during that time (in the day when long-distance calls were very expensive), and Tony confessed he would never want to do that again!
I absolutely loved living in Jerusalem and being in the Holy Land, going on many field trips, including climbing Mt. Sinai before sunrise, going to Egypt, Jordan, and Galilee, working in banana fields on a kibbutz, learning some Hebrew and Arabic, and making new friends.
From 24/7 Morning Sickness & 50 Hours of Labor to “You make that look so easy!”
I overcame multiple chronic poor health conditions as a child and youth, including acne in my teen years, through nutrition and holistic means. But it appeared I had inherited my mother’s condition of severe morning sickness! She endured this with all six of her babies for the full pregnancy.
However…
with 24/7 nausea for the entire pregnancy, a debilitating kidney stone requiring arthroscopic surgery just before the viable gestational age of my baby,
fifty-hours of painful labor ending with forceps delivery,
And if all that pain and suffering wasn’t enough, our sweet baby daughter ended up being placed in NICU due to a routine hospital procedure. We weren’t allowed to hold her, and she was only given fluids for FIVE full days!
Truthfully, I would not have been mentally and emotionally ready (or humble enough) to embrace a whole new way of looking at pregnancy and giving birth if I had not gone through all that I did during and after my first pregnancy.
At last, I was REALLY to learn. In fact, just about every assisting nurse or midwife attending my remaining ten births would comment that I “make giving birth look very easy.”
This was a completely transformative experience in my life. One that has brought much joy and happiness and one that I want other women to have as well.
My family and close friends have walked alongside me through some of life’s most beautiful and challenging moments.
They have witnessed me thrive in various aspects of my life, including studying abroad in Israel during college, raising a growing family, and living overseas in Germany with young children. They’ve seen me support my husband through graduate school, a demanding finance career, and his service as a lay pastor at our church.
They’ve cheered me on as I led a major kitchen remodel, spoke at home-education conferences, planned and oversaw the building of our dream lake house with Tony, raised chickens, and celebrated the arrival of grandbabies—including one unforgettable delivery in a moving car!
They’ve also stood by me through heartbreak and hardship: multiple early miscarriages, navigating life with children who have special needs like dyslexia and ADHD, sending eight children off to college and church missions, weathering job and major financial losses, and moving to a new town—with teens who had to start over and say goodbye to lifelong friends just before the senior year in high school.
This is my story. I share it with the hope that it gives you a clearer picture of who I really am—and perhaps helps you feel a little less alone on your journey, too.
