my story.

I am:  a woman, born on a big oak bed in a midwifery in Oregon, raised in the suburbs of greater Seattle, educated in French and the History of Africa in Bellingham and refined in the beautiful countryside of Auvergne, France. Like a good wine, I am only getting better with age and the best of me, I sincerely hope, is yet to come.

I am: a mother to the two most precious, loveable, beautiful, curious, ravenous, hilarious, sociable, adorable little monsters you will ever meet. Considering twins run no where in either of our families, we had the surprise of our life when at 22 weeks pregnant we found out we were having two little boys. Life has been a blur ever since.

I am: a wife to the man with the purest heart, period. Not everyone is lucky enough to find their best friend, their greatest romance and their true inspiration all in one person. It took me moving to France for us to finally find each other and good thing we did; I would be truly lost without him.

I am: a lover. That's what I do. I fall in love with people and places and moments in time just a little too easily. I love deeply and with my whole person so much so that sometimes I feel like my heart just can't take it and it might explode right out of my chest. A good cry usually relieves the pressure and I can go back to falling in love all over again.

I am: a crafter who loves finding ideas for projects but has difficultly ever starting them. I have a million lists of ideas in random spiral bound notebooks strewn about the house, but always seem to come up with a new more awesome crafting idea before the last one is really properly started. Every now and then I get a burst of energy and somehow find the time to knock out one or two projects in a day or so.

I am: a vegetarian and have been for a long time. There was a brief hiatus while I was living in France, but I have been animal-product-free for about 12 years. For me it is mostly about my health, the health of my family and the health of the planet. I consider myself vegan and do my best to consume only organic foods; this extends to health and beauty products as well. I absolutely love cooking and everything there is about food, but it has been admittedly hard to find time to do that these days even though nursing two growing boys means I eat quite a lot (understatement of the century)!

I am: a yogi, self-taught and practicing at home. Yoga has seen me through some very dark moments in my life. It has helped me grief, helped me cope, helped me celebrate, helped me grow, helped keep me stable, not to mention keeping me strong and keeping my mind clear. In a perfect world I would practice yoga and meditate daily. I am far from perfect, but try to fit it in when I can.

I am: an herbalist, self-proclaimed. I had a very serious back injury a few years ago, and when traditional medicine failed to heal me, I dove headfirst into the passion I've always had for plants and took matters into my own hands. Experiencing firsthand the true magic of medicinal herbs is a spiritual experience. It helps you start believing again in the innate powers of your body to heal. I am far from being an expert, but if I can help anyone discover the fascinating world of herbal remedies, I will consider this endeavor a success!

I am: a traveler. I got the itch early on in my life, and it took four continents to scratch the urge (for now anyway). Before heading out across the pond, I wanted to truly understand where I came from, and I have been on more domestic road trips than I can count, visiting 35 of our great states so far. I lived briefly in Taiwan and spent four years living in rural France before my French husband convinced me to move back only a few minutes from where I grew up. My favorite form of travel is by bicycle, though road trips still hold a dear place in my heart.

I am: an artist, doodling and watercoloring and pasteling and photographing whenever I get the chance. I used to sing and pretend to play the guitar and piano, playing at coffeeshops around town. These days the only drawing I seem to be doing is in the margins of grocery lists and the only singing seems to be lullabies, but that's okay, too. Art is art is art.

I am: a writer. I like writing almost as much as I like reading. I write what I see. I write what I don't see. I write about what might have been there if I had only looked closer. I write what I know and about what I wish I will someday know. I tend to ramble, but to me the details most people don't pay attention to are what distinguishes a crow from a raven and what makes life interesting.


See also:
My pregnancy.
Finding out you're pregnant.
Being pregnant: the beginning.
You're having twins.
Finding out you're pregnant with twins.