While I’ve pretty much always loved writing, thanks to my second and sixth grade teachers who always encouraged me in that direction, I never really meant to become a blogger. After enduring a heart attack during the birth of my son, Zach, I realized that I didn’t want to miss a minute of living life intentionally and being an involved mom.

Knowing that, in order to fully embrace life, I’d need to make some big changes, I decided to leave the pursuit of a second degree in order to focus on being a mom, with all of the entertaining, educating, cooking, and household chores that life entailed. I’m lucky enough to have a unique perspective into both the toddler and the teen years since I live with my 14 year old brother, Jeffrey, and my 3 year old son, Zach.

It was after my heart attack that I really began to play with the idea of homeschooling Zach. As I watched him grow and learn as a result of my homeschooling efforts, I began to become more passionate about home education and trying to make learning fun for kids whether they were homeschooled or not. As a result of this passion, my post about the T-Bot II was featured in NETWORK Magazine, and I was named Pitsco Education’s Teacher of the Month in January 2013.

As for cooking, I grew up in the kitchen, with my fondest memories as a child involving making homemade cookies with my mom during the holidays, or “spoon fudge” that I made with my grandmother that never seemed to set before we polished off every bite. I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy the opportunity to take technique classes from Chef Joe DiPaola, a world-renowned chef and the current head pastry chef for Duncan Hines. I was also a winner of the Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Recipe contest for my Cherry Masher Sandwich Cookies and I won a Friendship Bread Kitchen Recipe Award for my Amish Friendship Blondies. One of my recipes has also been featured alongside an interview in the Kansas City Star.

I grew up in a home daycare, so I have a lot of first-hand experience working with kids. Because my 14 year old brother was born when I was in my early teens, I have a long-term perspective on childhood development.

A born-and-raised Kansas City Metro native, I’m a huge fan of travel and love visiting places domestically and internationally. My all-time favorite summer spot is Dauphin Island, Alabama, and I vacation there every summer. I also love Chicago and many cities in Germany, and my dream is to travel to Naples, Italy and enjoy a pizza in the birthplace of pizza.

The whole point of MamaPlusOne is to help all moms– yes, even you– embrace motherhood in whatever capacity you can, whether it’s spending time cooking with your kids, catching up around the table after school, or becoming a full-time homeschooling mom. While almost any woman can get something out of the quick and easy recipes and posts about finding peace in daily life struggles, MamaPlusOne seems to resonate the most with moms trying to balance it all. From learning how to travel with kids without pulling your hair out, to entertaining and education for the kids, this blog tackles just about everything for moms like you who are trying to make it work in this digital era, whether you’re wrangling toddlers, teens, or everything in between.

MamaPlusOne believes in making life easier for moms by providing the latest and greatest information and hands-on ideas to streamline daily tasks.

Are you a brand, blogger, or reader that wants to get in touch? I am always happy to hear from you!

Please feel free to send me an email at mama@mamaplusone.com or find my page on Facebook.

If you’re a brand looking for a media kit, wanting to send me a product for review or PR kit, or are wanting to share one of my posts, please contact me via email or Facebook message.