When we are younger we have ideas of what we want to be when we grow up, and typically we change our minds a lot. I remember wanting to be teacher, a nurse, a business woman and probably many other things.

What I didn't count on was being "just" a mom! I grew up in the 80's as a latchkey kid with two full time working parents. Everyone I knew worked. I truly wasn't familiar with stay at home moms or homeschoolers or any such thing. If you would have told me when I was 18 that I would be a stay at home homeschooling mom I would have laughed out loud! I didn't see that coming at ALL!

It doesn't take too long into our adult life to realize God may have a very different plan for our lives! I met my future husband when I was 18 and with him came his parents. His mom talked a lot about how much she loved staying at home when her kids were young and how being a stay at home mom was her greatest accomplishment. I loved listening to her talk about raising kids and she and I grew to be very close. At 20 years old I married her son (he was 6 years older then me) and we started our journey together. I remember cleaning our little rental house and listening to Focus on the Family every night! I LOVED hearing these stories of families that loved the Lord and how they were raising their families. I KNEW I wanted a deeper family life, I wanted to do something special in my own family and in my world something radical!

I never finished college and at 24 I quit the job I had and gave birth to my first son! My husband I shared the vision to raise our family on one income and to eventually homeschool. We went on to have 2 more children-2 boys and 1 girl!!

Several years later I would find myself encouraging other moms!

I started blogging 10 years ago. At first it was just for fun, a great way to share my family and homeschooling and then it wasn't long and I was writing homeschool reviews and sharing all the resources that helped my family life! I started speaking at local homeschool events and loved developing strong relationships within my family.

Life has not always been easy. We have faced many financial difficulties, we lost my dear mother in law who I spoke about above very suddenly to cancer, and went through ups and downs like anyone does. Our faith has been tested, tried and challenged. But God has ALWAYS been faithful.

Recently I started a site called Together with Family! This is where my heart and passion is and I know when I write there I am doing what I was called to do! I hope on my little space on the web I can encourage families to connect once more. We live in a time in culture where everything is pulling us apart. We don't talk to our neighbors anymore, our families eat in separate rooms, and activites and electronics are always on. My hope is that I can give you some simple, easy, tips to help you connect once more! I'm no pinterest crafty mom but I have developed strong relationships with my children over the years and been married now 20 years.

If you subscribe to Together with Family you will get a July Calendar Printable that gives you a simple, easy task to do each day to create stronger bonds with your family! Each month in your inbox you will get the new calendar. You don't have to do every task everyday, just do the ones you want to do!