I live in Saint Paul with my husband three young boys and another babe on the way, and our faithful dogs. I am a fiction and nonfiction essay writer who used to teach and work at different universities across the country. Now I’m also a doula. I love to travel, hike, ski, and be outside playing in the mud, snow, or sand with the boys.
I met Katie when we had our second major move across the country in two years. My youngest was ten months old, in a swing at Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe. It was a cold winter day and the park was barren. I called a friend from far away as I pushed my boys in their PJ’s and winter coats. Up walked Katie, vibrant, full of life, with a darling daughter trotting along and another one soon to come. Seeing them I hoped we would be friends…I needed a friend here and now after such a major relocation from the east coast.
Katie is one of the most balanced, adventuresome moms I know, and I love that. She invited me into the mountainous trails of Santa Fe and with each hike up I found a part of myself that with the multiple moves and the babies I’d gradually lost. She brought my perspective back from the minutiae and art form of mothering to the panorama of making time for my writing, my art, and life outside my family. She exemplifies that mom’s can have it all it just might look different than it did pre-babes.
The decision to leave Santa Fe was one of the hardest decisions I made and I knew if I were going to survive it I’d need ways I still felt connected to it. The geography of a place imprints upon me, but it’s the connections and friends that last. With our passion for writing and our dedication to mothering and adventure we formed this blog as a way to bridge the gap that now separated Katie and I. And while I may be a great phone talker as Katie attests to, I respect the fact that she prefers emails and texts over the phone, and being present to what is before her instead of what is miles away! This blog is a way to share a present that is rooted in a shared past!
