About

I’m Jenny.  I am a thirty-something missionary-turned-mom from Kansas who loves to write, create, and live life.

In my past life (aka. pre-husband & sticky toddler) I traveled the world, served the people and dreamed big… now, it’s all I can do to brush my teeth in the morning!  With a busy toddler and a busier husband, I attempt to make a home in East Tennessee while pieces of my heart remain scattered across the globe.

Thanks to six years in Asia and a tight budget, I am constantly grappling with the buying & bustling of modern American life.  There just has to be a simpler way. In opening my heart & mind to new cultures over the years, I found that I also opened my heart & mind to different ways of doing things.  When necessity beckoned, I found a way- despite language barriers, cultural miscues, trial and lots of error.

Now, back in the States, I find myself wanting that same adventure- of doing life different.  Because I know it can be done!  I’ll be honest, on almost a daily basis I find myself asking, WWGD: “What would Grandma do?”   Before all of this- Hollywood, iPads, Starbucks, blenders- what did they do?  And why have we strayed so far from it, only to long for it again?

Which brings me to today.

As we bumble through raising a little girl I find myself wanting to raise her in a simpler world.  I want her to know the joys of playing in the rain, making pie crust from scratch, pulling carrots out of her own garden.  I want her to know that the abundant life does not just happen- it cannot be pulled off a rack and sold at 33% off retail.  It takes work.  It takes time.  It takes togetherness.  And there is much joy in the journey- if we would only slow down long enough to take it.

In this journal I hope to honestly & wittingly present one Kansas girl’s journey to live a simpler life in a modern world.  I’ll share sub-par sewing projects.  I’ll cook things that may (or may not) taste as good as I hope.  I’ll attempt DIY projects.  I’ll kill plants.  I’ll discipline poorly.  I’ll muse a lot about yesterday & family & God.  But most of all, I’ll live & enjoy living.

So please don’t come to my house and be disappointed by my Kindle Fire or my food processor or my HE washer/dryer.  Don’t berate me for letting my husband fall asleep to the lullaby of SportsCenter.  Or letting my daughter play with my smartphone.  But do join me as I seek to rediscover a simpler life and make it part of my own.

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