qui est madame?

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 and a Masters in Teaching 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. Yes, they are twins. Yes, they are a lot. A lot of love, a lot of curiosity, a lot of adventure. Being a mama means being a better person than I ever thought possible every single day.

I am: a teacher & student to anyone who is willing to pursue knowledge with me. I do not consider myself an expert on anything but myself, and am always looking to expand my mind in new ways. I am a life-long learner and my greatest hope is to instill the same eternal burning curiosity in my students. I have taught on three continents, from preschool through 12th grade, and have deep love and respect for my students.

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 do my best to consume local and organic foods whenever possible. I absolutely love cooking and everything there is about food, and am constantly experimenting and following my intuition in the kitchen. Serving people food is one of my happy places.

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 grieve, 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: 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. 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 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. I am a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, have a drawer full of manuscripts that I may or may not submit to agents and/or publishers some day, and am currently working on a young adult novel.