About Me

Let me introduce myself.

I’m Jennifer.

To make it short and sweet: I’m an Army wife, a homeschooling mom, an obsessed genealogist, a photo enthusiast, an avid traveler and a self-professed bookaholic.

And the longer version:

I grew up on a small island in the Puget Sound. It was quiet and quaint. We had 5 acres of woods up a deserted dirt road. We didn’t have any neighbors until I was a teenager, so we roamed the entire road and the forest like it was our own. I have to admit though, I was more of a bookworm than a tomboy. I would more likely have been found in my room with my nose in a book than playing in the dirt.

I’m the oldest of 4 kids. I lived in the same house my whole life (well except for the first few years- and who really remembers those?). I graduated high school with people I went to Kindergarten with. Besides a few months we spent in California while my dad was working a temporary job, a road trip to Iowa with my grandparents, and the month I spent as a foreign exchange student to Germany, I spent most of my life right there in Washington state.

I did well in school – I was a bookworm, remember? I studied hard and played lots of sports. I was best at volleyball, and went to community college on a scholarship. After 2 years of school, I really didn’t have any idea what I wanted to do. Why spend money on an expensive college when you’re clueless? I knew that I wanted to travel and I always loved languages, so I decided to join the Air Force as a linguist.

I ended up studying Russian for a year at the Defense Language Institute. After more training in Texas, I finally got to work in San Antonio. That’s where I married my husband and our first daughter was born. I decided to get out of the Air Force a few months before I had her. Life as a dual military couple was hard and I really couldn’t bear the thought of putting my baby in daycare. That was the last time that I worked – well the last time I got paid for working!!

I thank my husband dearly for allowing me to stay at home with the kids. We have 5 of them by the way. We actually had one in each house we lived in up until now. That really worried my husband. He was afraid to move again! I think that we are done now though. I think.

I made the decision very early on to homeschool our children. I started researching and planning when I was still pregnant. I’m strange, I know. Homeschooling has always been a way of life for us.

About the time that Ellie was born, I began to work on family history. 12 years later and I’m still hooked. Genealogy is a passion of mine. Searching through old records and stomping through cemeteries is fun for me. My ideal vacation is equal parts beautiful sites and genealogical research. My poor family!

I love to take pictures. I’m learning new things all of the time. My kids are often hiding from the camera.

I still love to read. Once a bookworm, always a bookworm. I don’t read as much as I would like to (remember – I homeschool and do genealogy and blog and take pictures) but I still manage to fit it in here and there.

I also live for traveling. Good thing I married a soldier!

If you’re dying to know even more, here is a list of 101 Absolutely Random Facts About Me.