An Introduction

My name is Rachel, and now feels like the right time.

So here it is.

I have a lot of ideas and I make a lot of things. It all comes back to an inner pull to make my home a safe and happy place for my family, build lasting friendships and contribute to my community. 

This space is going to be dedicated to sharing things I’m designing, making, building, and the village I’m creating in the process.

I asked myself, ‘Why is this important?’ 

Right now, 

I want to challenge myself and motivate others to connect with what brings them joy by sharing how I do that for myself. The grand aspiration is to create a snowball effect that starts with fulfilling ourselves as individuals, and builds into positive connections that continue multiplying…snowball.

For the future,

I’d like to preserve some of my legacy for my daughters who may find it interesting to revisit their mom when they are adults. I could die tomorrow and I don’t want all that they have to reference from my written perspective is my elementary school diaries rating where has the best chicken nuggets/strips (it’s Dairy Queen) and my present day post-its by my computer that outline the RCAR format for how to effectively talk through a case study.

I don’t know what this will become and how it will change over time. But I do know myself, and my intentions (containing multitudes) are always to do something that benefits not only me and my family, but my ‘village’ and greater communities.

I’m not going to win with everyone, and that’s ok. But, if I can bring even a little bit of value, peace, inspiration, motivation, happy distraction, connection or recognition to a couple more folks than I already do, that’s a win in my book.

First, a little background and a taste of what you’ll find here.

I grew up in a small town in Minnesota playing in the woods, reading voraciously, making elaborate paper doll towns that I never played with, and later Sims neighbornoods that, again, I built and then never played with. I have a crafty and extroverted mom and an introverted dad with a collector’s eye. 

I was an Art Major in college and it was there that I learned to use power tools and how to build frames. I volunteered, traveled, made some of the best friends of my life, designed my first beer label and started eating vegetables beyond corn and potatoes. My world really opened up.

For the last 13 years I’ve been building a career, a family, a home, a life that is challenging but exactly where I want to be.

As for a taste of what I’ll be sharing, 

I plan to do some time traveling to share what led up to now such as frame building, and maybe most importantly, ice cream making! Currently I’m deep into figuring out how to make my dreams for my new home, and town a reality: learning new skills and meeting new people (making friends as an adult), and figuring out how to use my time and talent to contribute to my community without habitually burning myself out.

I’m a mom, anything is possible.

I consider myself a determined, and chronically optimistic person. I’ve taken risks, experienced successes and worked through valleys, and it is important to recognize that I did not get where I am today by myself. Everything has been adding up to a perspective that I’d like to share.

Let’s see what we can do.