Birmingham
I was born and raised a Kentucky-girl in a town of about 45,000 people. I have great memories from my childhood. My sisters and I would ride bikes to the library, set up lemonade stands, and sell watermelons from the back of our Granddaddy’s flatbed trailer in the summertime. (Can you tell I’m a Millennial Mom longing to go back to the 90s?!) I went on to graduate from the University of Kentucky—Go Cats!—with a degree in strategic marketing and advertising. While in Lexington, I met and married my husband, Greg, began a career in radio, celebrated the birth of our first daughter, and launched a photography business.
From those bluegrass roots, we moved across the South to coastal Florida and then to Texas before we finally landed here in Birmingham, a place we are truly content to call home. We still joke about telling the kids we were moving to Alabama, when my then six year old son said, “Where did you say? Burning-ham??” You see, I grew up treating Birmingham as a quick pit-stop between Kentucky and Florida, but thankfully, I have realized what a gem we were overlooking.
When we packed up to move to Alabama in 2020, we didn’t even visit before we rolled into town, but we were pleasantly surprised! Birmingham is such a hidden treasure with beautiful parks and nature spots, great food, fun family events, and friendly people. It still has small-town charm, despite the variety of things it has to offer, and I love that! The community we have found here is special and unlike any other place we’ve lived.
Mom
I’m a wife and mother of six navigating the beautiful chaos of big family life. We have three boys and three girls, ages eight months up to 14 years (plus a dog, a cat, some chickens, and a fish). Our Catholic faith and community are the cornerstones of our life, and you can regularly find us attending Mass and other events downtown at the Cathedral of St. Paul. As a family, we excel at snuggling babies, cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers, making desserts, and kitchen dance parties.
Since the very beginning, we chose to homeschool our children. That means our home is busting at the seams with books, the kitchen is never tidy for long, and something is always missing, but it allows us to foster a family culture we love. Walking alongside our children in their education, watching them cultivate their interests, and being present everyday to nurture their beautiful souls is a decision I’d make again and again.
When I reflect on motherhood, I always recall a beautiful passage by Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty. He emphasizes the real honor and creative power we have as mothers. Truly nothing compares to our role. So when I feel stuck in the mundane, unseen work of mothering, his words remind me that I am never “just a mom.” I am a builder, a family architect. Centuries ago, artisans and craftsmen spent their entire lives working on minute details of grand cathedrals which they never saw completed with their own eyes. The same is often true for us as mothers. We give of ourselves–growing, nurturing, teaching, guiding–and we rarely see instant results or earn the praise of this culture. Yet, it is beautiful, sanctifying work.
Indeed, I am building something magnificent by creating a home and giving our children a firm foundation on which to live a good life. Motherhood may not seem as grand as other pursuits, but it is glorious, and Jesus sees every effort. That mindset keeps things in perspective and helps me find greater purpose and joy in the big and little things, even in the abundance of diapers, meltdowns, math problems, and conflicts.
Between homeschooling and managing a big family, I operate a business as a Quality Provider with BabyQuip, a baby/family gear rental marketplace. I am like so many of you, striving to balance the holy work of motherhood with creative and professional projects. I definitely don’t have it all mastered, but I firmly believe that who we are as mothers is irreplaceable, and I’m honored to be here and learn from other mothers along the way.
Collective
I’ve been the new mom in town often enough to know how very important community is for my well-being. I firmly believe that no woman should mother alone. I love rolling out the welcome mat and finding resources to help women get plugged in to what matters to them, and I am very excited to be a part of that as a contributor for Birmingham Mom Collective. Writing and connecting people are right up my alley, so I’m really looking forward to this new opportunity to give-back to the local community by sharing my unique perspective with other moms.
