CURRENT MISSION

To learn.

ABOUT ME

Currently my main mission in life is to be a happy, fulfilled momma, and be available to my children as much as possible. I have to remind myself to not overload my schedule with other interests because doing that inevitably leads to exhaustion and discouragement. I have been a musician most of my life. Mainly piano. I worked as an accompanist for classes, lessons, recitals, and shows for about six years in college up until the birth of my first son. The last four years since his birth have been an amazing process of growing up, learning to prioritize, and discovering my own abilities and talents.

PHILOSOPHY

In my ideal world I would rarely, possibly never need to consume meat. I would grow at least seventy-five percent of my own food and the rest would be gotten through trade of some kind. I would use no chemicals of any kind. I would need very little electricity, and would generate it through possibly solar panels or a wind turbine or some other way. I would know how to make my own clothes, whether I actually did it on a regular basis or not. Whether the raw materials came from a cotton plant or the outside of a sheep I would know how to harvest it and use it. I would be knowledgeable about plants and herbs - to use for food as well as medicine. I could go on all day, but I am typing one-handed - baby asleep in the other. To boil it down, my life is not ideal, but it is wonderful in it's own way.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Mostly, it just makes sense to me to have a program like this.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Since we live in Flagstaff AZ (a popular destination for Phoenix people as well as people from pretty much anywhere else) we frequently have visitors. Mostly family - occasionally friends. We live in a trailer but have three extra couches as well as some floor space. We have fit as many as twelve people in our place at once (eight visitors plus the four of us). I have never hosted a stranger in my place but I have stayed in the houses of friends of friends and I do enjoy meeting new people.

Interests

Music (I am classically trained but enjoy listening to country music, jazz, broadway and pretty much anything else that is thrown my way).
I enjoy gardening, cooking from scratch, exploring ways to live naturally and chemical-free.
I was raised on the standard American diet which included mac 'n cheese, ramen, pop tarts, etc... but as a teen became vegan (macrobiotic) because my mother was (because of breast cancer). My husband is a meat-eater and so our combined household is an interesting mix of whole foods cooking, a little bit of meat, and some junk food thrown in.

• performing arts
• dining
• cooking
• cheese
• vegan
• dieting
• gardening
• clothing
• music
• country music
• jazz
• piano
• medicine

Music, Movies, and Books

Love "old" movies. Danny Kaye, Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Gene Kelley, Doris Day, etc...
Also from the silent film era - Buster Keaton. And then fast forward to Abbott and Costello. I love musicals - singin' in the rain, sound of music, my fair lady. Recently I enjoyed watching Mama Mia as well. In the newer movie sector I enjoy silly movies - "What about Bob?" "Little Miss Sunshine" as well as Jane Austen flicks such as "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility". I rarely sit and listen to music - I'm always practicing something so I don't ever really want to. I haven't read a book that wasn't related to pregnancy or child-rearing in many years. I remember the days of curling up in a corner with a new book, but lately my life has been too exciting to allow this. I'm in pure informational download mode - just trying to survive motherhood.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I got to see the Nutcracker this year in Phoenix and it was the most amazing production of the Nutcracker I have ever seen. It's been so long since I've left my kids and gone out to see a professional group perform that when the orchestra began playing I started crying. The sound was unbelievable. Silk and gold threads woven together in the air. I could have floated to heaven on that sound.

Teach, Learn, Share

I teach piano lessons as well as classes on braided-rug making. I could teach someone to make their own laundry detergent or share my knowledge of nutrition and herbal supplements. I know how to teach a four-year-old his ABC's...