Hi! I'm mom to 3 boys and married to a fantastic partner. My husband worked at a software company in Gainesville, FL for 21 years, and I worked in healthcare before staying home with my kids. We both grew up in the Florida Keys, beautiful islands off the southern tip of Florida. We love water of all kinds, and also enjoy time in the mountains. Particularly love gorgeous outside experiences where kids are free to explore and play. Our kids have been homeschooled - they are 3 amazing boys ages 10, 6, & 3 (almost!), very alive and full of energy. I love parenting and learning about learning. We focus on growth mindsets and growing up together, and we are about to set off on a new adventure!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

My husband is between jobs right now with a generous severance and we felt like this is a golden opportunity to travel with our family. We are setting off on a European adventure this summer - planning to travel to Italy for three weeks and then to Greece. Our plans beyond that we'll make as we go! We hope to spend 3-4 months in Europe. Then we're hoping to hit the road in the US for a couple months to see some of the amazing places out west that we've always dreamed of visiting. We have a lovely house with plenty of space in Gainesville and really look forward to hosting others when we return. We love the idea of meeting new people and learning about the world and different cultures by making meaningful relationships.

Interests

We are generally a very athletic family - I love tennis. My husband is a runner and loves to take long runs on natural paths. We all love water sports (kayaking, swimming, water skiing, paddleboarding, etc...) kids really love climbing and exploring and are very creative / silly / playful. They LOVE technology, but we limit its use.

• culture
• dining
• seafood
• cooking
• vegetarian
• technology
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• kayaking
• skiing
• sports
• rock climbing
• tennis
• swimming
• languages
• software
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

I Heart Huckabees is my favorite movie ever. We don't watch TV / movies at home much. Kids love the Star Wars movies.

We love reading and enjoy all genres, kids particularly enjoy sci-fi and fantasy

We like lots of music - but especially acoustic guitar music. Kids love hip-hop / pop music as well.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

We are taking 3 little boys on an international trip for 4 months - that's amazing to me!

Teach, Learn, Share

We are eager to see local cultures and traditions and are happy to share our own. We'd love to help people practice English and would love to learn some phrases in different languages. My husband plays guitar and we'd love to jump in on music collaborations.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Our culture, our friendship. I'm happy to help with cooking and any projects people need help with. We eat generally vegetarian food, but also eat seafood. We are also happy to care for children for some time while we're there.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahamas, Canada, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, England, Italy, New Zealand

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States