CURRENT MISSION

To live, Live, LIVE! My hero is Auntie Mame!

ABOUT ME

There's so much to say, and only so much space to say it. Message me and we'll have coffee and chat up who I am, who you are, and all about life, the universe, and everything.

I'm an outgoing person, an open-minded thinker, I love hugs, I love to travel. I'm an engineer by training, but now mostly a government paper pusher. My real job is back at my mini-farm home with my family. We've got chickens, cats, and sometimes rabbits or goats.

My biggest enthusiasm is becoming more self-sufficient and making my activities more sustainable. I've got a garden, chickens, goats, and rabbits to provide food and eat our scraps. I've learned how to can food, dry food, freeze meals, etc. I love my pressure cooker, crock pot, dehydrator, freezer. I wish I had more time to devote to it but I've got extended family that needs support nearby (mother, in-laws, grandparent). Sometimes I'm a bit squeezed.

PHILOSOPHY

Live as if you'll never die, love as if you've never been hurt, learn everything you possibly can and share it all with the world.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've surfed and hosted several times now and I love sharing my home. I've housed various relatives, friends, roommates off and on my whole life. I love to travel by meeting people randomly. I tell everyone I know about couchsurfing and explain how awesome it is. We've hosted people from Canada, Romania, Russia, Finland, Moldova, England, France, Chile and USA. It's been awesome to meet all these people and find out even a little about their lives. Couchsurfing reminds me of the good that is common to almost all people. It's like an antidote to the 7 o'clock news.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've surfed a couple of times while on long road trips. I organized some meet and greets, which was lovely for the few who attended! I've been hosting a bunch at my house lately. Seems that my profile pops up at the top of the relatively short list of local hosts. But that's AWESOME!

Interests

I like to snowboard (badly), cave (slowly), snorkel, swim, hike, explore, play cards and board games, watch movies, watch sunsets, canoe, sail, and a whole buncha other stuff. I'm a member of the society of women engineers, kappa kappa psi (honorary band fraternity), and am a master gardener.

We host the local Burning Man event, Freezer Burn, at our place. We've also had small Burning Man art projects built in our backyard. Now we have a concrete statue from the 2015 Freezer Burn.

I've been very active in my church (Community Unitarian Universalist Church), especially during the pandemic. Recently I've been stretching my skills to learn how to run tech to run services at the church and on zoom simultaneously. I helped run the annual meeting in 2022 with people live, and on Zoom and the Board President (who leads the meeting) was in Alaska at the time and had to Zoom in himself. It was difficult but awesome how it all worked.

• cats
• chickens
• rabbits
• dining
• cooking
• coffee
• gardening
• movies
• traveling
• socializing
• hiking
• canoeing
• camping
• snorkeling
• sailing
• swimming
• engineering
• road trips
• sustainability
• burning man
• sustainable living
• hawaii
• personal finance
• urban gardening
• unitarian universalist
• gluten free
• essential oils
• whole30
• society of women engineers
• kappa kappa psi

Music, Movies, and Books

Life changing books: The Joy of Not Working, Smart Couples Finish Rich, Mars and Venus in the Bedroom, The Secret, The Celestine Prophecy, Slow Down, Depletion and Abundance, Making Home, Outliers.
Movies that I love: Gattaca, The Shawshank Redemption, What the Deaf Man Heard, The Man From Earth, Stargate, Up, Star Trek, and the Pixar short: Boundin'.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I stood on top of a continent (Australia).
I gave birth to my amazing kid... at home with a midwife and lots of helpers.
I've made cheese with goat's milk that I milked from the goat... super yummy!
You'll notice that I follow directions well... if they have some sort of good purpose :)

Teach, Learn, Share

Something I've learned from travelling:
People in large cities seem to think that their city is more dangerous than it really is. They've lived there and heard the news stories for a while and they get a little overly paranoid. People in small towns seem to think that their town is safer than it really is. Nothing much happens that's dangerous. And when something does happen it's familiar (Earl started another brawl tonight or Mrs. Smith snapped and killed her husband, but she's always been a bit odd). So keep that in mind couchsurfers. Always protect yourself, but remember that the vast majority of people are good at heart.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Sweden, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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