Nice to Meet You! -- Willa

     Now it's my turn to introduce myself!   I'm Willa.  When I was growing up, I loved to read, write, draw, and play outdoors, usually in some imaginary world inspired by the books I had read. Now that I am grown, I still do those things, though I play outdoors less than I would like. Homeschooling fits in nicely since those activities are the very things I like to see my children doing, too.

     My  husband and I have seven living children in all.  We have been homeschooling for almost 18 years.  My oldest four children are grown now, and the three I am homeschooling now are a completely different set than the ones I started out with.    I will introduce my children in another post. 

     The year after we started homeschooling, we moved to the Sierra National Forest. 

the view out the window

     For the past 16 years, we have lived in a large log home which sits slightly over the mile-high elevation marker and about an hour from almost everything. Nature is constantly right outside the door -- sometimes in the form of a deer or coyote or mountain lion sauntering past our deck, or a bear knocking over our garbage can.

     Birds and squirrels nest close to our house or even sometimes in our roof, though not by permission. Large wood spiders are a fact of life, and so are delicate, vivid, briefly blooming wildflowers.

our outdoors

     My husband works at home as a computer game designer.   You can see his site here:  Top Meadow.

     I was confirmed into the Catholic Church almost 22 years ago.  In the Catholic Church, I have found a treasury of riches, and I thank God every day for the blessings He has given me!   Ronald Knox said that the Anglican Church was like a foster mother to him – it raised him and cared for him until he found his true mother, the Catholic Church. That is how I feel about the evangelical Christian church I grew up in. The people were truly witnesses of faith to me, especially my own parents, who lived their faith.  

     Some other things I love:   Books of all kinds, learning about new things, anything you can write on and write with, calligraphy, computer technology, baking, music (especially classical guitar music), nature, walking, long summer evenings, warm fires in the cold times of the year, chocolate, and coffee, quiet time for prayer, and last but not least, my family and friends.

     In my spare time, I read and write.   Most recently I told my story in Suzie Andres' new book A Little Way of Homeschooling, and before that I wrote about JRR Tolkien in Cay Gibson's book Literature Alive!  How to Turn a Living Book into a Cherished Book within the Home.   

Blessings,

Willa