Get to know me
Hi I'm Amy.mom of six who loves Jesus and road trips
I have six kids at home and a big blue van in the driveway and I honestly think the best stuff happens when you just go. I’m so glad you’re here!!
My mom gave me this gift.
I grew up in Georgia and my mom figured out early that the best way to learn something is to go see it. She would check us out of school to watch rocket launches, visit pieces of history, and explore the places we'd been reading about in books. We were public school kids who somehow got the most hands-on education around.
I remember sitting in fifth grade learning about the Hoover Dam and feeling completely checked out. It was just a fact on a test. But I took my own kids there a few months ago and they read every single sign and asked a million questions and actually cared, and that's what I want for them.
So thanks mom haha.
Three deployments and a LOT of miles.
When Chris joined the military I got really good at packing up our whole life and starting over somewhere new. We lived in thirteen homes across five states. We moved across the country multiple times, got stationed in places we never expected, and said goodbye more times than I want to count.
But those three deployments taught me something I didn't expect. Those deployments made me brave, honestly. Instead of sitting home and waiting, my kids and I would load up and go. My mom, my sister, and I explored New England together. I drove across the country solo with my oldest as a baby just to go see Chris while he was in military school.
I've been to almost every state, many of them multiple times. New England started to feel like home. We're done with the military part now and I'm so so grateful for those years.
We call it roadschooling.
I started homeschooling years ago with zero idea what I was doing. I remember googling vocabulary words and grabbing a random math book that had nothing to do with a real curriculum. That first year Lily and I just read books together and worked on gospel goals together. And I loved every second of it.
Since then I've tried a lot of curriculums, but honestly my fav is just to travel. We found a micro school that's incredibly flexible with us. When we're home the kids go to real classes with teachers we helped hire. When I decide it's time to go, we just go.
One year we visited 45 states. We did a six week East Coast road trip with a curriculum I made up myself. So lots of audiobooks and journals and history stops and talking in the van, and it was one of the best things we've ever done. It was also my last big trip with my oldest before she left for her mission in France, and it was so sacred to me.
We're a micro school family and a roadschooling family and kind of a worldschooling family, honestly idk what we are and I love it.
Faith is at the center.
I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Jesus is truly the center of my life. Everything else is built around that.
On road trips I feel the Spirit so strongly. Like driving through Kansas with nothing but fields, or watching the sun go down over the Pacific. Those moments on the road have been some of the most spiritual of my life. We play praise music with the windows down and we actually talk.
My oldest daughter is currently serving a mission for the church in France. My heart is so full of her. And my youngest is four and still thinks every honking car in America loves Jesus. Which honestly, I hope is true.
The O'Neal Mobile.
Our home on wheelsA few years ago we decided to get a big blue Ford Transit and it completely changed the way we travel. We built removable bunk beds in the back so we could just go whenever we felt like it. We can just go whenever and not book hotels weeks ahead.
It opened up a whole new world for us. We started saying yes to things we never would have before. A last minute weekend trip, a weeks long road adventure, a spontaneous detour just because something looked interesting on the map. The van made all of it possible and we haven't looked back since.
Every morning we convert the back from bedroom to living space and every night we convert it back. It's honestly kind of a pain. But it means we're always ready to go and that makes it completely worth it.
Before every trip we write "honk if you love Jesus" on the back window. It's one of our favorite traditions. Some states are SO into it and some are...not. My six year old once visited New York City, heard all the honking, and said "everyone here loves Jesus." We didn't have the heart to tell him the van wasn't even there.
Meet Emily.
My sister and my designerEmily is my oldest sister and my designer. She's a mom of three, she designed in New York for years (Nicole Miller, Disney, Kohl's, a bunch of others), and she's the best designer I know. Every list on here is her work. She's also the fun sister, always the best ideas, always a little extra, and I love it.
thank you, Emily. love you. designers, this part is for youBelle Bucket x you.
I want more of this. If you're a designer and you'd love to make a bucket list with me, a fall one or a Christmas one or something I haven't even thought of yet, I would be SO happy to hear from you. Your design, your name on it, and we launch it together. Email me at bellebucket@gmail.com with a little of your work and let's talk.
