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Get to know me
hi, i'm amy.Utah mom · military wife · road tripper · believer
I have six kids at home, a big blue van in the driveway, and a deep conviction that the best things in life happen when you just go. I’m so glad you found your way here.
I was raised in Georgia by a mom who understood something most schools don't. 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 taking my own kids there a few months ago and watching them read every single sign, ask every question, and genuinely care? That's the learning I want for my family. The kind that sticks because they lived it.
My mom gave me that gift. I'm just passing it on.
"No one's too cool for anyone on a road trip. We're just all buddies."
— AmyWhen Chris joined the military, I became a woman who knew how to pack up a life and start somewhere new. We lives in twelve 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. They made me brave. 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. America became my backyard.
I've been to almost every state, many of them multiple times. New England started to feel like home. And now as we close this military chapter and step into what's next, I'm more grateful for those years than I could ever fully say. They made me who I am.
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 things. Different curriculums, different approaches. But my favorite curriculum has always been 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.
Last year we visited 48 states in one year. We did a six week East Coast road trip with a curriculum I made up myself. Audiobooks, journals, history stops, real conversations. It was one of the most beautiful things we've ever done as a family. It was also my last big trip with my oldest before she left for her mission in France. So it was sacred in ways I still don't have words for.
We are a micro school family. A roadschooling family. A worldschooling family. Honestly we're pretty hard to define and I love that about us.
I am 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. Driving through the open fields of Kansas, watching a sunset melt into the Pacific, standing somewhere that took my breath away. Those moments on the road have been some of the most spiritual of my life. We play praise music with the windows down. We have real conversations. No one's distracted, no one's too cool. We're just all present with each other and with God.
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.
A 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. No booking hotels weeks in advance, no complicated logistics. Just load up and leave.
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 very enthusiastic. Some are decidedly 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.