Hello, Friend! I’m Kristina, the writer behind our blog and I’m so glad you are here at Joyfully Smitten.
I’m take-it-all-in kind of gal who is on a journey of living a bolder, more intentional life and worrying less about what others think. I’m regularly making messy goodness in my kitchen or art room with my children by my side. You’ll usually find me wearing or breastfeeding my littlest babe and all four of us nestled in bed together at the end of each day. I love good conversation and helping others. Dance parties to Sara Barielles’ “Brave” or King and Country’s “Joy.” happen almost daily with my kiddos – it’s good for the soul. I love fresh cut flowers on my table & my windows open. Other than those things – give me Jesus, a good craft beer, & some essential oils and I’m good to go.
I’ve been absolutely smitten with Ryan for over 10 years now. I knew I’d marry him by our first date together. I moved my life to Colorado almost 9 years ago from Kansas and straight in with him. We said “I do” on a cool December day in 2009. He makes me laugh until my stomach hurts and we compliment each other in the best kind of way. As our Uncle Scott once said, “God Made You Different To Make You One,” and every bit of that is the truth. I’m a lucky gal & don’t take that for granted.
After years of trying and praying we welcomed our first daughter, A, into the world on a sweet November day in 2012. She’s a free spirited toddler with the sweetest heart. You can read her birth story here. June 2015 we welcomed our son, B, to our family and our hearts nearly burst. You can read his birth story here. This last October 2017, we welcomed our second son, C, to our family and it was like he had been a part of our family all along. Being parents has been one of the most challenging yet abundantly fulfilling thing we’ve ever done. You are likely wondering if we planned that whole “A” and “B” thing and the answer is we had B’s name picked out nearly nine years ago, so nope! Just how it worked out, and then we went with a C to follow suit.
Our life isn’t filled with fancy things or extravagant trips but it’s so full of love, simplicity and grace. I live a simple life and am grateful for everything we have and love those dearest to me with everything I have. If that’s something you enjoy, you’ll love it here. If you are all about big, flashy and extravagant than we’ll likely bore your socks off.
About Our Site
Here at JoyfullySmitten.com I inspire parents to get hands on with their children both in the kitchen and in creating projects, as well as, embracing the seasons of life they are in. You’ll find delicious recipes we love, DIY projects that we make (usually using what you have on hand or using upcycled items). You’ll find posts from my heart and about our family too. I don’t blog here because I have it all figured out, I blog because we’re all in the thick of it together & if I can inspire and encourage another mama, what a blessing! I hope if you’ve been led to this space you find nothing but hope, encouragement and words that meet you right where you are.
I use this space as a creative outlet to encourage me to be constantly hands on and creative with my kiddos & have the desire to make that more accessible with my own sweet babes. You’ll find me around here usually three times a week or so but sometimes life happens and I don’t make it here. Family always comes before this space – it has to. I do partner up with companies large and small in this space, sometimes it’s paid, sometimes it’s a product review and sometimes it’s just because I like something. If I’m ever compensated though it’s because I carefully considered the company or product & genuinely stand behind it. Sometimes I use affiliate links too, the same philosophy goes for that. Anything made here, or product tried here, just helps support this site & allows us to do some fun things extra, as well as, hopefully lead you to new things you’ll love too. Learn all about that here.
Oh, and one more thing. If you love something here – share it! We are growing this site completely organically – this means we don’t pay for advertising. We only grow when people love this site, we want genuine people who enjoy this site to be here because they make that choice. So we always appreciate you sharing us with your friends!
Family Photo above by Kate Blauert Photography 2018.
