Jama Oliver
I am a homeschool mama of four boys and wife to a software developer. We are originally from Northeast Tennessee, but now call Chattanooga "home." I'm a personal trainer and group exercise instructor, gluten free, dairy free, sober, and way more fun than I sound on paper.
Homeschooling: The Preschool Years
I fancy myself a “seasoned” homeschool mom. I’m now on my fourth child beginning his homeschooling journey, which gives me one in preschool, one first-grader, one fifth-grader, and one sixth-grader. My oldest is always...
Where’s the Village?
There was a time when I would just nod and smile when someone would say, “It takes a village!” “Sure, sure,” I’d think to myself. “I’m pretty rock solid on my own.”
What I didn’t...
What Your Sober Mama Friend Wants You to Know
I have a weird relationship with alcohol.
My mother is southern Baptist and would not allow alcohol in her house, let alone consume it. My dad was an alcoholic who kept his Budweiser tall boys...
The Best Laid Plans Are Ruined By Vomit: A Mother’s Tale
I have two fabulous posts in the works -- one on making Sunday special and one on being a sober mama -- and my plan was to sit down this afternoon and put the...
Social Media, Mass Shootings, and What We Can Really Do to Change the World
I’m going to tell you something that doesn’t make me proud. When news broke of another mass shooting, this time at a high school in Florida, my first thought was not horror or concern...
When the Mom Jeans Fit: Appreciating the Next Stage of Motherhood
I’ve had a couple of big moments lately. You know the ones that hit during this parenting journey that stop you in your tracks? Where time stands still for a split second so you...
How to Stick with Your Resolution to Get Healthy
Every January gyms start bursting at the seams with people resolved to get fit and healthy in the new year. As a fitness industry professional, I love January with all my little heart! Then,...
Creating Simple Family Traditions: The Day I Considered Murdering Our Elf on the Shelf
It would be so simple, really. He could get hit by a car or fall off the roof. Maybe the fire didn’t go out all the way and he burned to death. Maybe Santa...
Stuck in the Middle: Life in the Sandwich Generation
It’s 9pm on a Saturday night and I am sitting in a hotel in my hometown, drinking wine from a plastic cup, with my youngest, age two, laying beside me.
This morning I got up...
Minimalism 101: How Our Family of Six is Living With Less
I've flirted with minimalism for a few years now. That overwhelming “oh my gosh we have so much STUFF” feeling would rear its ugly head, but I always had a way of avoiding it....