Hi! I’m Stephanie

I am SO excited you are here!

My goal for Wingin’ it on the Homestead is to invite you to join my family on our journey to a simpler life.  We have chosen to pursue this lifestyle for several reasons.

• We want to be as self-sufficient as possible.
• We want to know where our food is coming from. How awesome is it to be able to grow your own food?! Anyone can do it.
• We want to embrace some old-fashioned, forgotten skills that are not commonly seen in today’s world. We want to slow down and enjoy some of the views from a simpler time. Although simpler does not mean easier.
• We want to provide our kids with the opportunity to become confident, hard working, problem solving, creative thinking and motivated people.  We believe that a simpler lifestyle can provide that for them and so much more.

The 4 pillars of our simple living journey are:

• Gardening
• Food preservation
• Cooking from scratch
• Making our own cleaning and household products

As we build a simpler, more self-sufficient, healthier, and cozier life for our family, we hope that our trials and triumphs will be helpful and encouraging for all of you looking to start on your own simple living journey.  You can always expect us to provide you with honest, straightforward, relevant and well-researched content. We would love to hear your feedback, requests for content and anything else you would like to share with us!

A Little About Us

My husband Brian and I have together for 15 years– since high school! We have been married for 5 years and we are blessed with 4 children ages 5 and under! Brian is a mason by trade but can fix, renovate, refurbish or bring back from the dead, pretty much anything that takes some kind of mechanical skill. 

Prior to having 4 little ones, I worked as an adjunct instructor at a local University.  I enjoy anything old-fashioned and anything that involves organization or planning. I definitely have an analytical and systematic mindset when it comes to managing our families day-to-day.

Our simple living story is just beginning but it started about 10 years ago when we bought our first house. It was a fixer-upper that needed a lot of renovations before we could even move in. During the first year, we transformed the little four-square house into a cozy home.

Next we overhauled our overgrown yard, into a beautiful and functional backyard.  My mother and I planted a garden.  We started with a 10×12 plot and basically planted every vegetable we had ever heard of.  Even though we had attended some free classes at our local AG center, we really had no idea what we were doing. For the most part, the garden was a success. Some vegetables did not produce anything, while others (cucumbers) produced SO much. We had learned so much that season and decided it was something we wanted to do every year.

In the following years, we had 4 kids! While it takes some planning, motivation, and creativity to make time for gardening, it has been a rewarding experience.

Regardless of the time restraints and the chaos and craziness that can be our daily reality, we have been able to incorporate many self-sufficient projects into our lives.  We have substituted many of the commercial household cleaners and personal products we previously used with all- natural, toxin free alternatives. We got chickens and now have fresh eggs. I have also learned to cook the majority of our food from scratch, allowing me to assure that the food I am feeding my family is healthy and safe.

Changing our mindset to focus on our needs versus our wants and teaching our children the value of hard work, patience, and honesty have been another way we have brought more intention into our daily lives.

My goal is to help other busy women embrace a simpler life that makes sense to their family.  Encourage them in finding strategies and techniques to learn new skills and have the time to practice them and share them with their family.

Grab our Garden Planner to start planning your own garden this year!