My name is Dana and I am a passionate, ambitious, DIYer, and stay at home mom. I live in West Virginia with my husband, Josh, and our son Rowan.  Josh and I were married in June 2012 and began our journey as a married couple here in West Virginia. After both growing up just outside of Pittsburgh, PA, the move was far enough away to learn how to make it on our own but close enough to family, friends, and of course, Pittsburgh sporting events.  My husband is a hilarious, hard-working guy that is making his way through his Oral Surgery residency.  He is my more stable half and pushes me to follow my dreams.  Our sweet baby boy, Rowan, was born in July of 2014 and has made our family complete.  He’s seriously the cutest and so so funny.

Prior to staying home with Rowan I had dedicated my life to teaching.  Teaching everyone and everywhere I could- private school, public school, Sunday school, youth group, little kids, big kids, middle schoolers (can’t believe I’m living to tell about these ones ha!), you name it.  But when we found out we were expecting our first baby, my focus changed.  I wanted to be able to stay home with my son to love on him, care for him, and teach HIM every day.  I quickly started thinking of ways I could stay home while doing something that I love.  If you ask anyone who knows me, one of the first things they’ll say I love to do is crafting. I love making things! Anything really- sewing, scrapbooking, designing, decorating, refurbishing, and the list goes on.  Except for making food.  I am really NOT into making that. (P.S. Freezer meals have saved my life!) I also love speaking.  Not in a, “I need to talk all of the time” kind of way, but more in a ” I love to teach and impact lives” kind of way.  I really have a heart for women, teenagers and adults, and talking to them about the life Christ has in store for them.   About seeing themselves through the eyes of Christ and about being real with yourself and with the people around you.

 

So fast forward to now and how I put that all together.  I started a small business on Etsy called, My Paper Nest.  It began as a banner making business for parties and events but somehow morphed into hand painted and hand lettered wood signs (with some banners still on the side!) I love creating and making things for people’s homes so it has been a great blessing to make the signs and have something that I love help me get to stay home with Rowan. I also started this blog as a platform to reach out to women and share my heart.  I lack in the technical skills so my posts are mainly just about the words.   I don’t know how to do fancy things with the blogs and I’ve never really ventured into the world of money making blogs because all of that blows my mind a little! HAHA!  But I do want this space to be real and vulnerable.  I’ll share what’s happening in my world and hopefully impact someone who is facing something similar. I hope I can shine a light on issues of injustice that break my heart and parts of motherhood that are challenging and rewarding.  I’m not going to really corner myself when I say what you’ll find here because I really can’t tell you yet.  Just know that it will be 100% me and I’ll try to limit the rambling, I promise!

Last but not least, the reason for the name, My Steadfast Soul.  It comes from a time when I was going through A LOT the first year we lived in WV.  I was having a very hard time with my job, the move to a new place, and having a husband in residency.  When I would read my Bible, the word steadfast seemed to be everywhere I read.  I believe the Lord gave me that word to adopt as a mantra to remind me not be weary and to remember that He’s the anchor of my soul.  I didn’t need to worry about my needs and feeling of loneliness because His steadfast love endures forever.  I even used to write the word on my finger everyday at school.  He saw me through those hard times, but that word remains written on my heart.  I hope you’ll join me in remaining steadfast in whatever season of life you’re in, as we learn to conquer fear, love well, and surrender our all to Him.

With love,

Dana