Contributors

Howdy! Texas Schmexas was officially retired in 2014. But feel free to make yourself at home.

We hope you enjoy what you find here!

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Hey there. I’m Elizabeth, a writing, editing, food-loving, sometimes-running, poetry-composing, Survivor-watching, list-making jane-of-all-trades. I started Texas Schmexas in the Spring of 2010 to explore the idea of community as I experienced it in my small town in the middle of America. I’m a transplant from Pennsylvania, though you might not know it when you taste my homemade pimento cheese. I’m the mom of a one-year-old, the wife of a professor, a deacon and Sunday school teacher, a lover of liturgy, and a published poet. I’m equally at home in a community garden or a greasy spoon restaurant, drinking a caffeine-free Diet Coke or sipping on fair-trade, home-roasted coffee, listening to Taize prayer chants or country music on the radio. I graduated from Houghton College in 2004, with majors in sociology and English, and spent four years in Texas before planting my roots in central Kentucky. You can learn more about me, my writing, and what I’m working on now over here.

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Hello! I’m Rebecca, a married mother of two young girls. I live in a unique rural town in New York that, though barely registering as a hamlet, is home to a Christian liberal arts college. Operating in-between two cultures (rural, small town farm country and Christian academia) presents some challenges for developing diverse, intentional community. I’m an ordained minister about to start my fourth and final year of an everlasting Master of Social Work degree which will hopefully equip me to serve both of my communities in a meaningful way. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, coffee, running, cooking and escaping into inane internet television.

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Former Contributors

Hi, my name is Gen and I am a wife to a philosophy professor and a mother to two teens I adore! I grew up in sunny Arizona but have lived in Indiana for almost 4 years now. Some of my favorite things to do are travel, rummage through antique shops, read Russian literature, go to art museums, ride my bike in the spring, and share a nice hot pot of tea with friends. I am a photographer and often carry my camera around to capture the life around me. I’m a full-time mom and (sometimes) a full-time student, and I have a heart for India. I share my life through photos at my blog Alexander Living–I have my camera on hand pretty much everywhere I go to capture the everyday! Here at Texas Schmexas, I hope to capture a slice of community with my photographs.

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Hi there! I’m Katie, a stay-at-home momma to a fun, sweet two-year-old and wife of a top-notch insurance agent in central Pennsylvania. I graduated from Lebanon Valley College in 2004 and had a blast teaching sixth grade for seven years before our family grew.

I love a good pair of skinny jeans, but spend most of my time in yoga pants (who doesn’t?!?). When I’m not surrounded by dollies or covered in stickers, I enjoy making yummy meals for my family.

Each day, I strive to be a Godly wife and mom and show Christ’s love to those around me!

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Hi, I’m Kelsie. My husband Stephen, two young children, and I live in a compound in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. There are many nationalities living here in the compound, often language is a barrier, and sometimes cultural differences seriously strain relationships. There are no Christian churches here. When we have moved before, finding a church was always a first step in building our new community. But we’re figuring out what building community looks like here. We focus on inviting people into our home, often for meals. I send baked goods with Stephen to work.  We are kind and friendly to the workers here on the compound. We have taught our children to be friendly, smile, and wave. And we are finding where our boundaries are. Hop on over to our family’s blog to read more about our everyday adventures.

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Hi, I’m Lisa. I live in a small Missouri town with my three young children and Philosophy professor husband. I relish the community and slow pace of small-town life every day and look forward to exploring that in words here at Texas Schmexas. While my days are happily, though challengingly, filled with homeschooling, caring for a home and family, and raising three precious souls, I also enjoy tinkering with theology (when easily-paced), painting, gardening, jogging, piano, and all kinds of reading and writing; especially poetry. I earned a degree in Psychology with a minor in English from Hendrix College in 2000.

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Hi, I’m Olivia. Born and raised in Central PA, I’m a Jesus-loving, organized, artistic girl who is pretty crazy about all things blueberry. Transplanting to the South a little over a decade ago, I’m a convert to grits, BBQ, and Nashville Predators hockey. I now call Tennessee home. You can take the girl out of the north, but you can’t take the north out of this girl. I will always have a special place in my heart for fresh snow, soft-pretzel sandwiches from Isaac’s, Hershey Park, Rita’s Italian ice, Penn State football, and Sheetz. I work my ‘dream job’ every day at Barefoot Republic Camp, a Christ-centered camp for children that focuses on breaking down the walls of social, cultural and racial diversity. I have been a youth leader with my church for the past 9 years and love seeing how students’ lives can be changed with the love and power of the Gospel, just as mine was in high school through a friend who introduced me to a relationship with God.