Now that the hustle and bustle of the holiday gift guide is over, I thought it was time I introduced myself and my family to all of the readers at Emily Reviews! As you may have gathered by now, my name is Amber and I’m from central Minnesota. I’m married to an amazing man and mama to two adorable kids named Harper and Lincoln. I wanted to share a little of my backstory and interests and then how I came to write for Emily Reviews!

I grew up in a small town in central Minnesota (only about an hour where I ended up!). I attended college at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, which is where I met my husband Tyler. We moved closer to central Minnesota and got married, finished up college, and bought a house. (Thankfully we’ve grown up a little and our hair has improved since then, HA!)

I went to school for early childhood education and worked for a few years as a toddler teacher at a daycare center. When I found out I was pregnant with our daughter in 2012 I knew we had to make a decision about whether I’d keep working or stay home when she was born. Ultimately we decided that it made more sense for me to quit my job and become a stay-at-home mom. It came down to me not being able to justify working down the hall from my baby while someone else took care of her needs. Plus, after daycare costs and the price of gas, I would have only been taking home $3 an hour! Not worth it.

So our daughter Harper was born at home and I stepped excitedly into the role of stay-at-home mom and immersed myself in all things holistic. Being a mom really changed me and I let it consume me for those first few years after she was born. That certainly wasn’t a bad thing to me, though I didn’t have much that I did just for myself. I started to shoot photography in the evenings or weekends when my husband was home to care for Harper, but I wasn’t (and still am not) interested in making it a full-time career.

I got pregnant again in 2014 and we were so excited to find out that we were having a boy. Unfortunately, at 21 weeks I stopped feeling movement and we found out that our second baby had passed away in the womb. I delivered him at the hospital and we named him Beau. That was a very difficult, dark time in my life and I really think the things that helped me pull through were my husband and daughter, along with unwavering support from close friends and family. We unintentionally got pregnant about two months after losing Beau, and that pregnancy was very hard for me, emotionally and physically. Thankfully, our healthy baby boy Lincoln was born at the end of 2015 and he completely rounded out our family.

After Lincoln got a little older, I realized that I was feeling a bit stagnant. Aside from being a mom and doing some photography, I wasn’t pushing and growing myself. I’ve always loved to write, and had a personal blog, and I looked into writing for a blog with a larger following. I had been following Emily Reviews for years and noticed Emily had an opening for a contributor last year (2018). I decided to apply, and the rest is history! I love sharing about products my family loves, and I really enjoy writing and photography. These things go hand in hand with blogging and it’s been such a fun outlet for me.

Along with blogging and photography, I really love researching and living a holistic lifestyle. Our family tries to use natural and organic products as much as possible, and I’m obsessed with anything related to natural birth and childhood. Harper and Lincoln were both born at home in the water; we had midwives and I loved our experiences. I’m currently homeschooling our daughter Harper and learning more about Waldorf and Montessori teaching styles to bring more peace and calm into our home. I love crafting and scrapbooking when I have the time, as well as reading novels and binge-ing Netflix with my husband after the kids are asleep.

Is there anything else you want to know about me? If so, let me know in the comments! I’d absolutely love to hear from you and to get to know the Emily Reviews readers even better!

Amber

Hi there! I’m Amber, a 34 year old wife and mom of two from central Minnesota. I love to be outside with my family anywhere the weather is warm (which means I spend half the year freezing). We’re a homeschooling family that loves to travel as often as possible! When I have a spare free moment, I love to read, take photos, and scrapbook. I’m interested in anything that makes life more fun; I also love socializing and sharing about my favorite products!

www.emilyreviews.com/