I am MelAnn… homeschool mom to two teenagers, a dog, and a few cats, amateur chef, storyteller, narrative coach & strategist, memorial tribute video producer, published author & retreat facilitator. I enjoy music, outdoors, pretty jewelry, amateur photography, learning new things, my beautiful new home & intimate gatherings. I have intimate experience with grief, adoptee challenges (identity formation, birth family search, etc), functioning adult with adhd, reactivating strain Epstein Barr virus with all of the fun autoimmune & inflammation flare ups that go with it and life after 50, … as well as being lost and found on repeat again and again.
I am passionate about stories. Stories are life’s souvenirs. We are stories & every story matters. I believe to my core that connection is best served when we are willing to meet people where they are; without judgment, without agenda. Then, grow as we journey together. I am legacy minded. My desire is to help other family storytellers tell the stories that matter most (theirs, their loved ones) in beautiful, engaging ways through photos, video, keepsake time capsules, audio and writing. Those stories of love, family & faith are your legacy in the making and have the potential to make powerful impact for generations to come. I want to know your story. I hope you want to hear mine.
I don’t do “chit chat” - so please… just don’t. I crave deep dives. Let’s put the social media personas aside and have real conversations about our stories.
I love the Lord Yahweh, my God, with every passion of my heart, with all the energy of my being, with every thought that is within me, and with all my strength. I love my family, friends, tribe, neighbors, community & strangers in the same way I love myself. Not only because God demands it, but I’m embracing a servant’s heart that desires these things.
Because of this, I experience an exquisite lifestyle daily. I indulge in simple beauty & extravagant grace. I savor life’s sweetest, richest moments as if a milk chocolate square. Even the most bitter moments become powerful catalysts for my soul. I celebrate that I am a hyper-sensitive intellectual; aware of every sensual experience offered up by any given moment anchors that moment to memory & serves as proof that I showed up: I am present in this moment. I am here.
I engage with my inner circle relationships with fierce devotion & as also with outlying connections, tenderness, compassion, encouragement, support & love. I pour into the lives of others with great verve & bounteousness. I fight for myself & others with valor & authority.
I unapologetically embrace my gifts & blessings to walk fearlessly into life’s deep dives to invite unwavering connection with self, others & the Divine nature & presence of God.
I walk the line in integrity with my own brand of imperfect perfection. I dwell in exquisite worthiness & rapture in timeless rhythm & energy that is constantly renewing, stirring the waters of my soul, spurring on-going challenge & growth in the relentless pursuit & the receiving of the God-given desires of my heart.
My cravings for adventure constantly satiated and reawakened with every mountain I climb & valley I pass through, big or small, on an almost-daily basis. A life styled by God, complete in beautiful rapture, an abiding peace that doesn’t make sense & legacy that I leave for family, friends & clients to impact others for generations to come.
Proverbs 16:9 tells us that while we make plans for our future in our heart, God chooses the steps that will get us there. I have my hiking boots on, Lord. So let’s go. …
This is my vision, mission & why. And for you, me Beloved reader, hold me to this.
