Hi, I’m Laura, the blog owner at Not Suzy, Just Laura. I left working as a medic to raise 4 tiny humans and become a Modern Day Homemaker. I had this crazy idea to stay at home and raise children in an era where women worked and sent their children to daycare. After all, women fought to own their place in the workforce. Suddenly, my choice to be a homemaker was an affront to all those womanly rights. But I knew since I was 16 years old that I wanted to be a wife and homemaker. I wanted 4 children or more and I wanted to garden, sew, and homeschool my kids.
I was mocked and named Suzy Homemaker. I was called curse words and lazy. Almost no one supported my choice to stay home because in everybody’s words, “a family can’t afford to live on one income”. Therein, lies a problem or a myth. A family can AFFORD TO LIVE ON ONE INCOME. We started out living on $8.50 an hour. That was only a dollar more than I was making as a medic. Money management is just one facet of home management.
This leads me to Myth #2. Having a one-income family means you live in poverty. Well, we didn’t live in poverty and fiscally it didn’t make any sense for me to work 50+ hours a week to be earning $3.00 an hour because daycare is a significant chunk of money going out of the budget. In addition, we had student loans. Even though we had degrees, we had loans and INTEREST! Those loans were a huge debt with interest hanging over our heads. Sadly, the job market lumps the new college grads into the beginner pay bracket. It is extremely important to pay off any student loans as early as possible or work and pay for school while you attend.
I decided to blog to share ways to afford to stay home and be a homemaker! In addition, I dive deep into the heart of homemaking and home management. Whether you desire to be a homemaker or just want ideas to hack to make your life easier. All are welcome!
FUN FACTS ABOUT LAURA
- I LOVE to write. I used to write plays for my brother and me to act when I was 6 years old.
- I study a Korean martial arts form called Kyuki-Do.
- I’ve lived the longest in Wisconsin but have called Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Illinois home as well.
- After attending Private and Public schools, in my second year of high school I became a homeschooler.
- I became an Emergency Medical Technician because the waiting list was too long to become a nurse.
- I love animals and have had dogs, house rabbits, and a lot of guinea pigs as my housemates.
- I’m an avid reader as well as a huge information and history geek. Every single day, I learn something new.
- My favorite activities are swimming, jiujitsu, biking or hiking.
- This isn’t my first blog. I created a small family blog so that relatives in England could see photos of my children.
- My favorite place to live was in Anchorage, Alaska. The mountains are an amazing backdrop to see every AM.
- I became an EMT so I could help people and because I liked to drive fast.
- I always knew I wanted to have 2 girls and 2 boys and hoped for more kids after that.
- I find gardening to be a very calming activity.
- I dislike wearing shoes or socks unless necessary.
- I am an amateur photographer and shoot with a Canon 7d.
