Katie Willson
Katie’s an over-caffeinated army wife, homeschool working mom, and student with a penchant for John Wayne movies and Chinese food.
She currently lives in Kentucky with her family, but hails from the great state of Utah — although she’s yet to meet a state she doesn’t love. Home is relative, as her husband is a nomad and she and her children are just along for the ride. Her and her husband have varied means of approaching self-reliance (her husband thinks they should raise fish in the basement. Don’t ask), but they agree on one thing – working towards becoming self-reliant as much as possible.
They have two spunky, sassy, darling girls who are not yet too cool to spend time with mom and dad. They take advantage of this by spending as much time together as they can – hiking, camping, playing games and watching movies.
She’s working on setting the record for the slowest achieved bachelor’s degree ever, and keeps planning on graduating ‘next semester,’ but then, life happens. Until life quits happening, she’ll just keep studying history until it quits being made. In the meantime, she spends her days teaching kids, learning things, spending too much time on the computer, folding laundry, and taking over the world. She’s really excited about the things she’s helping share here at The Backyard Coop, and occasionally writes about her adventures at heykatiebird.com. While she can’t always promise decorum, she’s usually good for small-time adventures.
Things Katie loves:
- Her family
- Learning new things
- Netflix
- Dr. Pepper
- Agatha Christie novels
- Christmas
- Neil Diamond
- Bookstores
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
- The idea of creating a fully-functional homestead
David Mooring
David is foodie, photographer, and veritable jukebox with a passion for entrepreneurship, marketing, coffee, and chocolate. And beer. Oh, and bacon.
He’s a native of Eastern North Carolina and grew up surrounded by Brightleaf Tobacco and cotton farms. And while he enjoys big city life and traveling the world, he’s most content rocking on the back porch with his wife, listening to the cattle lowing in the fields nearby… and watching their boys play in the backyard. And by “play in the backyard”, he means run, jump, climb, chase, shoot, throw, pull, break, bury, and destroy as much as is humanly possible for two brothers under 10.
David is an avid gardener and green thumb who can hardly go a day without spending time in the yard. He grew up in a family where the men are known for their cooking skills, and he’s as comfortable in the kitchen as he is in front of the grill.
He’s a family man, works from home, and serves as a Cub Scout leader and t-ball coach for both of his boys. He believes in honesty, integrity, and hard work, and enjoys teaching his Mini-Me’s how to grow food, take care of the house, and be self-sufficient. When he’s not working on or around the homestead, he’s an online entrepreneur and marketing strategist who teaches others how to turn their knowledge and skills into monthly income streams. You can learn more about that at SuperSimpl.com.
Things David loves:
- His wife and kids
- Reading non-fiction
- Small batch, freshly roasted coffee
- Movies
- Move Soundtracks
- Cooking (and eating)
- Traveling
- Thick-sliced bacon in the oven
- Fresh eggs (duh)
- Sitting on the beach