welcome

Hello, I am Roxanna!

I am so grateful you are here!

Just a few years prior, I was a career-focused woman, newly widowed, and trying my best to maintain a balance between being the mother I had always been and the new breadwinner for our little family.

All my daughter’s life until that point, I had been a stay-at-home mother and homemaker. Working long hours as a lender and being away from our home was not something I wanted to get used to. I got my real estate license shortly after my husband’s passing and began taking her with me whenever I could. In this way, I could be with her and earn the living I needed to support us.

After being forced to sell our home, I relocated back to my hometown where we began a new life in a rental. I awkwardly knocked on many doors in the summer heat, schlepped bulky signs to open houses in heels, and was hung up on while making marketing calls more times than I can count. With each set of keys I handed over, I knew I was closer to my own set.

Then one day, it was our turn to purchase a home. I will never forget the drive to sign the papers, the moment of elation. It had all been worth it.

Just a few short months into living in our home, a small country-style property on a generous plot. I began to crave something more than just earning a living and upgrading our things. I began working less, cutting back on expenses, and allowing my days to revolve around what really mattered to me. Returning to the homemaker and mother as my first priority over sales. It felt right where I had always belonged. With my daughter at my side I began homeschooling, and dove deeper into a home-based lifestyle that was simple and rewarding.

Coming Full Circle

As I count them I am almost 20 years in as a homemaker and home cook. A role I have had a lifelong passion for from the moment I had my first place to make my own. Something ignited in me in that tiny duplex all those years ago. I had no idea of what I was doing or what I was in for. Come pay day I would be scouring the Martha Stewart aisle at Kmart in search of something, anything I could afford. Nightly I would stand at a small electric cooktop with a recipe cut out of a magazine that would end up in disaster more often than I care to admit.

Yet those were my training grounds. In that small galley kitchen, I began to teach myself to cook by following recipes that over time I no longer relied on. As my confidence grew so did my love for food.

Fast forward, I became a student in my kitchen once more, learning new skills as a home baker and cooking seasonal meals from a garden. Focusing on sourdough, bread-baking techniques, and cooking completely from scratch. I began taking courses in bread baking, developing recipes, and learning food photography.

I began writing again, something I had done in my spare time, only this time it would be with purpose. This is full circle, right back to where it all began, where I had fallen in love with the role of homemaker. All those years ago. Only this time, I would boldly share it with others and declare it the most important work of my life. In addition to this blog, I currently write a quarterly column in Homemade Homesteading Magazine.

A Place To Thrive

Creating a simple lifestyle and having the ability to still be present with my daughter is something I am ever grateful for. Those hard years of grieving, sole parenting, and working to purchase a new home landed us here.

I love to share things I have learned along the way with fellow homemakers all over the world. My work reflects my life and I spend much of my work days encouraging other homemakers to see the value in their roles and to share the beauty in a simple life. If you are a homemaker, that values your role in the home, you are in good company.

This is a space that celebrates the home through the lens of a simpler lifestyle. Here you can learn how to bake bread, understand the process of sourdough, get inspired for the days ahead, or find something delicious for dinner. Whatever you are here for, I hope you stick around, there is so much more to come!

Be sure to check out our YouTube Channel @aquaintlife