About Me - Cook, Craft, Cultivate

Well hello there! Welcome to my blog, thanks for stopping by to find out about me and my projects. My name is Kristi. I live in sunny and warm AZ with my hubby Chris, and two fur-babies Reggie and Aria! I am a do-it-yourself kind of gal, much more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt, getting my hands dirty in the kitchen, garden or crafting. This is a bit ironic, since in my professional life I am actually a science nerd turned business woman, and I have to dress professionally and meet with clients for business discussions. Nothing like a little variety in one’s life I suppose!

I also have a love for photography. To take a look at some of my work, I invite you to visit my online portfolio at krististephensonphotography.com.

I am one of those people who has never been good at focusing on one thing. There have always been TOO many interesting things to pick just one! Even in my college days, I spent a whole year with an “undecided” major. I finally picked Chemistry (with a little Math, French, and Photography mixed in on the side) – just because it was interesting! I think for the most part I’ve turned out all right though 🙂

So this blog — I’ve actually been trying to settle on a topic or interest for years that I could turn into a good side-hobby, maybe even one day a small side-business! But time went by, with all my “great” ideas just stuck rolling around in my head. And then recently I decided I wanted to launch into yet another hobby – woodworking. Then one day Hubby suggested, maybe I could start a blog to chronicle my learning progress with woodworking, a place other people who were interested might be able to learn a thing or two, and contribute their own experiences. I couldn’t get that idea out of my head, maybe this could finally be my focus!

But as we continued to talk about it, and I thought more about what I would like to write about, an even better idea began to crystallize. Why not pull all my interests into one place? And chronicle my learning across them all? I can’t be the only person out there with multiple interests. Maybe a couple of the things I love and spend time working to improve will resonate with other people.

And so here we are, I’m going to give it a try. Here’s what I’ve picked to keep my sights focused on, and little about the “why” behind each one:

My Focus Topics

COOK – I’ve always loved to bake, and since Hubby and I got married, I’ve tried to expand into the cooking side of the kitchen as well. Hubby has been a good teacher, too (he’s really a much better cook than I am)! We recently went through a pretty major health change, and now I am focused on making meals that are healthy, full of veggies, and still taste really good!

CRAFT – This is where the woodworking hobby comes in. I have SO MANY ideas of things I want to design, create, build. Let’s see what I can learn and where it takes us!

CULTIVATE – I have wanted a garden for a long time. Up until recently our garden consisted of a few pots on the patio (tomatoes and herbs still did well!). But now we have a house with a small yard and we have started a garden! I am excited to share how that goes with you all.

(and CAPTURE) – Because, where would I be without photography? I would say photography is my true creative foundation. And as I expand this blog, improving my photography skills to document everything I am sharing is a key learning experience!

LOCAL SPOTS – This is a later addition to my blogging topics. We explore so many fun places in the Scottsdale area, I thought I would take the opportunity to share some of them with you all. Maybe you will learn about a new spot you’ve never visited, and find your own new place to explore.

So there you have it – Cook, Craft, Cultivate is born. I’m excited to see where this journey takes me. I hope you have fun coming along!