I am just thrilled that you have stumbled on my little corner of the blogosphere. There’s nothing I’d love more than to sit down over a cup of coffee with you on our porch and share life together, but if we can’t set up that time, this is the next best thing.
I am a wife to an amazing man and we just celebrated our 24th anniversary. I’m privileged to be the mom of five blessings and as I type, four of them are teenagers.
Our home is loud, loaded with love and life, and it’s a place where we embrace both the beauty and bedlam of the every day. Everyone is welcome. Come as you are. I am all about seeking out the beauty hidden amidst our chaos, and our family has a lot of it. It’s there and we get to choose it.
I can’t wait to give you a peek into our life as I share my book, “Just Open the Door: How One Invitation Can Change a Generation,”
As women, we crave connection and community, but often we overthink and over stress the simple act of gathering. I can’t wait to reshape your thinking on the heart of hospitality and I guarantee, it’s so much easier than you have ever thought.
Decades ago, my parents gathered all their children together and described a dream that had been stirring in their heart.
We now call it our 200 year generational plan.
With 30 acres, siblings and nineteen cousins all growing up together on our “homestead” (fancy word for “we live next door to each other”), it creates the kind of life full of beauty and bedlam.
It’s been fun and crazy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Whether I’m attempting to keep a garden alive, saving money on our budget, finding fun things at the thrift store, repainting old furniture, creating new recipes for this gang, implementing family traditions or living Life to its fullest, I love community, both in real life and online, so settle in with some coffee and join me as we journey together.
Jennifer Schmidt
As a mom of five blessings and full time family manager, Jen Schmidt has learned to balance and embrace both the beauty and bedlam of every day life. As a motivational speaker, worship leader and writer, Jen shares with humor and authenticity on a myriad of topics, many which fall under her passion for understanding “It’s the little things, that are the big things.”
Her practical, yet tangible, lifestyle ideas encourages others to open their eyes to a “living on less” mentality with hundreds of ideas on living a full life on less money.
She lives it, and invites you along for the journey.
Jen served in full time ministry as a Director of Music and Youth in Milwaukee, WI before she and her wonderful husband moved their family to NC in 1997 to begin a 200 year generational plan with her extended family. This suburban girl, turned country mom, lives a Green Acres life on a family homestead with her siblings and their families, along with a few too many dogs and chickens.
She considers herself a full time family manager, who now works from home as a blogger, author, and speaker. She writes about her never-ending pursuit of balancing it all at her personal lifestyle blog: Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, as well as her food blog, 10 Minute Dinners.
In 2011, Jen desired to bring the blog topics that she wrote about straight to her readers in real life. With that vision and dream, she launched the Becoming Conference and approximately 600 women attended their inaugural year.
Outside of her blog, Jen finds joy in encouraging women at MOPS, women’s retreats, and conferences, yet she receives the sweetest reward from her most demanding audience, her family.
You can find her on any given day dreaming about a clean house, chauffeuring, couponing, meal planning, home schooling, thrift store hunting, or quite possibly on a stage sharing both her beauty and bedlam as a daughter of the King.
Follow Jen on Instagram at jenschmidt_beautyandbedlam and twitter as @beautyandbedlam
Video clip of Jen: How does Mom of Five Save Thousands?
As featured in a recent magazine:
“The little things are the big things.” That’s the message of Jennifer’s blog, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam (beautyandbedlam.com). As a mother of five, she shares her secrets for frugal yet fabulous living, and she’s living proof that it works, from her $2 Goodwill outfit to her $500-a-month grocery bill for a family of seven. Her practical ideas have taken her beyond the blogosphere to speaking engagements and a writing gig for a new online women’s magazine, (In)Courage. “I found, especially with this economy, I really had a voice that people wanted to hear.” ”
On easier meal-planning: Set the timer for one hour, then cook and freeze as much as you can. “In one hour of just concentrated time, I was able to break down certain kitchen tasks enough that I was going to get eight meals out of that one hour.
Contributing author at Dayspring’s (in)courage blog – home for the heart of women.
