HELLO THERE, I’m Mary – Wifey, Mama of 5 and creator of this blog.
I love food, a good bargain and colourful and funky things. I adore travelling, nature, adventures, historic places and the theatre. And, the beach is my happy place!
I am married to my husband ‘Nath’ (Nathan) whom I adore. Nath and I have been married 13 years and he is evidence to me that dreams come true – we have a lot of fun together! We have moved from our Yorkshire village life, to the hustle and bustle of Kuwait with our 4 crazy kids – Ethan, Megan, Alice and Oscar.
As a family and couple we love to travel, see historic and beautiful places, watch films, go to the theatre, eat treats, be outdoors often, and generally have a laugh together! We are active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and this is very much our lifestyle and ordinary.
I love taking our kids on life’s adventures and showing them this beautiful world – it is a wonderful thing. I love it even more if it is budget friendly! We are excited to experience life – with all its love, madness and adventure – here in the Middle East.
“The Hearty Life” captures the highs & lows of life, our adventures near and far and the things that bring me joy! It began way back in 2014 as a family lifestyle and loss blog following the passing of our 3rd child – Poppy (at birth) – it was cathartic at the time and a way to raise awareness of baby loss and our life around it. As I found solace, it evolved into family lifestyle – capturing the hearty moments in the madness and the things that brought us joy around this massive aching and loss. I enjoyed journal-ling our months and adventures as time flew along and the kids changed a lot, grew and accomplished things.
However, as life grows and changes, so does this little corner of the web. And now I share mostly just our life on a more general level, our adventures, my thoughts and feelings, little money saving tips, joyful discoveries, and hopefully lots about life as expats! I hope you enjoy delving into my posts as I seek to live and create a hearty life whilst raising my tribe here in The Middle East!
Life is hard sometimes, but it is also a beautiful adventure! This is mine…
Mary I think you are simply an amazing woman. I’ve known you since birth and who would have thought that that little girl doing the ‘star tracking across the universe’ with your sister Jo could turn out the way you have! I feel honoured to be your Auntie and very proud to be able to watch you grow more and more. Xxxxxxxxx
I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award! Thanks for always being such an inspiration! You can find more info here- https://momtoangels.wordpress.com/2015/03/16/the-versatile-blogger-award/.
You have a freestyle writing challenge awaiting you! Whenever you have time. It would be interesting to see what you write! It’s on my blog 😀