Hello! I’m Jess Wagoner, a single mama to these two wonderful children, Sylas K (15) and Selah J (5). I adopted both of my children when they were infants. Sylas came home straight from the hospital and Selah joined our family when she was about three months old.

My first career was in social work, working with children and families involved with the foster care system. I also spent several years working at a Child Advocacy Center. I loved that line of work but my children needed my full attention. They both have high special needs related to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and require me to be at the top of my game. With their needs in mind, I made a career shift and began working as a journalist.

I had always been a writer, maintaining several popular blogs over the years, but diving into the world of newspapers and magazines was new for me. I quickly fell in love with community journalism. I firmly believe we all have a story to tell and it was a huge honor to be able to tell the stories of communities I loved so much. Unfortunately, I’ve had to take a break from journalism for the time being. I’m currently on dialysis and waiting on a kidney transplant. I spend three days a week at a dialysis clinic which makes it nearly impossible to maintain a traditional job.

Now I mainly write ebooks, design digital content, do some freelance writing, and spend a lot of time with my kids. I have been homeschooling them since I’ve been off work and I love it. I wish I could homeschool them forever but Selah is insisting on going to school with her friends next year. I may give in but I’m keeping Sylas K home with me. High school homeschooling is a blast and he and I both enjoy it. He has really flourished and found a lot of success during this last school year. I can’t wait to watch it continue next school year.

Follow along with us and get to know each of us a little better. We are a family that has faced many hurdles but we always seem to make it through by focusing on laughter and love. Hopefully, we can share a bit of that with you.