About Me

Hi, I'm Tara. I haven't always been a bush mama, though I suppose she's been hiding deep down all along, waiting to come out.

I grew up in southwestern Ontario, where I eventually abandoned a degree in English Literature to work as a barmaid in Dawson City, Yukon, for a summer. Like so many, I fell in love with the territory and this small town and its quirky, tight-knit community. A failed attempt to "stay the winter" led me back to my parents' house with my tail between my legs. But I am persistent, and the following Spring 2006 I made my way back up, and have lived here ever since.

Two years ago, I began dating P. We had a wonderful time getting together twice a week for dinner or drinks, or taking romantic weekend getaway trips to Whitehorse. It was simple and easy and after about 8 months, we had a conversation about how nice things were between us; we would never mess it up by moving in together or having kids.

Five days later, on vacation in Mexico, I found out I was pregnant.

We thought that this little person-in-the-making had beat some pretty tough odds to take hold, and so we decided to dive headfirst into a huge, life-altering adventure. We moved in together, and in September 2011, had a beautiful boy we call Aedan.

We live on 5 mostly forested acres along the Dempster highway, about 40 kilometers south of Dawson City, with two crazy little dogs and the occasional bear, wolf or lynx that might wander through. We've begun to clear some of our land, and next summer I plan to add a big vegetable garden and some chickens to the mix. We generate our own power, heat our home with a woodstove, and haul our water in 5 gallon blue jugs.

While P runs the infamous Westminster Hotel and Bar in town, I have renounced the barmaid's life to raise our son, plant a garden, pick berries, cook from scratch, knit, read, write, walk the dogs...and blog about it all.