“She was beautiful, but not like those girls in the magazines. She was beautiful, for the way she thought. She was beautiful, for the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about something she loved. She was beautiful, for her ability to make other people smile, even if she was sad. No, she wasn't beautiful for something as temporary as her looks. She was beautiful, deep down to her soul. She is beautiful.” 
- F. Scott Fitzgerald

I'm Kelly Isabelle.

In November 2012 my world pretty much fell apart.  The spiritual order I had given my all to split at the seams.  This divide unearthed things I knew I had to gain distance from in order to see more clearly.  This awareness launched my exit plan and prompted my family's search for an identity of our own and for a slower simpler experience of life together.  Our journey returned us near our place of origin in the Midwest where we are beginning to put down roots.  We have fittingly named our rural Wisconsin farmstead The Nurturing Hearth, a name that inspires and informs who and how we want to be in our shared home.

Kelly is the name I was given at birth and reclaimed after leaving the order.  Isabelle is the name I was ordained with in 2003. Both are an integral part of who I am today.  Embracing them has been a rich part of my healing process and has supported me in moving forward and in creating my life anew.  

Inside us all is a story waiting to be told.  This is mine.  We all have reason to be here in this wildly chaotic but magnificently ordered phenomena we call life.  I have spent far too many a year looking around admiring the lives others have been working hard to live well.  These writings and photos reveal the wild and wonderfulness of my own journey through life and the quieter musings of my heart.  I share them with you in attempt to inspire transparency and a willingness to embrace and share the unique beauty of your own too.  I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I have enjoyed writing them!  

want to know more?