Recent Posts

close up of embroidered flowers on black fabric

Modern Quality: Where Do We Get Beautiful Things?

If you go to any major store, most of the stuff you can buy is cheaply made and ugly. Why? Quality and beauty make us happier and healthier. Where can we find them?
three pen line drawings of trees in a black matte frame, on the left a joshua tree, in the middle an olive tree, on the right a palm tree

Why Homemade Gifts Are My Goto

The best gifts truly delight the recipient—whether you give something homemade or not. Here are examples of gifts I've given and ideas you can use.
top down view of evergreen advent wreath with four tall ribbon-wrapped candles, one pink and three purple

Making Our Own Advent Wreath (Inexpensive and Beautiful!)

A fast and easy Advent wreath for our dining room table that uses dollar store candles, leftover ribbon, tree trimmings, and found pine cones.
sun setting behind clouds hills silhouetted

Freedom Through Constraints: Why Submitting to Rules and Tradition Helps Me Improve

I used to think I had to understand the reasons for rules before accepting and following them. Here's why I was wrong—and how tradition, history, and rules can help you, too.
the cloisters at gloucester cathedral: the intersection of two long stone hallways lined with windows, stained glass, and elaborate archways

Recovering Beauty in Modern Life

Beauty is vital to humans, but there's a breakdown of beauty in present culture—in architecture, art, music, more. Why? How can we recover and cultivate beauty?
Hardcover edition of the book Live Not By Lies by Rod Dreher

Book Review: Live Not by Lies by Rod Dreher: A Manual for Christian Dissidents

This book argues that communist totalitarianism is coming to America, soon, and we have to prepare now if we're going to survive. But Dreher isn't nearly worried enough.
Paperback copy of the book The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher

Book Review: The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation

This book presents a strategy for Christians living in a post-Christian nation: namely, that we've lost the culture war and need to focus on preserving the light.
Priests in red and gold celebrate a traditional Latin Mass

Discovering the Traditional Catholic Mass

How I discovered the traditional Latin Mass a few years ago, why that discovery changed everything for me, and what was wrong with the Novus Ordo Masses I'd attended.

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About

We're Jacqueline and Randy, a blogging duo with backgrounds in tech, robots, art, and writing, now raising our family in northern Idaho.

Our goal is to encourage deliberate choices, individual responsibility, and lifelong curiosity by sharing stories about our adventures in living, loving, and learning.

Learn more about us.


Connect:

whoo@deliberateowl.com

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Curious about our life and journey? Here are some good places to start reading:

Jacqueline and Randy leaning their heads together smiling at the camera

A Blog About Education, Lifestyles, and Community

A brief history of how the Deliberate Owl came to be and why we're writing a blog about us, our lives, and how we're living out our values.
Priests in red and gold celebrate a traditional Latin Mass

Discovering the Traditional Catholic Mass

How I discovered the traditional Latin Mass a few years ago, why that discovery changed everything for me, and what was wrong with the Novus Ordo Masses I'd attended.