Recent Posts

pvc camp sink/dishwashing station

Tutorial: How to Make a Camp Sink/Dishwashing Station with PVC (In Three Easy Steps!)

Dreading washing up after camp meals? This sink/dishwashing station, based on one I used with girl scouts as a kid, makes it easy!
book cover of This Is Where You Belong by Melody Warnick featuring yellow and white text on a red background with line drawings of houses in the between

Book Review: This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live by Melody Warnick

How many times have you moved? Do you wish you had deeper roots? In this book, Warnick explains that if you want to love your town, act like someone who loves your town. See my book club questions!
Anzac bridge in Sydney, Australia on a sunny day

The Learning Edge: Independence Outside My Comfort Zone (Study Abroad #5)

To grow and change, we need to reach our limits and push beyond them. Being abroad was one big out-of-my-comfort-zone adventure—on campus, exploring Sydney, and beyond—and here's what I learned.
Jacqueline stands at a metal railing at a trailhead in the Blue Mountains, Australia, overlooking the steep hills and the three pillars of rock known as the Three Sisters

How My Phoneless Semester Reminded Me To Stay Present: Life Isn't All Digital (Study Abroad #4)

Phones connect us to the not-present. But the present is where we are. Here's why, and how, a semester without a phone showed me the best of putting my phone away to attend to what's in front of me.
the skyline of Sydney, Australia across the water of the bay, the famous opera house on the right

Finding a Voice Down Under: A Short History of My Blogging Career (Study Abroad #3)

I started writing my first blog while abroad in 2009. Here's why I began, what I enjoyed about blogging, and the key reasons I continue now.
an inlet of bright blue water in sharp red-brown rocks at royal national park in sydney, australia, bordered by round green trees

The Necessity of Solitude and Reflection in Learning (Study Abroad #2)

Learning can have a cyclic nature from experiencing, to reviewing and reflecting, to learning from the experience, to planning for future experiences. Here's how that cycle played out for me while abroad.
part of the Quadrangle at Sydney University, a sandstone building in the Victorian Academic Gothic Revival style

Seeking Growth: Why I Decided to Study Abroad in College (Study Abroad #1)

Vassar's campus was a happy green bubble—but a predictable bubble. Outside the bubble, the unpredictable heralded change, learning, and personal growth.
toddler holding a magnifying glass up to her eye and looking up at the sky

How Curiosity Helps Children Build a Habit of Attention

Want your children to engage deeply with the world? Here's how to help them build a habit of deep attention and keep their curiosity intact.

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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

Start here

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.