EMBRACING THE RHYTHM OF SIMPLICITY

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HI THERE!

I'm Monica. Canadian born, Floridian transplant for 16 years, and now in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina. I've been on a wild traveling adventure to bring hope and healing through healthcare while collecting stories that encourage.

I've been a critical care nurse for the last 14 years and nursing has been a unique passport that has taken me around the world. I've worked in central Florida, northern Arizona and southern Oregon, and have had the privilege of volunteering as a nurse in both Kenya and Senegal, Africa.

I took the 2023 year off nursing to intentionally slow down and recover from some difficult years personally and professionally. I've been learning that slowing down feels counter cultural, but in doing it - you'll open yourself up to new and incredible experiences and opportunities. I learned to clean houses and commercial properties; painted and staged home renovations; hiked incredible trails to mountain summits; learned to make sourdough bread and the beginnings of my microbakery; read actual books and worked on courses; started lifting weights and running again; and consistently attended a church and joined a ladies small group to meet new people in my community.

If you dropped into my life on any given day, I'd hope you'd find me in work - creating, studying, and learning many ways to heal with my hands; in worship - singing and writing about Jesus; in play - hiking beautiful mountain trails, keeping my plants alive, and chasing the dawn and dusk light; and healing - body, mind and spirit wholeness.

Thanks for joining me here!

FlowerDough Baking Co.

Homemade sourdough loaves for your table.

Simple ingredients, made with plenty of love.

THE START(ER).

In February 2023, I was newly back in America after living in West Africa on a hospital ship for 6.5 months. It was cold outside and I was craving creativity. Learning to make sourdough bread sounded like it could be a good challenge.

THE QUESTIONS.

After a couple months of comment reading and scrolling online bread groups, I decided to jump in and just try to make a loaf. I'd been babysitting my sourdough starter for 2 months and had even thrown it out a couple times because I was convinced it was "dead". Any sourdough bakers out there? You understand.

THE FIRST BAKE.

How did the first loaf come about? I googled: "easy sourdough bread". And then followed the first recipe that popped up. The blogger promised that this was a foolproof method and "even kids could do it." I figured I was in good hands. So, I made the dough. I baked it. And - it worked! Was it the prettiest loaf you've ever seen? No. Did it taste like bread? Yes! I've upgraded my recipe since then, but this truly was the very beginning!

LOVE AT FIRST BITE.

After that first loaf came out of the oven, a love for creating beautiful and nutritions bread was born. Since then, many loaves have been baked and given away, new flavor combinations tried, and smiles brought to the faces of friends. FlowerDough Baking Co was born!