Last Updated: 09/26/2024

Hey there! My name is Jen and fair warning: I've lived a bit of a, ahem, unique life. Long story short(ish):

Born on December 25, 1974, in Baltimore, Maryland, where I continue to live to this day, my childhood was both conventional and very much not. It suffices to say, though, that I graduated high school feeling a bit lost. I did attend the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University for three semesters to study piano, but ultimately decided it just wasn't for me.

Around the same time, I started dating my now-husband Dave and in 1995, he suggested we post some nude photos of me online, just for kicks. I was still trying to wrap my head around what the internet even was then, but I said, "Sure!"

That first posting on Usenet led to things quickly snowballing in a way I never could have imagined. Up until then, I had worked a series of jobs in food service, retail, and offices, but within a few months, I was running my own online business full-time.

It was a crazy, wild time around the turn of the century but as they always do, eventually, things changed... especially once I gave birth to twins in 2005. In addition, Dave has two children from a previous marriage who came to live with us full-time when the twins were around 18 months old. It should come as no surprise that I was pretty lost in the fog of motherhood for several years.

I did make many attempts at keeping the old business going, and even starting some new projects. I designed some websites for friends and family and was big into mommy-blogging for a while. However, my income dwindled more and more with every passing year.

When I finally decided to try and get back into the workforce, finding a good job proved to be somewhere between difficult and impossible. I was helping out in the cafeteria of the twins' elementary school when a spot opened up in the rental office of the apartment complex that we've lived in since 1996.

I worked there for almost six years but quit back in March of 2024. There were a lot of reasons, but primarily I had been neglecting my health, both mental and physical, in favor of taking care of everyone else. Cliche but true.

Luckily, I find myself in a very different phase of my life now. Everyone is grown and doing pretty well now so I'm taking this time to heal and figure out what to do with the rest of my life.

My old website at Jen-Dave.com is still around. It's not quite what it was back in the day, but it's still there and even continues to bring in a little money.

I also have a dark alter ego that I have fun with at JennyDreadful.com.

I would like to do more, though, so I've started a Substack for my writing and as a way to keep in touch with everyone. (I'm also on Medium.)

Thank you for reading and I hope you'll follow me for whatever comes next!