About

Welcome to The Casual Perfectionist!

JER Headshot 01.2010

JoAnn

This is JoAnn. She’s the creator of The Casual Perfectionist.  (She doesn’t like talking in the third person, so let’s just pretend this was written by someone else, okay?  It will be our little secret.)

Her Twitter ID is: @casualperfect.
You can contact her directly by email at: joann @ casualperfect.com

The Casual Perfectionist was born in 2007, when JoAnn decided to start a blog. She wanted a creative outlet for her writing that would also give her an easy way to chronicle their forays into parenthood and share their adventures with their relatives back in the Midwest. At the time, she was in the midst of juggling a baby while working from a home office, and writing was one of the ways she was able to find some semblance of sanity. In 2008, JoAnn had the opportunity to quit her “real job” and focus on parenting and writing, two of her passions.

JoAnn has combined these two passions here at The Casual Perfectionist. She is a self-proclaimed perfectionist, but doesn’t consider herself to be the stuffy, up-tight kind. She’s more of a casual perfectionist, hence the name of her website. She tries her hardest to focus on the positive, learn from the negative, and laugh at both. In fact, she is a firm believer in the notion that if you haven’t laughed today, you weren’t really paying attention.

Claire

This is Claire. She is six, going on sixteen, with a little bit of thirty-six thrown in for good measure.  She loves ballet, karate, art, and magic. She has the makings for being a true Renaissance Ninja.  You can read all about the day she came into this world by clicking here.

Daddy

Claire and Daddy

This is Daddy. He’s the one in the hat.  He has requested that his image and real name not be used on the website. He’s shy. Or, just elusive and mysterious. But, really, he’s just disappointed that he even shows up on film.

Merlin and Jasper

This is Merlin and Jasper. They are brothers from the same litter but have totally different personalities. They have written some wonderful pieces on the website. They are fun and quirky and rambunctious. Claire couldn’t ask for better big brothers.

The three of us in shadows

Three shadows on the edge at The Grand Canyon

One of my favorite Winter Scenes - see the header above!

A favorite Winter Scene

...and when we get tired of looking at the snow, we post one from the beach!

...and when we get tired of looking at the snow, we post one from the beach!

We love Shadow Portraits. JoAnn and her husband have been in Colorado for over a decade, and they love it! When they aren’t working on their various home-improvement projects, they love to travel and have other adventures.  In the midst of all that, they love to do Shadow Portraits.  They collect them at different times of year and in different locations.  There is something magical about shadow portraits, and you can read all about them here!

Claire holding the sun

About the Header. Not only have we played with the shadows, we’ve played with the sun.  A friend took this photo of Claire when they were all in Cozumel, Mexico in November of 2011.