How This One Life began.
I'm Maria — a writer for as long as I can remember, married to John for almost thirty years. We raised three kids between the Texas Hill Country and the coast, and somewhere in there we started opening our homes to people we love.
We're both nature-and-family people from different maps. John grew up between a farm in Nebraska, the California coast, and Fort Worth; I grew up on the lakes and trails of the Hill Country, with summers on the Texas coast. Loving him taught me that love can bridge two people from worlds apart who turn out to be the same at heart.
We met as Longhorns at UT Austin when I was nineteen. I never pictured a ranch of our own back then — let alone two longhorns named Admiral and General. We just feel lucky to share what we love: family, home, and a little wild.
We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19
The small things, done with love.
A note on the letter board. Roses from the garden on the table. Cleaning done with gentle care. We call it Con Amor — with love — and it's the whole point: the little things, done with care, are what people actually remember.
It's how we host, how I write, and how we hope to live.
Stories & Stays
Stories
Essays about presence, family, and paying attention — and a children's book, Goodbye Today. The writing is where it all starts.
Read the stories →
Stays
Three homes across the Hill Country and the coast, kept ready for the people we love. Hospitality is our heart on our sleeve, shared.
See the homes →Family photographs by Michele Anderson of Pinkletoes Photography. Nature & dark-sky photography by Mallory Davis Photography.
Join the family.
A letter when there's something worth saying — never noise.
Join the family