Hi there! Nice to meet you!
I used to have this as part of my about page, but I decided to divide it into two separate pages since it otherwise would be too long. I try to remember to update it regularly, but often forget, so if you see that this information is out of date, send me an email and I’ll hopefully get around to updating it. This is accurate as of February 2025.
My pseudonym is Penny Price. For various reasons, I use a pseudonym on my blog. I don’t share where I live or certain details about myself. People have accused me of being ashamed of who I am for not including these details, but it’s none of those things. There are certain things, that, if I wrote about them on this blog, would distract from what we have in common and my blog would be more of a foreign culture blog rather than something the average American could relate to. It was a very specific choice I made when I started my blog, and it’s one I don’t regret for even a moment.
I’m 37 years old, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and my family moved abroad when I was 16 to the country where I currently reside. At 17, I moved back to the U.S. and lived in New York City. Then, at 18, I moved abroad again and got married shortly after. My country of residence is a non-English-speaking country.
I was married for 12 years until I separated, then 2½ years later got divorced. I’ve now been divorced for nearly 4 years.
I love reading; my favorite genre is fantasy, with science fiction being a close runner-up, but I’ll really read anything if I’m bored enough. Brandon Sanderson is my favorite author. My favorite nonfiction author is Brené Brown, and her book The Gifts of Imperfection has changed my life. I am a big science fiction and fantasy fan in movies and shows as well; I’m a Trekkie (everything except the original series, sorry), a Stargate fan, and a Star Wars nerd. I’m also a big fan of The Good Place and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
I love action movies as well; my favorite movies of all time are Edge of Tomorrow and Déjà Vu. I’m really, really, really into music and have different playlists to suit different moods. I have different favorite artists depending on my mood, but the big ones are AJR, Imagine Dragons, OneRepublic, P!nk, Sophie Pecora, and Anson Seabra.
My two biggest loves, though, are traveling and adventure, as well as exploring different cuisines. For years I didn’t travel because I was short on cash and domestic travel was expensive, but then I discovered how I could travel abroad cheaply, and since then, it has been my favorite thing to do — something I crave. I’ve blogged about my trips here, hoping to inspire others that you, too, can travel without a big budget. I also love exploring cuisines from around the world and trying to recreate foods from far-off places, even if I haven’t managed to visit them in person.
I am definitely out of the box. I love wearing T shirts with snarky sayings and have a whole collection of them. In my mind I have blue streaked hair, even if currently I’m behind on my dying schedule and the blue has faded.
I have a sensitive stomach and have been off gluten and oats for the past 14 years. I eat very minimal dairy and avoid eggs in most forms. I’ve also tried the Paleo diet and felt really good on it. For that reason, many of the recipes here on my blog are suitable for various diets, especially gluten-free, vegan (since they contain neither dairy nor eggs), and Paleo.
About 8 years ago, I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and complex PTSD. Earlier this year, I shared my diagnosis on my blog in an attempt to break stigmas, educate people, and hopefully help others. Fortunately, there haven’t been the negative repercussions I had feared.
Five and a half years ago, after a fall while ice skating, I started having chronic severe back pain. Four years ago, I was officially diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and, more recently, with POTS. These conditions affect my life significantly and have made it harder to do some of the more frugal things I used to do, but I still do what I can.
As for my kids…
Lee is my oldest, at 17 years old. While in high school, he completed an intensive program where he learned programming and cybersecurity. He graduated early this past May from an English-speaking high school and is now working in a cybersecurity company as a full-stack developer until he gets drafted to the local army next year.
Ike is next, at 15. He was diagnosed at the age of 7 with autism, but after spending several years in a special ed program for kids with autism, most people now have a hard time believing he was ever diagnosed. He switched to the same English-speaking high school as Lee at the beginning of this school year for tenth grade. He is currently in the same programming and cybersecurity program that Lee completed. He is a voracious reader like I am, and we enjoy discussing our favorite author, Brandon Sanderson, together.
Anneliese is 13 years old and in 7th grade. She is a very talented artist, both in drawing and painting. She has a beautiful singing voice and is also a talented makeup artist. She loves fashion and anime. (She doesn’t allow me to write more than this.)
Rose is my youngest daughter. She’s 11 years old and, like her sister, is incredibly artistic and talented in multiple areas, including drawing, painting, and making three-dimensional clay models. She’s also naturally athletic and has been chosen to be part of a special gymnastics team connected to her school. She is currently teaching herself digital illustration.
Our dog, Snickers, is a mix between a border collie, Labrador, and a corgi. She is 8 years old and is incredibly sweet, gentle, and calm. We love her to bits. We’re sad that she’s getting older and hope she has a really, really long and healthy life.
Well, that’s us!
Nice to meet you!
