The rukristin Story

Who is rukristin: Feminist Scrapbooker? What is my story? How did I wind up here? What the hell is feminist scrapbooking? What do I like about living in Michigan? And what do I miss about home?

What is it like living with two overlapping headache disorders, and what was the journey like figuring that out?

Listen to my podcast story episode on Crafty Ass Female to learn how I've gotten this far in my creative journey.

About Me

I was born and raised in Northern New Jersey, in a small town called North Arlington, in what's called the Meadowlands section of the state. It's where MetLife (formerly Giants Stadium) is located and where most of the Sopranos was filmed.

I currently live in East Lansing, Michigan with my partner Jeff. We moved out here in the summer of 2014 when he was accepted into a Ph.D. program here at Michigan State University.

We live in a lovely midcentury modern home and have an exceptional heirloom tomato and pepper garden. I love cooking homemade food and throwing dinner parties for our friends.

I'm a classic introvert and an INFJ even though I do love being around the right kind of people.

I went to school at Rutgers University and studied Political Science and Women's and Gender Studies.

There, I learned how to learn. I learned my style of learning, leading, and understanding.

Just as college was starting to wind down was when my headaches started to amp up. When my mom got very sick, I didn't finish my last semester, started working for the US Census, and broke up with my seven-year boyfriend of the time -- my life changed drastically.

My story episode of the podcast is one of the first episodes of the show that Amanda and I recorded, so obviously it's a little rough around the edges. We didn't know how to edit well or take pauses and re-gather our thoughts. But it's raw and honest and it's how I got to the person I was at the end of 2017.

If you'd like to know more about who I am, rukristin: Feminist Scrapbooker -- check out one of the first episodes of my podcast. It's a great way to learn more about my backstory.