About Me

Photo by Kaylee Jean Photography near Tampa, FL

November 2020

Hello!  Welcome to A Novel Pursuit!  My name is Ava Kinsey and I live in Memphis, TN, with my husband Robert and our preteen daughter Gracie.

I have loved books and learning for as long as I can remember and one of my greatest desires is to pass that love on to my daughter.  I have homeschooled Gracie since her K4 year and have loved (almost) every minute of it!  A lot has changed in the last 6 years:  we went from using an all-in-one box curriculum to slowly branching out to other materials that are a better fit for us.

Thanks to my mom and her love for books and learning, I grew up being surrounded by books; it was an unstated fact that each of her children would go to college.  I taught myself to read at the age of 4 or 5 on the lap of my mother who read to me daily.  I then became an avid reader after discovering that there was a book about my favorite TV show Little House on the Prairie; to this day, I love all things Laura and pioneer-related!  However, I discovered a love for science in high school, thanks to my chemistry teacher, Mrs. Carole Phillips, and started off majoring in Chemistry at the University of Southern Mississippi.  The Lord led me to a great on-campus job working for a husband-wife team, Drs. John and Angela Bedenbaugh, who developed resources for high school chemistry teachers.  It wasn't long before I decided to change my major to Science Education.  After teaching science at a public school in North Mississippi, I began teaching everything but high school Bible at my church's Christian school in a one-room school with 12 students ranging from 2nd to 12th grades.  After attending a Bible college in Indiana, I met my husband (who started going to my church after I'd moved to Indiana) who courted me by email and phone, mixed in with a few trips up North for a year before we were married at my then home church.  We had Gracie two years later, and we are so thankful for her!  I can't say that I always knew that I would homeschool her, but it wasn't a difficult thing to get into.  I truly feel like all of my education and life's experiences have been for the goal of teaching my daughter who is my favorite student!

I also enjoy traveling.  I have had the opportunity to visit Germany and I've lived in four different geographic regions (the Deep South, the Mid-South, California, and Northwest Indiana).  My daughter and I both dream of going to New York City someday.  I also want to take her to Chicago and all over California (before it drops off into the ocean or implodes due to crazy politics).  My husband wants to visit the Grand Canyon someday and we both want to go to Washington, D.C.

We are heavily involved in our church, Calvary Baptist Church of Memphis, TN.  My husband works in security, and my daughter is involved in everything available for kids (Kids for Christ, Children's Choir, Sunday School, and Junior Church).  I get to snuggle babies in nursery every Sunday morning during Sunday School and once a month during other services.  I also help my pastor's wife with her projects including our brand-new homeschool co-op!  I also help produce magazine updates for the GEMS missionary organization that is headquartered at our church.

Thank you again for visiting A Novel Pursuit!  I hope you enjoy your visit.  Please feel free to leave comments or email me with feedback and ideas.

Our Family Photo taken for the Church Directory, February 2021

I did not want to take my photo that day because I forgot about it and had gone to church with wet hair.  My daughter is not actually as tall as me yet.  I was tired and was leaning which makes me look shorter.