A second generation Alaskan Mary Jo moved to the Midwest after completing her undergraduate degree in music at Boston University.  After completing two more music  performance degrees in Chicago (Northwestern University, MM & DePaul University Performer’s Certificate) Mary Jo and her husband Mick decided to stay.  Living in apartments got old pretty quick and 10 years after moving to the windy city they were able to purchase their first home, a quintessential Chicago Style Bungalow.

In addition to her full time job as a professional musician Mary Jo has owned and operated businesses in graphics arts and music copying services and opened an Etsy shop in 2011 where she sold handcrafted baby items made from original designs.

In January of 2018 Mary Jo launched This WONDERfilled Life, a blog and Facebook page about the wonderfully crazy life she leads as a musician, mother, community organizer and serious crafter.  Posts range from discussing interesting concerts and musical happenings to offering tutorials and DIY guidance on various crafts and home improvement. Mary Jo hopes this index of her own creative journey will inspire readers to put down the phone or distraction du jour and get up and create something in their own life.