Ellyn von Huben is a native of Wisconsin, and has never lived more than five miles from the shores of Lake Michigan. She holds a degree in art history from Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois. Married just a month after graduation, Ellyn devoted many years to motherhood and family life, emerging as a matriarch of a family of eight (plus a few extras who have found a home in her heart), flophouse concierge, and headmistress of an extremely exclusive school (i.e., a homeschooling mom whose home always had room for one more). Fascinated with the Catholic faith since her childhood, Ellyn, along with her husband and four children, was received into the Catholic Church in May of 1988. Never one to keep her opinions to herself, her interests in the Church, family life, and an eclectic array of topics led her to branch out into blogging, writing, and speaking. Ellyn lives in the suburbs of Chicago, and still has her ‘day job’ as an administrative assistant in a large Catholic parish on Chicago’s North Shore.