A number of you all have been asking recently, “Who is this Brigette person who posts her grocery posts every week?” She’s actually my very talented older sister and I asked her if she could write a post introducing herself and her family this week so you could know who the person is behind the grocery posts! -Crystal
Hi there! I’m Brigette Shevy, and my claim to fame is that I am Crystal’s older sister. She and I both love couponing, saving money, and getting a good deal. I’ve been doing grocery posts on her blog for a few years now, and several of you have been curious to know more about my family. So here you go!
I’ve been married to Eirik, the love of my life, for 13 1/2 years. We are exact opposites in almost every area!
He has a master’s degree in church music/voice, and currently works as an elementary music teacher at a public school in South Carolina. He also works part-time as the music pastor at our church.
Eirik is funny, outgoing, confident, opinionated, and the life of every party! When he’s not working, he is busy being an awesome husband and dad! He can fix, remodel, or build just about anything. And he’s an avid bow hunter (hello, free meat!).
I’m a stay-at-home mom and love (almost) every minute of it. I homeschool our four children, and feel so blessed to have my dream job! I have a master’s degree in music composition – I play piano and harp, and write music for The Wilds.
I am also very involved with the music at our church, as well as helping my children keep up with their practicing and performing. My other passions include close friends and heart-to-heart talks, long-distance running, freshly ground coffee, and any kind of chocolate!
I love baking, gardening, home decorating, shopping, and hanging out with my friends and family. I’m quiet and reserved (until I feel comfortable around you!), and a little bit moody. 😉
And yes, my hair is naturally this blonde – but once you meet me…you wouldn’t need to ask. Ha!
Cadence is 12 going on 21! She’s an amazingly talented violinist, and is currently concertmistress of the Preparatory Youth Orchestra of Charlotte.
She’s been teaching piano and violin lessons for 2 years. Since God knew I was going to only have one daughter, He made sure she loved ALL the girly things.
I now have a fashionista in the home who tries to help me with my makeup and clothes. She’s also a huge help with her younger brothers.
Hudson is my academic child. He excels at every subject in school, and is a nerd in the best sense of the word!
He also plays violin and piano and has read every single book at our public library that’s on the “parent-approved/age-appropriate” list. Well, almost.
Hudson enjoys hunting with Eirik and riding his hoverboard. He inherited my blonde hair, and my shy personality – but at 10 years old, he’s making the best of it. 😉
Jaron is my passionate kid with the loud, daring personality. He does everything BIG, and the fact that he’s still alive after 8 years is a testimony to God’s mercy!
I have more unbelievable stories about him than all my other children combined. He grudgingly practices piano and trumpet everyday, and also lets me know every.single.day how much he doesn’t enjoy it.
He wants to be a gold miner or a video gamer when he grows up…not sure how that’s going to work out for him.
Clayton is our wonderful surprise baby! He is always happy and laid back, and he is quick to make people laugh.
It’s hard to believe he just turned 5! He has been playing the violin for a few months, and is quite the little musician. He’s obsessed with coloring, legos, riding his bike, and giving hugs. I couldn’t ask for an easier child!
As a family – if we aren’t doing something music-related – we enjoy church activities, hiking, swimming, board games, food, movies, travelling, reading, and having people over to our house. We even attempt sports, but as a whole, we aren’t very coordinated. Our house is loud and crazy, and we love God most of all — I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Thank you for introducing yourself and your family. I always enjoy your posts!
Thank you so much!
Love it! What a sweet family. Thank you!
You are so welcome!
Thank you for introducing yourself and your family. I love seeing your post😉! It was nice learning about you and your family. We have lots of things in common😉.
What a beautiful family. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome! 🙂
What a beautiful family, and I love how you give God the glory! Sounds like we’re in the same area (we’re just over the Charlotte border, in SC)
Oh wow! We are super close, then. We live about 20 minutes from the NC border (Carowinds ;)) in Rock Hill. Neat!
Nice to hear about you and your family after seeing your name on here for a few years. Thanks for the post!
You’re so welcome!
You do such a great job making nutritious meals! I enjoy seeing what you’ve purchased and now that I know you’re in my area (I’m in Ballantyne) then I can look for the same deals!👍🏼
God has blessed you with a very talented family. Will pray that God continues to bless you all as you minister to others for him. Thank you for sharing.
Awww – thank you SO much!
This is such a lovely introduction to you and your family! I too appreciate reading your shopping/menu plans. And wow! The family resemblance is amazing for both you and your children!
So are you saying you think Crystal/me look alike, as well as our children? I definitely see resemblances…the Smisor genes are strong. 🙂
My daughter is also a pianist and harpist. She is currently working on her degree in Harp performance. She is our only girl with 4 boys, so I know what you mean about the girly girl thing. We also homeschooled and I would not change anything about it.
I have found that some of my kids are very musical, while one, no matter how hard he trys just does not have a musical bone in him. Give him a ball and he can do amazing things:)
Love seeing your post, and finally getting to know a little about you and your family.
How neat! It sounds like you and I have alot in common! Where is your daughter going to school?
I never comment but I always enjoy your grocery hauls and couponing trips. It is so nice to know about your wonderful family..
Well, I’m thrilled you decided to comment! 🙂 Thank you!!
I’d like to know at what age a girl could start violin and/or piano.
I (personal opinion!) think that piano needs to wait until their hands are big enough to comfortably stretch out one-finger-per-key. Usually this is around 5-6 years old. It’s great to start music education/appreciation/etc before that age, though. And it’s completely fine to wait until the 8-10 years old range too. Usually those kids catch on/catch up pretty quickly to the ones who started earlier.
Violin can be started MUCH earlier. They make tiny little violins, so you don’t have to wait until the fingers are big enough! Some people start violin as early as 18 months! (or even earlier). Our kids didn’t start until they were older, though, and they have made rapid progress. We did start my youngest on violin when he was 4, and he has done amazing. HOWEVER, I also HAVE to practice with him everyday, and I sit through every lesson. There’s absolutely no way I could send him in his room and tell him to practice on his own! So it’s a big commitment for the parent when you start at an early age.
All that to say – you have to make decisions based on your family, your child, the amount of time you want to commit, etc. Hope this helps!
Hi Bridgitte! I’ve enjoyed your posts for a long time and was excited to read that you play the piano and harp – so do I!! I love the harp; hands-down my favorite instrument between the two. Thanks for stopping by to introduce yourself!
Oh WOW! Sooo cool! There aren’t too many harpists out there. What kind of harp do you play? And what kinds of music do you enjoy playing?
I just realized I butchered the spelling of your name! Sorry about that!! 🙂
Not a big deal – My mom decided to go with some unusual French spelling of it, and then I married a person who spells his name “Eirik.” So I guess we’re a perfect match! 😉 My name is spelled wrong 90% of the time, and it’s all good!
So nice to know who is behind the posts. Maybe you and Chrystal could do a podcast together and give listeners a little peek into growing up together, family values, music in the family…?
What do you say, Crystal???! Ha! I WILL tell you that Crystal and I were always best buddies growing up – I can count the total arguments we’ve EVER had on one hand. And my mom can vouch for this! 😉
I second this!!!
What a lovely family you have! Thanks for the great introduction. Hopefully we’ll see more posts written by you in the future. Looks like great writing skills run in the family!
Awww, you are too kind! I definitely don’t have the same kind of writing skills that Crystal does – but I appreciate you taking time to read. Thank you for the encouragement!
I loved this post! I always wondered about Brigette (from the grocery posts).
You have a beautiful family!!!
You are so sweet – thank you!
Thanks for the introduction! I appreciate your grocery and meal planning posts!
Thank you so much!
Crazy small world. I went to college with Dustin and Scarlett and then we worked together on Guam for a couple of years. I’ve been following the blog for awhile now. I saw the name Shevy and thought, “How many Shevy’s can there be in this world?” I was right.
How cool! Dustin and Scarlett are the best!!
My daughters who are now 38 and 36 were playing your piano arrangements ages ago. You must have been quite young when you wrote them! My daughter and son-in-law also have music degrees they got at Bob Jones, which must be where you got yours. I’m basing that on BJU’s connection to the Wilds.
Awww, that’s so neat! I love hearing things like that. I am 40 now – so I guess that means I started getting things published about 20 years ago…which makes me old. 😉 Ha! I got my undergrad from Wichita State University, and my grad degree from BJU. I may have even been at BJ at the same time as your daughter/son-in-law!
Thanks Brigette. So nice to put a face to the post I read.
You’re welcome! 🙂
So neat to read your story. My daughter plays the piano for our church and is going to the Wilds this summer as part of her senior trip. I’ll tell her to watch for your music! Do you produce sheet music arrangements?
Oh, I know she will love the Wilds! That’s so exciting. )
Yes, I have a number of sheet music arrangements.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about you and your family! It’s hard to imagine they are as old as they are, but not surprised by their talents. Miss you guys at ICBC!
Aww, we miss ICBC too. So many happy memories!
Thank you for your posts. It is very nice to meet you. I think you and Crystal look a lot alike. 🙂
Jennifer
Thank you – that’s definitely a compliment! 🙂 Yes, I see sister resemblances as well!
Hi Brigette! Hard to believe your youngest is five. We just had our third-in October and our oldest is 5 in a week.
Hey! I remember being pregnant together – and kind of sad that our “babies” are already 5! Congratulations on #3!
she attends Baldwin Wallace in Ohio
Love The Wilds! My daughter is in their C.A.M.P. program right now. So probably sings some of your songs. Small world.
Oooh, so cool! 🙂 What a great opportunity for her!
So nice to “meet” your family. I have met you at the Wilds during one of the music conferences! My husband and I love your music!
I also sat beside your mom at the last Wild’s music conference during a meal. She was so very sweet and encouraging!
Thank you so much!
That was definitely my mom – she is ALWAYS super sweeet and encouraging! 🙂 So glad you got to meet her.
So nice to learn more about your family, Brigette! I play the piano and have played some of your arrangements for church offertories. You are certainly talented. I remember long ago (maybe a decade ago?) Crystal posting a photo of her family or maybe just her with her sisters, and I saw you and thought, hey, that’s the same Brigette from my piano arrangement book! ; )
I am glad to hear you say that it’s ok for kids to wait till they’re a little older to start music. I really want my kids to learn piano, and one would think that because I’m a pianist, they would be super advanced already. Well, they are 11 and 9, and still at the beginner level. At school, they have an amazing music class, so I hope that with all the music knowledge they are learning, they will pick up piano quicker when we start again.
I know the things they are learning in school will be a big help in jumpstarting their piano skills! I didn’t really start piano lessons until college (had some scattered lessons from a few teachers over the years, but nothing substantial) – and I still majored in it in undergrad. So your kids are just babies. 😉
I enjoyed your post! What a beautiful family. I earned a BM in piano performance from Bob Jones in 2007. I remember meeting you once in passing….maybe through mutual friends Allison and Annalisa Borg, perhaps? Anyway, I stumbled upon your sister’s blog recently and love it. My new favorite thing in life is listening to her podcast while I work out (and yes, you should do a podcast with her sometime!).
Oh yes – I remember the Borgs, so we probably did meet that way! I’m so glad you’re loving the podcast. 🙂
Great introduction! I love hearing families who homeschool. I never would have thought about it before my daughter who is two. Each kid is such an individual like you described yours and schools can’t always accommodate that… along with the faith piece.
Your family is awesome! Keep it up!
I call myself a homemaker and I wouldn’t choose it any other way. It is a fantastic and fulfilling job. I like your grocery hauls and meal plans. The Aldi prices in your area are a lot lower than mine here in Illinios, which seem to me that they match grocery store prices to a large extent, but I do appreciate the simple concept of how you work out the shopping and meal planning. Thank you!
I was reading this and thought, “Wait a minute. . . . Is this the same Brigette Shevy who wrote some of the piano arrangements I played in college.” And it is! And then I realized that meant you are Dustin Shevy’s brother in law. I took a bunch of classes with him at Maranatha. And Mr. Kolwinska (Jessica’s dad) was my English professor. What a small world!
Brigette,
Life is so full of so many wonderful things, one of them being the moments I take now and then to see Crystal’s blog – hey, one doesn’t have to have kids at home any longer to take advantage of some of the deals she mentions – and then I stumbled on this fabulous update of your family. I enjoy your parent’s annual holiday updates as well, but this was much more in depth regarding your particular family. I have enjoyed your music as well with an CD from Christmas that your mom shared with me a few years back. Love seeing the ways God has grown up so many wonderful people from the days when I knew you all as children.
Thanks for introducing yourself. I love to look at your menu plans, but I always wondered who you were. It’s nice to know the connection. You have a beautiful family!
I came here to say just how very impressed I am with the grocery photos. The OCD in me gets a real kick in seeing it. All beautifully arranged and in order!! Every single time! Lord! You do have real patience. As for me, once I am done with grocery shopping, I am happy if I get it all to fit in the fridge/freezer.
You have a lovely family! The kids are blessed to have each other and the wonderful cousins. Also, Thanks for making it ok to be quiet and sometimes moody as a person.
God Bless you all!
We absolutely love The Wilds and the beautiful music! I met Matt and Christy back in March.
Read this post..lovely family. I am seeing you mentioned The Wilds..is that the camp in Brevard, NC? Our school had their regional conventions there for many years…ACE. Brevard is about an hour from us..one of our favorite towns! And my cousin lives in Rock Hill…very nice area. Your family and you! are very talented..what a blessing!
Thank you for your introduction, Brigette! I enjoy your family recipe posts.