Meet Stef

I'm so glad you're here! 

This is my little corner of the internet where I have been blogging since 2015 as a way to keep family and friends updated about our adventures. Previously known as What's Up Buttarcup, I am a Denver-based lifestyle blogger. All things that I love and feel passionate about (God, family, travel, holiday fun, interior design, fashion, beauty, and more) will surely end up on the blog and I hope to inspire you and maybe entertain you along the way.

Everyone's story has ups and downs... here is a little snapshot into my life. 

My mom owned and ran a music performing arts studio, so I grew up in music and theatre. I grew up singing, dancing, acting and I loved the stage and performing. In my elementary years, my dad was transferred from Colorado to Kansas. We lived in Kansas for four years and during that time our family was going through some hardships no one would know of from the outside.

By the end of this four year stretch in Kansas, my parents divorced, we got rid of our family dog and my mom and I went back to Colorado. I went from living primarily with my dad, to living with my mom in a tiny apartment. This move was incredibly difficult.

As an awkward and uncomfortable teen in high school, I was a theatre geek and struggled to find my people after that move (winter of my sophomore year of high school). By the time I hit junior year of high school I was lonely, quiet, and felt like an outcast. I had a teacher who asked me about my life and then he encouraged me to audition for choir and for the high school poms team. I just knew I wouldn't make it because even though I had been in and out of dance since I could remember, but knew I didn't have the proper training to make the team, let alone dance at a competitive level. 

I somehow got the courage to audition and... I made the team! It felt like a miracle and I was beyond excited to dance my senior year of high school. I am forever grateful for this teacher taking time to sit, talk and encourage me to do the things I loved. His guidance changed my life. Being a part of my high school poms dance team brought structure, friends, and my first love back into my life: dance. 

My senior year I was one of the lead roles in the high school musical, along side the other lead role who was my best friend. We were on poms together, in the musical together and this friendship was the most important friendship I would ever make. We knew each other in elementary school! But our tight friendship was formed that year on poms and we are still best friends to this day. Later in life this friend and her husband become the godparents to my children.

Senior year was filled with Friday night football games, new friendships, competitions on the weekend and loads of team-bonding that forever changed me. There was a lot of joy that year. 

I was in love with dance and felt my freest and happiest when at practice or performing. As senior was coming to an end, I wondered "what now"? My dance coach encouraged me to audition for a professional dance team. I thought she was crazy! That was a dream too big to even admit out loud. But by the time I was a freshman in college, I auditioned for the Denver Nuggets Dancers. I didn't make it. I was young (18!) and remembered being a little 8 year old girl watching those dancers from the stadium and daydreaming of being one of those dancers.

I was in college and paying my own way through with little side jobs (nannying, teaching preschool ballet, etc) when I made my first professional dance team before turning 19. I made the Colorado Mammoth Wildbunch Dancers (NLL) and was thrilled! I was so excited to make this team and this experience was the start of a long career of professional dancing, which shaped who I am today.  

The next year I decided to audition for Denver Nuggets Dancers (NBA) again and after some better prep work, I made it! This was a dream come true. My soul was alive when dancing. I was absolutely shook and deeply grateful for this opportunity. I was just a young little thing and was well aware of what an awesome and rare experience this was going to be. 

I danced for Denver Nuggets Dancers for four years. I was team captain my last two years and had some truly amazing experiences dancing and traveling with the team. I went on to dance for two more professional dance team in Denver, Colorado Crush Dancers AFL (John Elway's Arena Football League) and Denver Broncos Cheerleaders. I loved and appreciated every second of it. I was able to travel to many countries (Germany, United Kingdom, and China to name a few), visit the Troops, support other communities, and more. I sang the National Anthem at a few Denver Nuggets games as well. It was the experience of a lifetime that I am so grateful for. 

I was only 23 and had seven years of professional dancing under my belt. I had also just graduated from MSCD in 2008 with a BS in Behavioral Science and Nutrition. I was proud to have my college degree but unsure of what I wanted my career and future years to look like. I ended up getting a job at a dental office where I met my future husband! We had a whirlwind romance. We fell in love quickly and he truly swept me off my feet. I had never experienced a love like this. We were both crazy in love. I never dreamed of a love this wonderful and was so grateful to God for bringing this incredible man into my life. 

Tim had a four-year-old son, TJ, who I also fell in love with immediately. We were best buddies and had so much fun together. We were the three amigos and cherished our time together. 

Tim and I dated for two years before getting married on September 4, 2011. Tim (who I lovingly call "Tooth") was the best thing that had happened in my life. We were madly in love and so excited for our future. 

In our first few years of marriage, we faced a lot of conflict and had some deep struggles to work through. We were ill-equipped at this point. We had no idea what we were doing or how to love each other well (we both come from broken families and were trying to raise a young kid in a blended family). We lived in a huge home we bought as newlyweds that needed LOTS of renovation, time, and energy. We were struggling to find a balance with a blended family, financial strain, home projects that never seemed to end, and more. It was a blessed but difficult time. 

Two years after being married, our son Ryder Paul was born July 15, 2013. I was more in love than I thought possible! I was so incredibly excited to be a mom. I had dreamed of being a mom since I was old enough to carry around a baby doll. Haha. There are truly no words to describe how much I loved this baby boy. I was so in love and so deeply grateful to have had a healthy pregnancy and delivery.

But with all this amazing love came a postpartum and infancy stage that brought some intenseee postpartum anxiety that no one caught until I was neck deep in insanity. Life was a strange and new blend of snuggles, stress, love, excitement and worry. It was a difficult time for us as newlyweds. 

I started my blog summer of 2015 as a journal about out young family and trying to capture all the sweet memories we were making with these adorable babies. I loved photography and writing. My blog was a fun, creative space for me as a stay-at-home mom.

Blakely Gray was born in July of 2015. I was beyond thrilled to get to have a baby girl! My heart was overflowing with love for these sweet babies of mine. I never knew a love like this and loved being a mommy more than words.

While we were ecstatic and blessed beyond words, we were deeply struggling in our marriage. We had no tools or resources for all the many, many issues and things we were facing as a young married couple with three kids in a blended family. 

While Tim and I worked HARD on our marriage and trying to stick it out, I was also dealing with some intense health issues. They seemed to get worse and worse from 2015-2020. I saw doctor after doctor and felt like no one could give me any answers or help. Just more drugs and prescriptions. I was frustrated and felt like I wasn't in my own body for many years. 

While working on our marriage, my health, our finances, and trying to raise our kids well, we decided to move our family to a new home down the street. This smaller home would lessen the renovation stresses on our marriage and a place where our kids would have friends on the same street and in the neighborhood. This move was emotional and also a blessing. Another exciting part was buying a home on the same street as one of our best friends! We have raised our kids together and this special relationship between our two families has been such a gift. 

I continued to write my blog and found joy and creativity in this space. I wrote a column for Denver Style Magazine's blog each month called "Mommy Fashion with Stefanie Kathleen" from 2015-2018 which was a fun experience for me as a new blogger.

Early 2019 some incredibly difficult things were happening in our family. We were in a whirlwind of trauma and couldn't see up from down. We had no option but to turn to God and ask for His help and guidance. Tim and I had to continue to fight tooth and nail for our marriage and our family. We both started to lean on God more and I believe this is when things started to take a turn for the better in our marriage and family.

June of 2019 I was (re) baptized at our home church. I was baptized when I was a child, but had a deep desire to be closer to God and wanted to make this public declaration of my belief in God and hand my life over to Him. Our kids were there when I was baptized and it was a very special day. There is much to say about this decision and experience but not enough space on this page! ;)

That fall and winter I was having some intense and "new" experiences with the Holy Spirit. Suddenly, our lives were changing. I can't explain it. Our marriage was improving and we were just... changing. By the grace of God, we were able to get our marriage to a very stable and healthy space, after years and years of deep work. God was with us, guiding us and changing our hearts. I thank God everyday for our family and for protecting our marriage in some deeply difficult times. 

In 2019 I felt the Holy Spirit guiding me (and our family) to a specific local private Christian school. This isn't something we ever planned on but the "direction" I was feeling in my heart was clear. Tim and I toured the school and I felt a clear message from the Lord to enroll our kids in this school. In an effort to be obedient, we did. 

This leap of faith wasn't easy. Ryder loved the school he was currently in and we had no reason to move him and start fresh with new peers the following year. Ryder is now in his third year at this school (2022). We would have never known the blessings we'd experience from this community. We are incredibly grateful for this school, the teachers, and the friends we've all made. Our kids love this amazing school and learn about God daily. 

We continue to strive for a deeper relationship with God, each other, and our children. I work to make our house a home that our kids will have wonderful and happy memories in. I am deeply grateful to God for all the blessings He has given me and our family. He has taken some dark, miserable times and turned it into a beautiful story. 

In 2022 I wanted to start fresh with a new blogging home. I switched from What's Up Buttarcup to Stef Hubble - the site you're on now! My blog has grown and changed over time and I am so grateful to have this creative space to share with you all. Thanks for being here and for your continued support over the last 8+ years! 

If you'd like to contact me, email stefhubbleco@gmail.com