Hi there! Thanks for stopping by.
We like to do lots of different things but we tend to do them in our own way. People always ask what we’re up to, and rather than having to share different answers with different people, we thought it might be helpful to keep everything in one place. But first, who the heck are we?
First, the last
Okay, we know: it isn’t a common last name. Chalk it up to Jason’s Dutch heritage, but we get all kinds of…creative pronunciations of our last name. We pronounce it like this:
De – Boh – Dee
So, the last ‘e’ isn’t silent. Okay, with that out of the way, here we go.
Tasha
I grew up on my family’s Century Farm sheep and hog farms in Northwest Iowa where I acquired many of my unique life skills. I was a very busy 4-Her, took advantage of every music opportunity at school and church, and had a long softball career (I find this hilarious now). Completely the opposite of Jason, I lived in the same house until I went to college, but I did switch schools, once. I had very limited knowledge of the outside world until I met Jason while I was still in high school. He was already attending Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa and I had come up with a friend for an event. He loves to tell this story, I love to deny it. It was one of those struck at first sight moments that didn’t really crystalize for a few more years. Ah, youth. He’s been opening my eyes to the rest of the world ever since.
We eventually dated for about a year after I started attending BVU, then Jason went to work on his master’s at Radford University in Virginia while I finished my undergraduate as quickly as possible. Despite my advisor’s doubts, I graduated from BVU in 3.5 grueling years with my degree in History and Environmental Science. Jason graduated a semester later from Radford with his master’s. Perfect timing, summer wedding time! No more 2 am video chats once the library on campus had kicked me out for the night – it was a tough couple of years. After our honeymoon in Mexico, my first international trip, we moved to Auburn, Alabama for Jason to work on his Ph.D. I like to say I hold an honorary Ph.D. for surviving that ordeal. I held some horrid odd jobs throughout the duration and finally found one I loved (nannying) the year he finished school. Figures. I also played handbells and sang in two choirs at Auburn United Methodist Church – which I absolutely adored. They became my Alabama family.
We packed up and moved to the Springfield, Missouri area for Jason’s first professor gig at Missouri State University. He’s been moving up the ranks there ever since. I have been the handbell director at Aldersgate United Methodist Church since 2015. After puttering about the acreage for a couple of years, (getting chickens, planting a massive garden every year, selling eggs/produce/chickens, and creating a sewing business) it was clear we were staying for a while, so I started an online women’s clothing boutique. The plan was to fill a gap in the industry and be able to work from home since my health makes it difficult to work full-time. DeNeu Boutique was born in 2018 and trust me when I say I learn something new every day about the fashion industry, social media, supply chain, technology, manufacturing, and just pressing forward despite my many mistakes. We just closed this business at the end of 2023 to focus more on each other, traveling, and further developing this blog!
I love to sing, play the piano and bake in my “spare” time, dig in the dirt (farm kid, remember), and take photos. I am a classically trained singer (I somehow fit this in at BVU too) who has mostly resorted to singing in the car the past few years thanks to my busy schedule. I’ve always been a mediocre pianist at best, but the dogs still love to listen and will crowd around the windows when I play. Baking is an ever-changing adventure for me as we navigate the clean eating world and learn to be dairy-free and gluten-free to combat allergies and a pesky gene mutation. My treasured family recipes are merely measurement suggestions for substitutions these days, but we make it work. I boast a massive organic garden every summer and spend lots of time preserving what I grow for the winter months. And my photography, well, I’ve always loved to take photos but never learned to edit or really shared them with anyone. The DeBode Way largely came about thanks to Jason’s extensive travel schedule for work, our general love of travel, my love of photography, and a desire to share the world. So, I’ve been working on that. I hope you enjoy them!
Jason
Officially, it’s Doctor Jason. Okay, that sounds kinda stuffy, so let’s just go with Jason. Agreed?
I grew up in a Navy family (shout-out to all the military families out there!), so we moved around a good bit. Because of that, ‘home’ has a different meaning for me, and asking me where I’m from usually gets ‘uhmmm...’ for an answer. I met the person I’d later call my wife (it’s a fun story…ask me if you’re interested, preferably when Tasha isn’t around) in college – Buena Vista University – where I was studying for my degree in Psychology. After finishing there, I moved to Southwest Virginia and Radford University where I earned my Master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology (if you know, you know; if you don’t, ask). After a wedding (in Iowa) and honeymoon (in Playa del Carmen), Tasha and I packed up and headed South to Auburn University (Auburn, Alabama…WAR DAMN EAGLE!) where I earned my Ph.D. in Strategic Management. Deciding to head homeward (for Tasha, at least), we moved back to the Midwest, settling in Southwest Missouri, where we are now. I’m currently an Associate Professor of Strategic Management at Missouri State University, where I teach classes in strategic management and entrepreneurship and lead a few education abroad trips each year.
When I’m not imparting pearls of wisdom on the next generation of business leaders, taking students on international travel experiences, or discovering the next cool thing in my research, I spend my time struggling to learn the guitar, playing handbells (it’s purely a coincidence Tasha is the handbell choir director), and try to keep up with the news as much as I can.
The Crew
We don’t have kids, but that doesn’t mean we have an empty home.
After we’d been married for several years, the *hints* about growing our family were getting louder and louder. So, we took a huge step…and brought home Esma, our Akbash. She’s amazing and is very much the alpha female in The Crew. She likes pets, guarding the ‘treasures’ she finds around the property, treats, long naps, and car rides, which she’ll tell you don’t happen nearly enough.
We thought this was what the family meant by ‘growing’. Turns out, they weren’t impressed. So, after a year or so, we tried again and brought home Zara, our Akbash, Great Pyrenees, Anatolian Shepherd mix. In a nutshell, Zara is everything Esma isn’t: full of energy, loves chasing (but not riding in) cars, barks at everything (and nothing), and is perpetually in search of shade. She also likes treats, ALL the pets, and keeping us on our toes.
Our most recent addition is Jack. Truth be told, we don’t know much about Jack, as he found us. Seriously. He wandered onto our property one day and we found him sleeping on our front porch with Esma and Zara (read: our two guard dogs). Clearly, they’d decided he was okay, and after much asking around to find his home and coming up empty-handed, it was obvious Jack was here to stay. He’s a Blue Heeler (we think), and to say he keeps Zara on her paws is an understatement. He’s full of energy, loves treats (and trying to steal them from the others), ALL the pets (which creates jealousy with Zara), hoarding whatever he can find, and serving as Zara’s shadow on most days. Despite being the smallest of The Crew, he has no fear of defending the realm and puts all on alert when human intruders approach (the other two…not so much). Especially FedEx (apologies for that).
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the two smaller members of The Crew, our barn cats. Here’s the thing about barn cats: they come and go. Just when you start getting used to them, they disappear to who knows where. For whatever reason, these two have decided to stay pretty close to home. The first (we’ll call her Kitty Kitty) seems to think herself a dog, and she can almost always be found hanging out with her larger siblings (who sometimes forget she’s not one of them) unless she’s sitting at the sliding glass door expecting treats. The second (we’ll call her Sweets) never strays far from the barn and is always up for pets. She’s also the one who will come find you if you’re late for dinner. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
And that’s us.