There are so many ways to start a story, conversation, meeting, or whatever kind of group talk one can think of. They usually start with things like, “Hi, I’m…” or “Let’s start with our mission statement.” But I am just going to start with telling you all a little about myself. Hang in there with me, this might be lengthy, but I will try my best to stay short winded.
Most stories start the same, right? Mom and dad meet, have a baby, live happily ever after. That’s pretty much how I started in this world… screaming, pooping and loud. According to my mother, I screamed for the first year of my life. (I’m currently getting paid for my raising, as my youngest is the same way). I grew up in a small town in Wyoming with my older sister. We had all the things little girls could imagine. We had horses, sheep for 4H, land and a beautiful house. Mom and dad gave us all of the opportunities we could imagine or hope for, right? Well, yes. Molly and I always had what we needed or wanted, and that included a baby brother. Our brother came home from the hospital, adopted, when he was three days old. His name is Jaxon Ray, and he’s 17 now. Fast forward a decade or so, and we move from Wheatland to Douglas, which was approximately an hour or so away from where we first grew up. This was in 6th grade for me and 8th grade for my sister. My little brother was a toddler at this point, and Molly and I were little mamas to him. We played basketball all the way through middle school and Molly onto high school. I played the summer going in to my freshman year with a powerhouse group of girls, and of course, expected to do that for all of high school… but, here’s the kicker. It was time to move AGAIN. Dad had recently accepted a job in Texas… TEXAS, guys! Seriously? That was like 343452345234 million miles away, in a different world. We both thought our lives were over.
So, here we are in Texas, trying to survive the torture that mom and dad made us endure. Molly and I had always gone to public school, but now, mom and dad told us we were going to private school. Um… excuse me?! That’s a joke, right? WRONG. WCS was the school we were headed for. Let’s skip the high school bit, shall we? No one likes high school, let alone in a Christian school! Molly and I didn’t really know Jesus at this point in our lives. That would come much later.
Get through high school, participate in the crazy rebellion of typical high schoolers. Drinking, smoking, and late night drives down back roads. Now, we come to college. When we lived in Wyoming, I was certain my college would consist of basketball, dorm rooms, and Ramen Noodles. Boy, was I in for a surprise! I went a little nuts that first semester of college in Weatherford. I had a boyfriend, piece of trash, who was a really bad influence. I ended up pregnant at the tender age of 18, due to have a baby at 19 years old. I was a baby myself still, how was I supposed to take care of a life? How was I supposed to nurture a growing human? These thoughts swam through my mind as I was pregnant and into the delivery room. But, low and behold, I did and raised quite a young man, who is now almost 9 years old.
Move forward again to my first son being 2, and me going through nursing school as a single mom. Yes, you read that right, a single mom. I lived on my own in a tiny apartment and my sweet baby boy. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. During this wonderful time, I started dating my now husband. We quickly fell in love as we had been best friends prior to this. I made sure he knew from the beginning that I had a child and was a single mom. We started officially dating the second week of nursing school and got engaged after my second semester was over. It wasn’t until after I graduated from nursing school that we decided that was the time for us to marry, and we did on June 4, 2016. And now, we have 3 wonderful boys, a beautiful home, lots of land, and our dreams made true… as I write this, the two older boys are destroying my house!
Well, this is all for now! Told you it would be lengthy, but that is just a small piece of what makes me… me. Tune in this weekend for the story on how I became a daughter of Jesus Christ our King, and the changes that have happened in me. Stay beautiful, stay blessed, and stay tuned!
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