So, I want to know how I got here. Okay, I know how I got here. . . . purely by luck and chance, mostly. Okay, that's not it . . . I know I've mostly steered myself to precisely where I am today. I have a lot of drive, persistence, determination, and strength. And some things have happened to me and I've adapted to get through it. My dad has always said "things will be just fine". That is true, but it doesn't mean the road won't be rocky getting to the "fine" part.

My life started out pretty normal I guess. An only child being raised by two very driven, precise people. I didn't have a chance of not being driven and precise myself, really. I mean, if I had chosen to rebel against that, my childhood would have been filled with A LOT of angst. Really, growing up was fairly easy and trouble-free. I was taught that taking the "right" path leads to less problems overall. I didn't get into a ton of trouble as a teenager, but then again because of all this, I'm not really much of a risk-taker. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, it's just the way I am. While I adapt pretty easily to change in some ways, in other ways I'm totally not comfortable with "going outside the box". I'm not sure what defined where I'll take a risk and where I won't, but it would probably take some pretty deep therapy to find that out!

My adult life started when I got pregnant with my daughter at 18. I was in first year of technical school and wasn't planning that, of course. I plan everything, so when something comes along that isn't planned, it puts a wrench in things. That said, once I actually got the nerve to tell my parents, and they overcame the initial shock, we came up with a plan to get me through school. I wasn't giving the child up, and I wasn't about to go on welfare and begin life that way -- my parents didn't want that for me either. I wanted to earn my own living, be able to provide for me and this child inside me. So the decision was made to continue going to school and get my technical diploma. This put a lot of burden on my parents I'm sure . . . I was already living away from home and had school costs -- add childcare to that and an extra mouth to feed. But they did it, and I'm very grateful they did. I would seriously not be where I am today without their help.

Being a mother came pretty naturally to me, I'd say. I was used to taking care of people. I was always the friend worrying about everyone else -- being grown up way before I should have. I remember being in Junior High School and being way too mature to take part in the juvenile stuff some people did. If I didn't have anyone to worry about, I probably found people to worry about! Thinking back, I had a great group of friends, and some are still friends to this day.

One of those friends turned into my husband . . . we got married in 1993. Interesting story, one I'll have to share another day.