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| With Jamie at a great restaurant in Branson |
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| Enjoying a great night on a steam boat with my girls Jamie, Barb and Sarah |
So that's my life in the present but I would like to take the time to share with you an overview of my past. I want to help you understand who I am and I think the past can help shed light on how I got to where I am now.
I am a survivor. I grew up in a small town with two older brothers and parents that cared for me dearly. A father that worked hard to support the family and a mother who would come to every practice, concert, recital, game, etc... Basically I had the family that books would say is the traditional family. We had our rough times and I didn't always have a smile on my face but all-in-all it was good. I learned great lessons that would help me survive the life I was destined to live. I was the typical teenager that tested my parents and pushed the limits. After high school I moved out on my own to face the world and made some pretty poor choices. Those choices put me on the path to find a man that I would end up marrying and being fairly miserable with. Don't get me wrong, there was lots of love and some pretty good times but when we look back on experiences in life we tend to only see the obvious things. Those things that have molded us into who we are today. Well my marriage is one of those experiences. I am one of those girls that met one of those guys that thought it would be just fine to be controlling and abusive. Because of his actions I found out just how strong and resilient I could be. Again I say, I am a survivor. I survived a small town life, where in all actuality I was just another face and wasn't willing to play a role to fit a mold. I survived a teenage life, filled with confusion and disappointment. I survived an abusive relationship, filled with sadness, hurt, pain, torture and ultimately feeling like a failure. After surviving all of these things life gets happier, brighter, better! I found confidence, I found out what I like to do, I found faith, I found love, basically I found ME! I started going back to church, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Going back to church has helped me search out the truth, I am learning what real happiness is and what life and love is all about. I have some really amazing friends at church that build me up and give me strength. I have had the opportunity to work with and meet some great people because of church. I believe that everyone should have faith and hope because without either of them it is a sad existence. I know because I have lived that existence and I never want to go back there again. Now I have so much to live for and to hope for.
There is so much to this life, so many more things for me to learn and experience and I am so excited for the journey to continue.
