Hey there! I’m so glad you are here. If you have been around for a bit or you know me personally, this post might seem a bit silly. I’m several posts deep into my blogging experience and I’m just now going to tell you who I am? It’s a little overdue, to be sure. However, it’s pretty typical of me to jump into something and then re-evaluate how I *should* have done it later.
I’m fo…mumble mumble garble garble…years old. I grew up as an only child of older parents in a tiny Ohio town. We had no stoplights, a train that passed through but didn’t bother to stop, and a high school with teachers so old they had taught our parents. Many people have a Norman Rockwell view of small-town life. That was not my town.
Against my wishes I attended a small midwestern college that was thirty minutes from my home. It turned out to be a terrific experience. I was a business major intending to be the CFO of a huge company and take over the world. I graduated with a degree in Elementary Education.
After graduating and a year of subbing, I married the man of my dreams. We traipsed around the country and world for twenty-one years before he retired. The military was very good to us. The military was very hard on us. It was a mixed duffle bag.
Before starting our family, I taught. Kids in my classes were MY KIDS. I loved them fiercely and the military sometimes made me leave them. Choosing to leave a classroom or let my husband go on alone just plain sucked.
Baby number one came along and changed everything, as babies tend to do. One look at that precious little girl and I knew going back to work and leaving her was not going to work for us. We made the choice for me to stay home. Over time (but not a lot of it) we added four more little people to our family and then said, “ALL DONE!” Two of those babies are adopted from China and while I could do a whole blog on adoption, it’s really only one aspect of who I am.
With military moving, it became apparent that homeschooling was our highest choice. I had some kids that were gifted and at least one that struggled in school. My education degree had given me the tools to teach my kids and teach them well. Those homeschooling years were sometimes hard, but they also hold some of the best memories and experiences. If I could rewind a decade and go back to five babies around a kidney table, I would do it in a New York minute.
Let me say right here, we did not really fit the stereotypical homeschool family model. Oh, I ended up driving a white church van and we’ve seen Tim Hawkins live on two separate occasions, but we still didn’t exactly fit. My kids play sports quite competitively. Some of the kids don’t read as much as they should. They mostly all have terrible handwriting. But they all transitioned into private school over time and fit in just smashingly. One even went to a giant public middle school for two years. (clutching pearls in horror)
By necessity I became a bit of a hippie. One of my kids had some significant challenges in behavior and emotion. After exhausting all the options that allopathic medicine could offer, I had no choice but to look in other directions. Finding answers was empowering as I took back the role of caretaker of my family. The more I learned, the more exciting it was and I might pursue becoming a Naturopathic Doctor at some point. I love helping folks find answers and after just shy of a decade of it, I’m pretty proficient.
I am an Orthodox Christian. I’m not a cradle Orthodox, however. Heck, I had not even heard of the church until I was in college and we sang in a Greek Orthodox Church in Akron, Ohio. All the military moves meant I was constantly attending different churches based on what was available. Years and years of searching and seeking lead me to the Orthodox Church.
I can say honestly throughout those two decades of military life, I lost my way. Didn’t know who I was. Or even who I wanted to be. Our marriage fell apart. Thankfully it was also rebuilt. I redefined myself. I rebuilt myself. I found out how to be my own center of support. I learned how to be happy and confident alone. I even went to a Billy Joel concert by myself.
The last detail I’ll leave you with is that I’m an avid hockey fan. Somewhere in the middle of our military years we ended up in Tampa for one year. My son took up roller hockey during that time. We started watching the Tampa Bay Lightning (back-to-back Stanley Cups, BABY!) and got hooked. My son and I are the biggest fans and we now have been season ticket members for about five years. I love hockey. I love the beach. I love palm trees. I get it all in Florida! It’s amazing.
While one blog post cannot sum up a person, I hope it gives you a glimpse of who I am. Who am I becoming? Stick around and let’s grow up together!
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