There is no better place to start than the beginning, just like all of our stories tend to do. I was born – SURPRISE! It was September in Amarillo, Texas and two high school sweethearts welcomed their first-born. The best part of telling your story is it can be as “magical” as you want it to be, right? No, but seriously though….. Similar to many I don’t remember a lot of the early years other than working parents, playing outside (prior to anything “online”) and the arrival of my only little brother. I tend to have memories flash ever so often yet most of the early memories begin when my family moved to Dallas/Fort Worth. I was around 4 years old. To put it in perspective, the move was for my mother to work at the “brand new” DFW Airport and my father on construction of Highway I-35 and various structures though out Fort Worth in the early 1980’s. Our childhood was average in my opinion at the time, yet in hindsight I see now there was nothing average at all! My brother and I were involved in all of the activities you could imagine, not to the mention the school groups, events, fundraisers….all of it. I still don’t know how they made it all happen yet at the time I assumed (very naively) that this was life. Don’t get me wrong, my parents were tough. I imagine today they would be called, “old school” because they kept a firm line on right versus wrong, somehow knew all the “bad things” we thought we were the first to ever attempt, and were right there to explain the consequences.

I began cheer-leading before the age of 10 for little league associations and quickly joined competitive teams, this would become the focus for most of my childhood. Overall it was all in my opinion…..average. Due to my lavish fantasy life my family would often joke that I was adopted from a famous family in their effort to “keep me humble” and “show me hard work”. For some reason I have always thought money was everywhere (still do to this day) and there is something much, much BIGGER for me. While cleaning my room with my mother, probably around 9-11 years old, I recall stating, “I don’t need to know how to clean because I will have a staff when I’m grown up.” This was only one of many beliefs I carried as a small child that both frustrated and entertained all of the adults I encountered.

School, eh….it’s what we did so I did it well. I guess it’s typical of the “oldest” to be a “people pleaser” and want to excel in ALL things, sure I didn’t know that at that time but that is what I did. I learned quickly yet to me the book education wasn’t the challenge, it was the social interactions and learning how other people (not to mention myself) worked. I truly think the first signs of “leadership skills” can be seen in these early ages. I recall moments of either being the leader or being led by a “stronger” leader. As early as 1^st grade, my report cards started to reflect comments such as “excessive talking”, “needs to focus”, and “doesn’t apply potential” but I didn’t care – to me it was all about people. The first conversation about friendships and the term “guilty by association” came up in 2^nd grade (yea, like 10 years old) because I was consumed with relationships more than school work. Again, didn’t care I really enjoyed getting to know everyone I could (which was a positive and negative over the years).

The various emotional roller coasters I endured (and made those around me endure) growing up were nothing less than horrendous. I found the most outrageous situations, people and experiences that I am thankful today my family and some friends still speak with me…….pretty excited now though – should make for some interesting “throwback” posts! Overall the entire time I was in school I yearned to get out and start life, I even joined the co-op program my Junior year and started working. By my Senior year I had 3 jobs while finishing high school, not because of anything noble. You see I was stubborn (still am) and I wanted complete control, which meant I needed money. It wasn’t always easy, there was lots of fighting during these years because of my stubborn ass. I was fearless in all things, doing and trying anything around me; which wasn’t always a great idea with some of the people I was choosing to engage with. I fell in love, fell out of love, and left home for the first time in January 2000 when I moved to Austin, Texas.

The move came as a solution to really not having a plan at all following school? I spent a few too many years with a plan that didn’t work so why not completely flip life upside down and do something new. My best friend and I moved to Austin despite the opinions of some. I loved Austin, I loved the experience of waiting tables/bar-tending and most of all I loved the opportunity to do whatever I wanted and BOY DID I.  Unfortunately, the “whatever I wanted” quickly turned into not attending school, working crazy hours, staying out all night drinking and maybe even a little other illegal (just being honest) activities. I think about it & it’s hard to believe the whole experience was ONE year exactly….yep, I was “deported” right at the one year mark.

Remember those “old school” parents, well they weren’t having any more of my “whatever I wanted” at mostly their expense. My father appeared in January with a U-Haul truck and a one way ticket back to DFW…..not one of my best moments yet needed. I returned to a small apartment, broke and completely clueless what was next? My parents explained to me that I had six months to get on the right track (find a job, pay my bills, all that “adult” type stuff). This wasn’t the first time they did the right thing, even though I wasn’t a top fan of the decision. There I was with a challenge I had no choice but to accept and get busy on solutions to the list of obstacles I saw in front of me…..quickly. So the beginning started here when I came upon this note:

Trust is always a good idea…..

Trust the journey will have ups and downs yet

Trust it will be motivating and produce results.

And lastly, Trust your faith

Use that trust & faith to know your needs will always be met, now and in the future.