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| Climbing 10,080ft up Mt. Rainier to Camp Muir. |
Who am I and How Did I Get Here?
To start with the very basics. I am one of 10 kids. In an interesting twist of events, and in a nutshell, my folks married, had my older sister and I, divorced, married other people, my dad gave me two more sisters and one more brother, my mom gave me two more brothers, they then divorced those spouses, remarried each other, and together they gave me two more brothers and one more sister. Clear? Anyway, I come from a large family. Although we may not always have it together, together we have it all.
I married when I was 23 after living (what I considered at that time) a full and exciting life. I had belonged to Pierce County Search & Rescue, worked for the Department of Natural Resources as part of a Trails Crew (one of the most fun jobs EVER) and later, as a Engine Leader for the Wildland Fire portion of DNR (THE most fun job ever!). In the off season, I worked for Horizon Airlines as grounds service personnel, which allowed me some very cheap trips to Mexico. Throughout the fun I managed to get an AAS from Pierce College. So....I figured I was ready for marriage, in truth, my greatest desire was to raise a family. (Oh, I was sooooo young!)
Like I said, at 23 I married, within a year we had our first son, "Thing 1" (this is a compliment since Dr. Seuss is one of my favorites!). I suddenly became what I longed to be, a SAHM (Stay At Home Mother). We moved to Reno, NV on account of my husband's job. Six years into our marriage (and three 2-3 month deployments to Kuwait/Iraq), I was pregnant with Thing #5, and my husband and I were walking on eggshells around each other. He left me for someone else. So, left with a big house and no reason to stay, I packed up my bulky, 8 month pregnant body, four children (all of whom were under six), and dang near the entire house and drove 15 hours in a big U-Haul van to the refuge of family and friends.My dreams of holding hands with my one and only life-long love on the front porch swing, while talking about our past adventures and the new adventures of our little great-grandchildren came to a tearful end. Life as I knew it, and desired it, was over forever.
It took tears, counseling, family, friends, and above all, trust in my Heavenly Father to get me through. But throughout the past three years, what I found was nothing short of miraculous. I found a me that is more confident than the adventurous me of the past, a me that is more outgoing than the married me of the last decade, and a me that is determined the best is yet to come. My heart is full of hope, confidence, and amazement in the way God takes care of me when I can't seem to make ends meet.
My goals are to raise, five emotionally, spiritually, and physically healthy human beings, to be financially independent, and to explore as much of this beautiful earth as time and money allow. Of course, my plans are never set in stone anymore, they are flexible....changeable. I work toward my goals as if all depends on me, and then leave the result in God's hands. Cheers to life! And to the plan of His that is so much greater than the ones formed in my own limited mind.
