I’m quite a complex one and God is doing a great job lately helping me figure myself out!
Knowing that I am a perfectionist, I'm already struggling with the whole blogging thing because I spend way too much time thinking about how to make my entry perfect instead of just writing and trusting that what God wants to come out of me will come out and be worth reading haha.
Okay, starting from birth…j/k…we'll start at childhood in a small town called Bluffton, Indiana, where I had the great experience of rural country but the convenience of a Walmart 5 minutes away. Growing up with 3 brothers, 1 step-brother, and 1 step-sister, the house was always filled with activity and noise…kinda how it still is now with just my older brother and 2 nephews. I spent most of my time playing sports (hurdler all the way!), however, my mom did tell me I turned out more girly than she thought I would haha. The rest of my time I spent doing homework, so I was either gone or locked in my room.
All that hard work studying led me to Purdue University where I won my bachelors in biology and eventually busted through the finish line with my masters in animal science, with the dream of one day becoming a veterinarian. Well, God decided to give me different fruit than the kind I was picking and eventually I had to run with it. My faith was rocked beyond belief in graduate school. This is where I opened myself up to not only learning, but striving for a deep understanding of other cultures and religions. I encountered many sleepless and tormenting nights. I have more questions than answers, more curiosity than is safe, but more passion to talk about and experience how God is working in people around the world, and what He means to a monk in Thailand, a Hindu in India, and a gypsy in Romania, than I know how to apply.
This newly formed desire to see God outside of Indiana and further trying to figure out how to use my education and form a career that fulfilled part of my longings, led me to move to historical Jefferson, Texas after college. So here I am…26 years old…working with North American Black Bears, learning how to train them and educating people at fairs and sport’s shows all over the country about their awesomeness and how to co-exist with them.
This past year in Texas has been more of a learning, and immense growing experience than I could have imagined. This entire past year…my first year of life after college…has been like one big sunrise. Everything is new and although the awakening of many new things may not have always been welcomed, it really has been quite beautiful and refreshing in retrospect. Really, it was a quick decision to move in the first place (that's me…spontaneous) and all of a sudden I’ve become a partial country girl (which I thought I was partially before coming to Texas, but no) and God has repeatedly piled blessing after blessing on me. They haven't always been visible like the period of time I had to learn how to drive a manual dually…and pull a very, very long trailer…with 5 bears in the back…across country. I'm pretty sure I cried and sweat a river getting that one under my belt, but never the less I bet you that skill will come in very handy one day!
I'm going to end mY bEauTiFuL mEss at that for now and give you some RaNdOm facts about me…EnJoY!!
1.) Crunchy peanut butter is better than creamy
2.) I want to be the crazy cat lady and re-design my house for my cats…all when I grow up and get
married and adopt a child from every continent of course.
3.) Yoga, acupuncture, the chiropractor, and deep tissue massages are my life-savers.
4.) I'm obsessed with animals and dark chocolate
5.) I love to cuddle with everyone (I have withdrawals if I go without)
6.) I have great compassion and love to be there for those with deep emotional wounds…I strongly
desire to know people's souls and to have mine known
7.) I used to teach aerobics at Purdue's Rec Center
8.) I like to think of myself as a Princess and surround myself with things that remind of that
9.) I would adopt my nephews in a heartbeat
10.) I want to live in Spain or another interesting country for a few years
11.) I have been known to hold grudges like no other but have been forgiven so easily
12.) My grandma taught me how to knit in December…no it's not for old ladies!
13.) I love rollercoasters and water parks
14.) I have three big scars all on the left side of my body.
15.) I'm a really jealous friend
16.) I like to randomly break out in dance and to go dancing
17.) I'm pretty high-strung but most people don't see that because I portray myself as relaxed
18.) I love my smile…it cost a lot of money
19.) I would like to go on a medical mission's trip
20.) Catch Phrase is my favorite game (I love board games…way more than playing cards)
21.) I need silence and solitude quite often in my life…constant noise stresses me out to the extreme
22.) I've never had cable t.v. and barely watch t.v.
23.) Piano music completely relaxes me and I melt with Enya
24.) I tend to shelter myself from the things I don't want to know about because of the negativity
it brings (politics, news). However, it leaves me quite ignorant.
25.) I am ditsy quite often and although it's a work in progress, I'm not afraid to show who I really am
26.) I like to wake up with the sun shining in the room
27.) I like a mixed flower bouquet
30.) I like Christmas scents
31.) I like the passion in those who have faith
32.) I like learning new and random skills
33.) I love nature and have the best "God" time on a hike
34.) I love my freckles and my God-given highlights, with my dad's touch of red tint
The rest of me I am still figuring out!…God is working through many past hurts and silly behaviors in ways that are actually working now haha…and I am discovering more of who I want to be. Even though it's painful at times I am seeing more light at the end of the tunnel than ever before!
