I was a very naive child and managed to stay very innocent throughout my childhood. I was called frigid on the playground and still remember getting mocked because I hadn't started shaving my legs in grade seven. I experienced the infamous mean-girl behaviour. I remember them all standing in a circle excluding me. I found out later that they were voting me out of the group. Believe it or not, Survivor originated on the playground. The difference is that it was a little more primitive than the TV series. Their vote was recalled when I burst into tears and couldn't stop sobbing. I guess they had some feelings after all.
Junior high quickly turned rocky. The girls from my elementary who went to the same junior high school decided that they were all going to smoke among other things on lunch break. This left innocent me in a little dilemna. I stayed in the school during lunch and being painfully shy, had no one to hang out with. Being alone at school is a terrible fate for a girl this age. I spent the rest of grade eight trying to make friends, but being totally awkward since I was so shy. I was even told by the library club that they didn't want to hang out with me. Talk about rejection! The rest of this year was spent in a not so pleasant spot, the toilet stall. I was so afraid of being made fun of and not having anyone to hang out with. Because of this, I would quickly eat my lunch by my locker and then head to the bathroom stall where I would spend the remainder of lunch hour, willing the bell to ring as quickly as it could. Are you crying yet? Don't worry, I can laugh (mostly) about those days now.
The next year I transferred schools to the junior high where some of my friends that I hadn't gone to elementary school with attended. The rest of my junior high/high school years were much better and I had a great group of friends, some of whom are still among my closest friends. We had fun without participating in many of the destructive activities our peers were engaged in. I remember playing in the mud, driving around town randomly jumping out and dancing, late nights at Dennys, sleepovers, and many, many more that I have no regrets about. Weekends were spent driving to hotsprings in the woods, rope swinging, swimming, sledding, and skiing. I thought I was in love with one guy during most of my high school years and experienced my first heartbreak. As it turned out, I had something much better in store a few years down the road.
I left home after graduation at the ripe old age of seventeen. I moved to the big city to attend university where I was sure that I was going to become an astrophysicist. The problem was, I wasn't mature enough at seventeen for this much independance. I decided I was going to have lots of friends and therefore, decided to try out the party scene. This lasted about a month or two before I figured out I wasn't missing anything and as quickly as I'd joined, I was out. Thankfully, I made it through this phase totally unscathed. The most I had done was make a bit of a fool out of myself by having a few too many drinks. I made some great friends that year and didn't attend my classes very much. After this first adjustment year, I decided to pursue another career I'd always wanted. I became a Medical Laboratory Technologist and worked my way through school.
I met Mike right at the beginning of lab school through a friend. I thought he was cute the day I met him. He played soccer at college. Huge bonus for me. I always loved soccer players. I know that is a bit superficial, but believe me, this man is amazing in so many ways. We spent the next eight or so months hanging out and talking until the wee hours. We started dating in January of 2003 when he told me that he wanted to be more than just friends. We had a dream outdoor wedding in 2005. After one year to ourselves, I decided to further my education and went back to school in 2006. I entered a hard-core science program. I studied epidemiology and managed to do scientific research and even obtained a publication.
Life threw us an interesting curve ball when I got pregnant with our first child who was due in August 2009. I still had one semester left of school to finish in December. We knew that we would make it and that God would see us through. However, in January of 2009 I rolled my truck on an icy highway in B.C. and three days later, lost the baby. This was the most difficult period in my life. I don't really know what to say about it, but that God brought us through it. Those were dark days for me, but I had a Light to guide me. We decided to try again right away, and we found out we were expecting another baby due in November.
Laney entered our world at the end of October, right around midterms. With Mike's support and my mother here to watch Laney, I finished my last semester of University. We are now busy with a sweet little girl who keeps us on our toes. I am currently on maternity leave and really hope to stay at home with our baby, but we will see when the time comes. Currently I keep busy trying my hand at many different things including sports, arts and crafts, domestic arts (sounds better than cooking and cleaning), science, and reading. I'm looking forward to the rest of my life and growing in my relationships with God, family, and friends.
