It's time to write

What did you want to be when you grew up? I had lots of dreams over the years. As a little girl I sang the song, "When I Grow Up I Want to Be a Mother." And I knew from the time I was little I was going to serve an LDS mission like my mom. When I was in fourth grade, I wrote a story about all the ice cream in an ice cream parlor melting and was one of a couple of students from my school selected to go to a literary workshop where we got to learn all kinds of things about writing and listen to a local author speak. I knew I was going to be an author someday. I was a voracious reader and writer, and was even awarded an Eagle Warrior honor (the only one of my graduating class) in English.

I wanted to be an interior designer in high school. I took a lot of art and design and even a few business classes to that end. And then my senior year my school counselor suggested I do a practicum helping an elementary school teacher. I fell in love with making a difference in the kids' lives. I loved watching them learn because of the way I taught something, watching them become better readers because I spent time reading with them. I was hooked and graduated from Southern Utah University with my Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education, with a minor in reading, in three years. Adam and I were married in my second year, and in my third year I timed throwing out the birth control so I would deliver my first baby after I received my degree. Young and pregnant, student teaching was tough. I decided it was a good thing I was having a baby and staying home because I was not going back to teaching.

And so I became a mother. Those first years were so hard, trying to adjust to my life being about someone else instead of my own needs and feelings. Having always had grades and praise from teachers to validate my work, I had no experience with a completely open-ended, subjective, messy career with no validation, to awards, to graduation with honors to work toward. It took a lot of years and a lot of guidance from my Heavenly Father to reach the place I am now: confidence in my role as a mother.

It's been nearly a decade since blogging was the cool new thing. Nearly a decade since I started blogging the first time. After years of being completely overwhelmed and losing myself in love and service for my family, I am finally at the stage of life where I am starting to circle back to my original dreams for my life. And I realize I need to write. It's time to write. Welcome to my blog, and welcome to my life.