A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Well not that far away and not that long ago.

Quincy, MA. 1974- I decided to make my presence known during a snow storm. My mom was finishing her degree at ENC (Eastern Nazarene College) and my dad was working in the city at Stone & Webster. Shortly after I was born, my dad got transferred to Virginia. Because I really didn't spend much time in the north, I don't consider myself a Yankee.

We lived in Virginia for a time. Here I remember only small snippets of life: found a frog and kissed it (nope, my prince didn't show up), opened the door for my mom after she locked herself out of the house and me in it, told my mom where she put the asprin when she couldn't remember where it was. Our stay in Virginia wasn't that long before dad got transferred again, this time to Tom's River, NJ.

Really don't remember that much about NJ, but then again, does anybody? I do remember going on a youth group trip to some animal park and having a monkey come in through the bus window. I also remember wanting to swim so I fell head first into a pool. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't swim. Mom was really pregnant with my sister so she waddled to get me. Got in trouble and wasn't allowed back in the pool. This event might attribute to my love of water... My sister decided to join the family here in NJ.

Somewhere along the road, Dad was called in to deal with the 3-Mile Island incident. Mom had us in the hotel room visiting since she had no communication with dad while he was there. I guess I got hungry and ate some St. Joseph's baby medication. This resulted in a trip ER. The doctor didn't believe my mom that I ate nearly the whole bottle since the first 2 doses of ipecac didn't have me puking up my guts. Eventually I puked enough to set the record straight then puked more on the way home; all over my mom's college jacket.

Eventually dad got transferred again to St. Francisville, Louisiana. We settled in Baton Rouge. Since I was here for a solid 13 years of my life, I consider this my hometown and call myself a southern. Lots of good memories here. Good friends, good times, great food, awesome adventures.

My junior year of high school had us moving again to Virginia. Wasn't trilled and so was not a happy camper but another journey was to unfold whether I wanted it to or not. The way I looked at it, I was only in high school a few more years then I was out on my own. Those last two years were interesting though. By the time I ended high school, I had gone to 3 different high schools: Scotlandville Magnet High School in Louisiana, Chancellor High School in Virgina, and Courtland High School in Virgina. Now the next journey...college.

Maybe it was due to my folks moving shortly after I was born or the fact that my dad got transferred every so many years or the fact that I was a traveling soul, whatever it was I'm grateful. I enjoy traveling. I love seeing new things for the first time or seeing them again after a long period of time. I love meeting people along the way and hearing their story. I love exploring and learning more about this amazing planet I call home. I hope to travel more places and see more things before my life is done but if not, what I have seen, experienced, tasted, smelled, touched has been amazing. I hope to share some of my journeys with you!