Sometimes the life you get is better than the life you imagined

I was born into a military family. At the time, my father was stationed in California. He was a sailor who was away from home for months at a time on ships. We moved from California to Washington State to Governor's Island, NY before settling back in Minnesota, where my parents had both been born and raised.

Minnesota has been my home for most of my life. Most of my family, even extended family is here. Family is what keeps us here.

After high school, I spent 2 years at a local community college before transferring to what is now called Minnesota State University at Mankato. The college campus is where the Minnesota Vikings hold their training camp in the summer. I graduated with a BS in Mass Communications (public relations emphasis) and a minor in Speech Communications.

As a kid I always figured I'd be a famous movie star or singer, except you probably need to not be shy to be successful at something like that. So that didn't work out.

As a young adult I changed my vision to being a television or newspaper reporter (and a great one of course). I limited myself with options for jobs following graduation because I wanted to return home to be near my family. Communications jobs are hard to come by in a smaller city. Rochester is the kind of place that many people start in a job and stay there for the remainder of their working lives. It's tough to break in when you're just starting out.

So I found a job as a communications coordinator for a medical association. It was a job I loved, but the office politics were toxic. I left that job when the stress got to be too much and worked for less money and fewer benefits but also had few, if any, things to stress me out.

Then I got pregnant, had a baby and left the workplace.

I started blogging after following a link someone left on a BabyCenter thread. I had never read a blog before. I couldn't tell you the blog, and I wouldn't want to because I found the writing atrocious. I immediately and vainly thought that I could do it better. Cool Zebras was born.

Cool Zebras has given me, and at some extent, my extended family many joys. I've become closer to many of my relatives because they read many of my more personal thoughts that we never would have discussed in person. We’re reserved Minnesotans after all. Talk about feelings? In person? You can betcha we’ll be making excuses to leave the room.

By the time I started Cool Zebras I had two kids, Miss M and the K-Man. Miss M was born in July 2002, and the K-Man in July 2004. I wish I had a blog about them from the beginning. I love to read my own archives. Have I mentioned I’m a little vain about my writing? But the truth is I like to read about how my kids were when they were younger. They’re still young, but I like to read about the younger days and compare notes to today.

After 2 years of disappointment, in September 2007, I was elated to discover my third child was on the way. Ms. D has completed our family in so many ways.

In January 2008, I launched Midwest Parents on a whim. Things were smooth sailing for a while though we were pretty much unnoticed. Earlier this year it became clear that things weren't working the best. I decided to disband the blog.

In February 2008, I also started my etsy shop, Sentimental Journey. This shop is mostly a hobby for me, but I can admit that I get a little thrill every time I sell something I've made.

These days you can find me shuttling Miss M and K-Man back and forth to and from school and chasing Ms. D around the house picking up all the things she dumps out with such glee. She’s also a climber so I spend a lot of time getting her down from her various attempts at mountain climbing. After school, I check homework, make supper, and perhaps take the kids to swimming lessons or choir practice. The days, as it is with most parents, are hectic.

So in the evenings, I write. I write to remember these days with my kids, with my family, because these days are fleeting and I want to savor them all.