Opening my windows so you can see inside, or my attempt at a seriousy post

Howdy friends.  Let's sit down and chat, shall we?

Also, now that I'm sitting down, you'll probably have to help me up.  Just warning you.  I'm old.

So.  I've been doing this here blog thingy for awhile.  But I bet you don't know that much about me.  Except that I collect Edward dolls and still don't own a Snuggie.  You'd be right on both issues.  But there's way more to me than that.  So let me just take a quick minute and open the shutters so you can catch a glimpse of who I am.  Don't worry, I'm clothed.  And I'm not dancing. 

I was born in Alaska.  No, sadly, not in an igloo.  No, I never owned a penguin OR a polar bear.  Yes, I had color TV.  Yes, these are real questions I'm often asked.  Yes, I think some people are stupid. 

I'm part Eskimo.  I even have an Eskimo name.  I shan't tell you though, because it'll only sound like I'm cussing and spitting at you.  I'm Eskimoishly named after the prettiest woman in the village my family comes from.  I know, so fitting.  *pats my cowlick*

My mom and dad were teenagers when they created me.  And then married.  Life was chaotic and tumultuous for many years.  During that time, we welcomed my baby sister to the world and then a year later, my dad moved out.  He had a liquor problem.  Divorce came when I was 8.  We were very poor.  Pretty much if there's a statistic, I was one of those.

We moved a lot.  California, Alaska, Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, back to Alaska...I attended 11 schools in 12 years of education.  Because of this, I've never had roots.  I'm not sad about this.  I think some folks were just born to be ramblers.  When the wandering foot gets to itching, it's time to move on.  That's how the pioneers did it.  Or was it the gypsies?  *scratches armpit*

So.  We moved a lot, but would always head back to Alaska.  Like a bad boyfriend.  But Alaska is cool.  And not just the winter nights *slaps knee whilst chuckling*.  It's just this great place filled with gorgeous mountains and really fun people.  It's where I grew up, where I learned to walk in snow, where I watched beluga whales...you should really go if you can.  It's like no where else on earth. 

And it was in Alaska that I began attending church.  I started going with a friend from school who invited me to check it out.  So I went.  And even after she moved a few months later to live with her dad, her mom still would come pick me up and take me to church. 

There's a whole lot I could say about this time.  It was defining.  It was deep.  It was intense.  It was fun.  It was life altering.  We weren't perfect people.  Many of us made really bad choices.  But we did it together.  And many of us are still friends, all these years later. 

And it was during this time of attending church, and learning all the dimensions of this idea of a relationship with God, that I began to think about my future, of what I would be when I Grew Up.  Because my childhood dream of becoming a scientist came crashing down when it was completely obvious that I sucked rocks at all kinds of science.  Like when I had to come back to school and finish a Physics project AFTER I graduated.  Yeah.  Ask me how much fun that was.

So it was on a warm summer night in the mountains of Alaska that I had a tête-à-tête with God, and I asked the age old question "what should I do?"  Nothing was written magically on the wall, no booming voice was heard, and yet deep down in the solid parts on my mind, along with random things like I DON'T LIKE AVOCADO and I THINK RAP MUSIC IS AWESOME, was the idea etched inside TEACH.

Teach.  Teaching.  Teacher.  Pretty open ended, I know.  But I was down with it, so I began to look for opportunities.  And I studied.  I read books, I read The Bible, I took classes teaching me how to read books and read The Bible. 

Then I went to college.  I left my mountainous home on a jet plane headed for the tiny town of Graceville, Florida, home of peanut farms and allergies to learn How To Teach.  And it was there I colleged.  At first, with a major in education.  One semester into this new and official forray into teaching, it became rather clear (like the science) that I sucked rocks at teaching in a classroom.  So it was with much trepidation and fear that I switched my degree to Theology.  And four years and a Husband later, I left that tiny college with an expensive piece of paper proclaiming I was now colleged in the arts of bachelors and theology.  Guess what?  That piece of paper is still grabbing my pocket monies. 

So, if you aren't asleep yet, you picked up on the fact that I met and married my Hubs during my collegy years.  He totally changed everything, man.  Not only did he not like rap music at.all., but he had ideas of what we would do when we Grew Up too.  And some of them were good.

Except, when he first told them to me, I wasn't down with it like I am my Fiber One granola bars.  Nay, in fact, I didn't know I could say "hell, no" in so many ways. 

Ok, enough for today.  Come back tomorrow and I'll skip my regular Friday post and finish this story.