About Me... More than 1,200 characters

I am married to a fearless, opinionated fire fighter who takes care of me how I need to be taken care of. I may complain about his “taking care of me”, but it’s what I need and it has only taken him ten years to figure out. I think we’re getting pretty good at this marriage stuff. Along the years, we have had two boys—Jackson is a shy but marvelously charming 8-year-old and Grayson is a 5-year-old who will steal your heart with the wink of his crystal blue eyes. I live near my home-town where my parents still live. My sister, Lori, and her family also live very close by. I have known her husband, Nick, since he was a teenager and they have given me a charismatic nephew, Carter, and Olivia, the most beautiful niece to ever walk the face of this earth. I am so blessed to be near them. I am possessive about my Sundays, as my family converges together for a magnificent meal most always cooked by my mother. It’s the only time my boys and I get a home-cooked meal as I DO NOT cook.

I am as close to my husband’s family as I am my own. His mother is one of my closest friends and we talk, by choice, on a daily basis. She is like my second mother. His sister, her husband, and my two nephews live less than 15 minutes away. I have so cherished watching AJ and Alex grow up. Seems like just yesterday, they were a 5 and 10-year-old walking down the aisle at my wedding. Now AJ is about to graduate high school and Alex has matured so much over the years. In my opinion, they are athletic superstars and I couldn’t ask for better role models for my boys. I consider hanging out with my family and extended family as something to look forward to… something I WANT to do.

Teaching is my passion and I am so fortunate that I get to go to work every day to a job that I couldn’t live without. In my opinion, being a teacher is the most rewarding profession there is. I am not a teacher because of the money. I am not a teacher because it runs in my family. I am not a teacher by chance. I am a teacher by choice. Each year, with each class, I fall in love with those little people who walk through my door. I give everything I have in to everyday I can. I work very hard to build a relationship of mutual trust and respect with each and every single one of my students. I started working with kids when I was 18 years old. I worked for at an afterschool program for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Collin County. I knew, without a doubt, that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

As if teaching everyday is not enough, last summer, I chose to go back to school to get my Master’s Degree. Just typing that is exhausting. Graduate school is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do… but as hard as it is, and as much as I complain, and as stressed out as I get, I love the challenge and I look forward to the intrinsic reward it will bring. I will graduate from the University of Texas at Arlington Graduate School of Education with a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a Literacy Focus in May 2011. Told you it was exhausting.

And as if being a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a teacher, and a student was not enough, I am also an avid softball player. Coed softball player. In a recreational league. It’s really not that serious, but I would feel empty without it. Ok, that’s a bit dramatic, but I absolutely love playing. I love the people on my team, I love the freezing cold and sweltering hot weather we endure and I really love hitting the tar out of a softball. I play most Monday nights and that’s what my Mondays are. That’s why I actually look forward to Mondays. I could live without softball, but I would be pretty darn grumpy without it.

So there, about me in a little less than 800 words (3,768 characters to be exact).