About me - part 1

I'll be 36 in two short months. I have lived in 6 states and 2 countries. I'm on my second marriage and couldn't be happier.

My life began in Coos Bay Oregon. My parents had been trying for several years to have a baby. When I was born, they had been married for 5 years. My dad had his 10 year high school reunion that year. My dad was in the Coast Guard and gone a lot. I think we moved to Washington when I was a toddler. We were there for 2- 2 1/2 years. I don't remember much other than frequent trips to the beach.

We moved to California just before my 5th birthday. I started kindergarten that fall. My parents were happy to adopt a 6 month old baby boy in January. We stayed in our first home until I completed 2nd grade. We then moved to another base just about 35 minutes away. We were thankful to be in the same LDS stake. From what I remember, I began to struggle to find my place after this move. It was difficult being the new kid and from a military family. My 3rd grade teacher was wonderful but left to have a baby and I was left with a less than desirable substitute. She could never get my name right and just didn't seem to like me. My moods began to shift quickly. My mom's dad was supposed to baptize me and my dad was going to do the confirmation. I had a freak out moment and became terrified of the whole idea. My dad ended up baptizing me. I'm honestly not sure what happened to change my mind. My mom says that I became very moody and difficult to manage at the age of 8. I was blessed with a wonderful 4th grade teacher and began to make friends at school and on base. I still couldn't find my place and was often the subject of bullying. I am told that the bullying also carried over into my church meetings. 5th grade was not the best year. The substitute teacher from 3rd grade came back to be my full time teacher for 5th grade. I encountered the same issues as I had before. I began to realize that I found favor with boys and got more positive attention from them.

I advanced to junior high and discovered that it was more difficult to find friends there. My relationship with my mom worsened due to my moodiness. We moved back to our original base and I finished 7th grade at a middle school. I knew no one and it was a difficult transition. My interest in boys grew as my relationships with girls continued to fail.  I felt more comfortable in male company as I was never ridiculed or bullied by them. Little did I know, I was suffering in a different way. I chose to be with boys but was losing my virtue in the process.

High school was another difficult adjustment. I was trying to fit in with those girls from church but never did as they were a tightknit group. They had all known each other for years and I was an outsider. There was only one other military girl in our ward that was my age. She too had lived there for several years and fit in. I got involved in clubs and choir at school. I also found boys again. This time they were older and it made me feel special. I struggled to find female companionship. My mom and I were still on the rocks. She wanted the best for me. I am sure it was difficult for her to stand on the sidelines to watch my trials. I finally found a good group of girlfriends my junior year that carried into my senior year. None of them were members but all were "good" girls that were not involved in any less than desireable activities. We spent lots of time just hanging out. My senior year, I found a guy that I really liked. It was interesting to me that this genuine relationship didn't come with the physical relationships like in the past. He was from the area that I had spent my  late elementary school years. We were also on the same stake committee that planned activities for all of the young men and young women. We talked on the phone and often went to dances together.

My dad retired from the Coast Guard when I graduated from high school. My parents chose to make the move to Utah. I had applied for college at BYU - Idaho which was then Ricks College. I was denied and chose to settle on Weber State University.