Oh, dear me.

I would be an English professor's worst nightmare. I write in a fashion similar to the way I think. In other words, I ramble, my ideas are disjointed, and I write my thoughts as they appear, as though I'm reading a teleprompter. It is a difficult habit to break, as I often don't remember what I was thinking ten minutes ago. After re-reading my first post, I realized it warrants some explanation because it reads like a page torn from the exact middle of a book.

So. Here goes.

I'm a 23 year-old woman who's grown up knowing the importance of love, forgiveness, education, and hard work, thanks to the diligent, loving examples set by my parents and extended family. Though many of my life's lessons have been learned by experience, a number of them are from this wonderful source.

I'm married to my best friend. We've been crazy about each other for five years now. We got engaged on Valentine's day of this year, and decided to get married at the courthouse 2 months later, on April 16. On April 23, we closed on our first house, where we live with a dog, 3 cats, a fish, 2 frogs, 2 gerbils, 3 rats and a hamster. We also welcomed my 14-year-old brother-in-law into our home. That's a long story...

I love ladybugs. You have no idea.

I also love reading, crafts, and watching movies with my hubby.

I'm going to school to become a veterinary technician, an extension of my love of animals.

Annnnnd, that's it for now. Plenty more to come, I'm pretty complex sometimes.

Forward march.

All my life, I was moving forward. I filled my life with pets and activities, and always looked forward. Forward, forward, forward. I was always moving on to the next "thing," never taking time to be...still. Then, my life hit a curtain. Not a wall, so much. That would imply impact, and I didn't feel a sudden crash as the dummy driving my life's car hit brick. No, my life hit a curtain. And flail as I might, I couldn't seem to move forward. I recently went through the difficult phase in one's life when everyone else is getting married. Emphasis on *everyone else*. Then, in a blur-my head is still spinning-everything happened at once. I got engaged, got married, bought a house, and became legal guardian of my 14 year-old brother-in-law...all in a span of 6 months. I am ready for things to slow down.