Who Am I?

So many facets - so many feelings. I am, at times, just not sure - I only know that I love the people in my life fiercely and deeply.

I am the little girl that spent holidays at the beach in South America when my family lived in Lima, Peru. It was not more than a simple building with no window panes. I remember a black swimsuit with white flowers and my father with brown hair. I think we walked in the water to harvest lobster but that's quite fuzzy. I just know that I love the water, the waves, the sounds and it resonates in my soul.

I'm the child that complained about always having to go on "nature walks" with my mother and then ended up living in Alaska self-studying plants, harvesting and preparing wild edibles (not to mention hundreds of jars of jelly!).

I am the little girl that pretended she was Laura Ingalls Wilder in Little House on the Prarie when I picked dewberries. If I didn't pick enough berries, my family would go hungry. That's probably the only reason there were enough to make cobbler with, they sure were yummy!

I am the want-to-be young woman that graduated high school at 17 and left for a year to live in Germany. I experienced excitement, history, independence, culture, self-reliance, adaptability, and how to live life to the fullest!

I am the little girl that carried an orange bag with a green frog applique that had books. I wanted to read as I was being tugged along the halls of the airport and stubbornly sat down and proceeded to read in the middle of the passageway.

I was the young woman that begged for the Alaska assignment thinking I could drive on the "Alaska Marine Highway" to all the little villages. Ha! I'm also the one that fell in love with the land - I hiked, I fished, I camped...I moved a month later and stayed 17 years.

I am the young child that didn't understand all the hubbub when I held hands with the sweetest little Aborigine boy and went exploring at the creek behind the house of a birthday party I attended when I lived in Australia.

I am the child, the young-woman and now a mother that loves to picnic!

I still love the feel of sand between my toes.

I am Girl Scout, a college graduate, a mother of two beautiful boys.

I am a young woman that dodged the KGB in Russia;)

I am also the woman that slept under the stairs on the ferry to Greece.

I am the person that remembers names or faces but rarely both at the same time.

I am the girl that at 13 got her headgear stuck on a trip to Oklahoma and had to have all my food either blended or be soup and suck it through a straw.

I was a long distance swimmer and center (or "hole") for water polo.

I love God's light, clouds, and hummingbirds.

I despise roaches, they creep me out - esp. those flying ones.

I am a survivor of dark times and of the deepest wounds.

Yet, I can experience joy reverberating through my body as if it were electricity!

I can endure, create, survive and eliminate chaos. I can also find peace from within when I focus.

I can be alone and like the company I keep.

I still love the sound of the ocean.

I am good at small talk and the "grip and grin" but don't always enjoy it - let's get down to the heart of who we are and make deep connections. I want to feel and experience your essence...not the business sense of who you think you are.

I LOVE brainstorming and being passionate about projects/ideas/theories.

I don't feel my age. Though, honestly, there are some moments...

I don't split my oreos when I eat them - I dip them in milk and then take a bite.

I still love to feel the grass under my bare feet. In fact I prefer to be barefoot all the time.

I wrote the President when I was in elementary about billboards covering up the beauty of the land, they sent a letter and a "Keep America Beautiful" kit.

I helped design a billboard this year. I still don't like them.

I am so sentimental and I cry at all Hallmark commercials and the coffee commercials where families wake up and someone they love is home.

I like peace and harmony.

I am a certified beer judge - and studied hard for it!

I am the little girl that remembers clear as day, my father (an engineer) teaching my brother and I how to make a kite from scratch.

I grew up in a house where we ate dinner together, with all the familial passion: fights/laughing/communication.

I love when my children crawl in bed with me and snuggle close. There isn't anything better in life than to know you are needed and loved in return.

I still love to watch the sun set and the sun rise.

I love talking until all hours about nothing and everything.

I just love...