Hello? Are you there? This is my first blog. Am I supposed to wait for everyone to sit down before I start? No? Oh. Okay! Here I go!
I told you a little bit about me in the ABOUT section, but I thought I'd take this opportunity to really tell you who I am. So I was born in Dallas, Texas. Yep, I'm one of them. I am super proud to be a Texan and I try not to be annoying about it, but it's who I am. I lived all around Dallas growing up, moving almost every year until high school. I was able to do all four years at Anna High School in Anna, Texas, with a graduating class of 36 students. You can say I'm a small town girl, but I really love the city!
During my senior year in high school, I met an Air Force recruiter who changed my life. Although he was there for another student - who happened to be my ride home from school because he lived across the street - this recruiter ended up taking me into the fold of the U.S. Air Force that February of 1991. I graduated that summer and on July 2nd, I was headed to the airport to fly down to San Antonio for Basic Training. It was my first airplane ride and it lasted 30 minutes! "Off we go... "
The next 24 years, I would see the world and meet all kinds of interesting people, including my husband Leo. I spent many years overseas starting with South Korea. It was fascinating! I was a sponge, soaking up all the culture and sights of a new place. From there I was stationed in the panhandle of Florida for a couple of years. That's where I met Leo. His boss set us up on a blind date of sorts. Leo stood me up the first time... said he overslept. (After being married for almost 25 years, I can assure you, sleeping is his hobby!) I gave him another shot, and we were inseparable! Until I was stationed in South Korea again... But the Air Force was great about keeping us together, so after my one-year tour, we both ventured over to Germany for three years together. Again, I was in awe of traveling and experiencing all of the wonderful European cuisines and lifestyles.
After Germany, we were moved to Utah. It was a beautiful place with the mountains and salt flats. We had four seasons and I enjoyed it quite a bit. We bought our first home together and had some some cats. When we left five years later, I realized it was the longest I had ever lived in one house! Guess where we went when we left Utah!! South Korea!! Again! But because it is a remote assignment, we were not allowed to be stationed together and our bases were about 2.5 hours apart. That's okay. We took the "morale bus" to visit each weekend and by that time, internet was solid and we were able to keep in touch much more feasibly than our first time apart. (First time in Korea, we called each other and long distance was, like, $3 a min! Not even joking! So hooray for the internet!) While in Korea we were able to visit Australia for our 9th wedding anniversary! Oh, what a wonderful trip! If I could pick a place outside of Texas that I'd love to live out the rest of my life, it would be somewhere in Australia.
After our one-year tour in Korea, we were headed to northern California. We spent six years there and went through some career changes in the Air Force. Sliding down the back end of our career, we choose Arkansas as our final destination. Leo is from just outside Chicago and my family is in Texas, so it was a good mid-point for us. We bought our forever home and settled in here quite nicely. We both retired from the Air Force and Leo has woodworking to fill his time. I picked up a "real" camera in spring of 2018 and haven't put it down since!
So here I am! I guess this is enough to get started. I don't want to bore you, after all! But before you go, I should share 3 more things about me just in case it comes up. (I used to give this quick brief to any roommates throughout my military and now as I meet new friends in the civilian world.)
1. I talk a lot. For real!! And I probably won't even shut up even if you ask me to be quiet.
2. I'm sarcastic. I don't mean any malice with it! I think I'm funny. It's a defense mechanism, I'm told, but if I offend, please let me know.
3. I LOVE having my picture taken! I know, it's weird, right? Many photographers only like to be on the other side of that lens. Me? I LOVE being in the limelight! So I used to make my roommates take pictures of me often under the guise that I was sending images home to family. I was! But really, I just love being photographed.
Well, I guess you don't really need to worry about these three things since you could just click off my page when you're bored, but it explains a lot of who I am if we ever meet.
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