Have you ever been to a youth camp or company retreat where they play ice-breaker games so everyone gets a chance to get to know one another better? One of my favorites is 2 Truths and a Lie. It’s such a fun way to learn new things about people! So let’s play! Here are my 2 truths and lie:
- I made my own wedding dress
- I met my husband through a dating app
- I dropped out of high school
I’ll give you a minute… what do you think?
The idea of making my own wedding dress is crazy right?! Like who in their right mind would take on that task? Well, I would! Ha ha… I do love a challenge! So there’s one truth. What’s the other? Well considering I hold a dual-major Bachelor’s and an MBA, odds are I graduated from high school. But, I didn’t! Winter break came around my Senior year of high school and I had about enough of the drama so I dropped out and got my GED. That’s my second truth. So the lie – I did not meet my husband on a dating app. We actually just met up through an introduction by mutual friends.
There is actually a lot of story behind each of the following truths, and definitely some future blog post material! But for now, here are some interesting truths about me:
Truth #1: I made my own wedding dress!
Every girl has fantasies about what her dream wedding dress will be like. When I first spotted my dream dress, it was love at first sight! The model was standing next to a beautiful horse in a gorgeous champagne-colored strapless dress that appeared to be layered with soft petals of fabric. When I clicked the link to find out where to purchase this dream dress, my dream was smashed to pieces. Apparently I was in love with a Vera Wang original called “The Hayley” which carried a price tag of $7,000. Way outside of my price range. So what else was there to do except try to make my own version right? So with five months till my wedding date, I binge watched Project Runway episodes every night after work for motivation and created my version of her masterpiece.
Truth #2: I am a high school drop out
This may really surprise some, because I had always been a good student, with good grades, and very ambitious. However, when I was a senior in high school, I made some very poor choices when it came to partying and friends. I decided I was done with the high school drama and answering to school authority. When winter break came around, I left school and never returned. I ended up taking the GED tests at my local community college, passed, and enrolled in college classes the next fall.
Truth #3: Before business school, I went to beauty school
Talk about a complete 180 in career pursuits, right? From Beauty School to Business School?!
Gabbie was a few months old and I was getting restless as a stay-at-home-mom. I knew I wanted to go back to school. I had started taking business courses at my local community college a couple years before, but wasn’t passionate about what I was pursuing, so I had put that on hold. My husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, asked, “Why not beauty school?” I’m pretty sure I actually laughed out loud, because at that time of my life, I was a messy bun, no makeup, sweats & sneakers type of girl. I didn’t think I had any business going to beauty school. After all, my sister was the one who did hair, she was always so talented at it, I had no experience at all. After taking a tour of a local beauty school in downtown Portland, I thought, “Why not?!” I had no idea what else I wanted to do at that time, I just knew I needed to do something.
Although doing hair and makeup didn’t end up being a career I pursued long-term, I loved the time I spent discovering this creative outlet! I worked in a salon for a few months but really found a passion for doing hair styling and makeup artistry for brides and their bridal parties. I worked freelance for a couple years before switching gears and pursuing Business.
Funniest moment – when the makeup portion of Esthetics class begun and we were all asked to bring our makeup bags to school with us. I showed up with eye liner, mascara and chapstick. That’s it. My instructor, Miss Becca, thought I was joking. “No… for real, that’s all I own.”
Truth #4: I’ve had two weddings
The wedding most remember is the ceremony we had on May 31, 2014 at Activate Church. (Where I debuted my wedding dress!) It was simple, with family and close friends, and just perfect for us. Gabbie, our daughter, was five at the time, and the prettiest flower girl ever.
The wedding that most people don’t know about, took place about 5 1/2 months prior, on December 13, 2013. Junior and I went to the Clark County Courthouse and were married by the judge with just our immediate family present. It was important to us to be married sooner rather than later, because obviously having been intimate before (hence our daughter), we still wanted to display how we both believed marriage should be approached and set an example for our daughter.
The courtroom ceremony lasted all of about 3 minutes, then Junior and I were off to our Groupon-purchased hotel weekend in Portland. Just a short-and-sweet (and affordable) getaway to go goof off without the kid. She got to hang out with grandma that weekend. Our “honeymoon” came about three years later when we took a trip to Hawaii with our daughter. We had so much fun and I can’t wait until we can go back again!
Truth #5: I’ve had a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy
Almost exactly one year ago, on May 14, 2018, we had the surprise of our lives. A positive pregnancy test! I was a bit in shock, Junior was definitely in denial, ha ha. I mean, we weren’t trying to get pregnant, but we weren’t trying not to get pregnant. I had stopped taking my birth control pills and we just decided to let whatever happen… well, happen. So it wasn’t but a couple months and I just had a feeling that I was pregnant. So we picked up some tests and what do you know?! I was pregnant!
Long story short, it was a very stressful and emotional few weeks of testing and multiple trips to the clinic, as well as one to the emergency room and it was confirmed that my pregnancy, was an ectopic pregnancy. At that time, I was not familiar with just how serious ectopic pregnancies are! And I feel extremely lucky in this case that while I had an ectopic pregnancy, I was also experiencing a miscarriage.
Considering the health concerns that come along with having an ectopic pregnancy, which would have had to have been aborted, the fact that my body was miscarrying this baby was a sort of blessing in disguise. My body handled the situation naturally, just as God had designed, and I feel extremely lucky that no harm or permanent damage was done to my body.
It took some time to recover both physically and emotionally after that. Junior and I decided to hold off on trying to get pregnant again for a while and I went back on the pill. Now here we are, exactly one year from the first positive pregnancy test, and I’m 25 weeks pregnant with our son. I have no words that can honestly express just how thankful I am and how blessed I feel to have this opportunity to bring another child into this world. I thank God for entrusting me with the opportunity to bring new life into this world again and am so excited to see my family grow.
Another truth…
I feel humbled and privileged that you would take the time to visit my website and read my blog posts! Writing has always been a passion and a creative outlet for me. The fact that this avenue is available to me to be able to share my life with you is so amazing. I feel very fortunate to be where I am in life now. I have had my fair share of challenges, heartache and losses, but also the opportunities to learn from them and grow into the woman that I am today.
My life has been what I would consider to be a beautiful mess and I plan to continue to grow and learn from each new season I enter into and each experience I have, both good and bad. My hope is to share real life experiences with you that will encourage, inspire and empower us all to be the best mothers, and women that we can be. If you have a story you’d like to share, please let me know! I’d love to connect with you and collaborate on something great! As mothers and women, it is important that we stick together, to encourage one another through challenges and to celebrate together through the wins! I’m proud to be included in this awesome generation of modern day moms and am excited for what’s to come!
