Oh sheesh…. How does one start an “about me” page?… From the very beginning, I suppose?

Deep History…

Event Planning, specifically the planning of weddings has been the dream job that I always wanted. Since I was seven years old I have been planning my own wedding, not to mention that of my sister, brother, and everyone else I knew. Naturally, it being a dream job concept, it slipped away for awhile and took up lodging in the back corner of my mind.  Other careers became of great interest and enthusiasm as I got older, originally with a path to medical school, then coaching and teaching.

I still remember the phone call home that I ran down to the lobby to use a pay phone for… being 18… “Mom! I just delivered my first baby!” I can still hear my mom telling her office and giving a loud WOO HOO! With many echoing in the background. We both cried a little… then I went back up stairs to change about a billion diapers and gave about a thousand Apgar Scores and baths. In all reality, I didn’t actually “deliver” any babies… I got to stand over shoulders, hold moms’ hands and then one mom, who was so sweet and was on her 5th delivery, allowed me to clamp and cut the umbilical cord. Her daughter’s name is Mary McKenzie and I often wonder how she is doing.

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So that gives me my hospital experience to reference.

Coming back from Texas, I actually went on to college at the University of Oregon, and played volleyball for 2 seasons. I attempted to pursue the pre-med major but alas, Organic Chemistry, College Volleyball Schedules and ME didn’t mix (many, MANY student athletes have pulled this off, being a pre-med major, but apparently they understand O-Chem… not me! Brain = black hole)…. So it was sadly time for a major change…

I went on to get my Master’s degree in Education/Behavior Management, specializing in Special Education and Teaching and Learning. I wrote my thesis on “The Multi-Media Influences on Pre-Adolescent Conflict Resolution Strategy Development” I know, sounds like a mouth full… basically I compared how video games, social media and television affect brain development for violence and problem solving between the ages of 7 and 14. A major piece of my research landed on the negative impact from websites like Facebook and or course MTV and the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers. People who know me well know that I have never been a fan of Facebook, even an anti-promoter, but now you may know why! Though times have changed and to keep up professionally I must dive off the bridge with everyone else and participate in social marketing for business purposes. In recent truth, Facebook and I have come to an understanding and mutual respect for existence, so long as it isn’t abused….

Throughout college, I still managed to be involved with
coordinating, organizing and running of large events including the weddings of many friends. After 5 long years of college and obtaining a few degrees in Education, and the Master’s, I had intended to apply for the kindergarten position at the school where I did my student teaching. Unfortunately, at the time
our state was in that awesome teaching epidemic for budgets, the position filled internally and they actually let go a few teachers that year.

A few snowballs tipped over the hill for me those last two years of college:

I was a sub for 2 years following graduation in kindergarten and Special Education not quite part-time… about 2-3 days a week for 2/3 of the school year, for 2 years. So do some math there and you’ll get an understanding of my Teaching Experience. I have never actually run my own classroom, but was the #1 sub for all three kindergartens in our district those years. So they saw me a lot.

I had also been using my volleyball experience to coach club as a side job while I was also substitute teaching. I later became the Varsity Assistant at Sheldon High School, then the JV1 coach the following season.  So trying to sum up a lot of little jobs to form some sort of career! I received an opportunity to apply for a Head coaching position at Sheldon in 2007, which honestly knocked the wind out of me when the AD called back after my interview and offered me the job. I went on to coach at Sheldon for 6 seasons, earning 6 League Titles, 5 State Trophies, 4 Coach of the Year Awards and put one player in a D1 school every year. Not bad in my most humble opinions. The people I met while at Sheldon are still some of my very best friends today and I treasure those years probably more than any others (until my babies were born of course)

It was at our family Christmas in 2008 that my family gave me the final push I needed to start my own company. The one that I had always dreamed about! I settled into the Wedding & Event Coordinating business and opened to the public under the business name, Green-Eyed Girl Productions in 2009. In our first 4 “public” years we were fortunate enough to be able to
offer our clients all of our own rental items such as tables and chairs. This was a huge investment that had proven to be quite worth it, an initial kick start provided with a loan from my mother. Managing the rental company and coordinating involved me with hundreds of couples on their special days, though the rental company required me to be up at our 1,500 sq ft office building about 60 hours a week.

In 2012 I married my husband and in 2013 we had our first son. I closed down the rental company and transitioned to 100% coordinating in January of 2014, which has been an amazing experience. I now coordinate exclusively from home, being a work-at-home mom {WAHM throughout the blog} which has its own set of rewards and challenges. We moved to Stayton, OR in March of 2015 right after having our second son.

We both love the Stayton community and have attempted to immerse ourselves into the happenings as much as possible. I am particularly grateful for the community of parents and the opportunities Stayton provides for children through the library and other support groups. It is quite and amazing little bubble up here and we’re proud to be a part of it! I hope to share some of the many great experiences we’ve had already throughout the blog!

I also do this to make a tiny little profit and put all contributions from this blog into our kids’ 529 college savings plans. So by clicking on those ads to your right you’re educating my kids 😉 Thanks! I also use this blog to help promote my Etsy Store and the baby hats I sell, ALSO a direct contributor into the 529 College plans!

In researching how to properly do an “About Me” page for the blog I spied on a few of my favorite mom blogs to see how they did it. One fun feature were the favorites… which works out well for me because this was actually a common “Secret Sister” activity I did with my players at Sheldon every year on our retreat! So I already had the answers 🙂

Animal Print: Leopard print (see here where I found my spots)
Board Game: Monopoly
Candy: Bottle caps
Color: Green
Dessert: My mom’s pumpkin pie
Flower: Yellow Roses
Food: My dad’s spaghetti
Fruit: Pineapple
Hobby: Yoga
Ice Cream: Cake Batter
Movie: Big Fish
Number: 7
Restaurant: PF Changs
TV Show: Bones
Vegetable: Zucchini

One of my Etsy Teams actually did About Me Treasuries…way back when… Here is mine.