A little about me...

I started this blog originally without intending to make it public. I had done blogging as a teenager and into my early twenties via LiveJournal and for a brief stint on MySpace... while they were both public forums my audience was limited to friends and friends once-removed for the most part. Blogging has gotten so much bigger since then and this community is huge and more than a little intimidating. One of the things about going live with this blog that worried me was the truly public format. I'm usually a relatively private person. I have opinions about everything and I voice them often but the majority of personal subjects tend to stay close to home.
Until now.
Even if I were to attempt to limit the scope of this blog, no doubt it would develop a life of it's own just like the others before it. I looked back at the posts I wrote when I figured very few people would be allowed to read it and realized that I didn't want to edit them just because I had committed to multiplying that number indefinitely. So to limit posts after that didn't really make sense either. This blog has been public for about a month now and I've already gotten more support and a bigger following than I expected. I'm completely happy with my decision to open up and share our lives with you and I look forward to the friendships that have yet to be formed. So for everyone who doesn't know me in real life, here are a few things about me:
-I'm 31 but I still feel 25. I've felt 25 since I was 15.
-I live with my beautiful baby girl, who was the inspiration for this whole project, and my best friend in a city I love more than anywhere else I have ever been (and I've been all over the country.)
-No, Aurora's 'father' is not in the picture. Mutual decision? Sort of. More about that in future posts I'm sure.
-I am determined to do the best I can at everything I attempt. I want to do everything better than the majority of people who have done it before me. If I am going to do something I am unfamiliar with, I research and ask questions and use my instincts and common sense to be sure I do it right. Parenting is my latest challenge and I am approaching it no differently...
-I love reading, writing and anything and everything creative and artistic.
-I am always honest and often super opinionated. This has gotten me into a few less-than-civil 'conversations'. If I have an opinion about something it is virtually impossible to make me back down. That being said, I will always admit when I am wrong. Having opinions and being pigheaded are two very separate things.
-I'm not one of those people who says 'I want my kid to have everything I didn't'. It's not true. I want her to have everything I DID. I have nothing but fond memories of my childhood (it was the decade between ten and twenty that got a little dicey). I always felt loved and cared for and I can only hope that one day my little girl will be able to say the same.
-I love food and anything relating to it. I used to work in restaurants but the kitchen atmosphere was a real soul crusher and kept me from enjoying cooking in my personal life. So I quit. Now I'm back to cooking, baking, scouring farmer's markets, writing and adapting recipes, trying every new thing I can find... One of my main goals in parenting is being sure that Aura develops a healthy relationship with food. Does this mean food posts in the future? Probably!
-When I was growing up my mother was always home with me. We did everything together. It was a luxury that most kids don't have these days and I'm committed to making sure that Aurora does. There may be a few days here and there when she'll have to be watched while I work, but I don't want that to be the norm for her. Truth be told, I'm still not sure how I'm going to accomplish this, but I'm willing to do the work and fight for it.
-Music is terribly important to me. 'Some people believe in god, I believe in music. While other's pray, I turn up the radio.' I'm surprised and a little bummed about the source of that quote (a 30 Seconds to Mars video?!!?) but I couldn't have said it better myself.
-I love being outside and just the smell of the ocean makes all of my hair stand on end... in the best way possible. Nothing feels more perfect to me than the sun on my shoulders and the wind in my hair, except maybe my little bean's breath on my cheek. Combine all three and I have no need for heaven, I am already there...

So that's it. Me in a nutshell. I look forward to getting to know all of you as well!