A little about me!

This is my first blog so I thought I would start out by telling you a little about myself. I was born and raised in a small town in southwest Wisconsin by my loving parents, John and Carol. I also had a sister, Brooke, who was eight years older then I. I spent a lot of time when I was younger going to her sporting events and after she graduated, I went to visit her in Madison. When I was in 5th grade she had my nephew Tyler. That was one of the biggest highlights of my life! My nephew and I have always been really close and sometimes it seems he is more like my little brother then my nephew. Other then spending a lot of time with my family, I also spent a lot of time with friends. In a small town we didn’t have a lot to do so we spent most of our time at the local parks either being involved in different activities or watching adult softball games. Even when it was extremely cold we still spent some time outside but when we needed to go in my friends and I would normally end up at my house. I have always been very active even when it came to school I was at least a three sport athlete. In middle school I played volleyball, basketball, track and field, and played for two different softball teams. Playing sports carried into my high school years where I continued with three of the four sports. I played varsity volleyball for four years, junior varsity and varsity basketball and one year junior varsity, one year both junior varsity and varsity and two years varsity softball. Having support at every game from my parents and grandmother helped my love for sports grow even deeper. I was involved with many other activities in those for years but sports were the biggest motivator for me. During my second year in high school my sister also had my niece Chesny, who even though she is still pretty young is one of my very best friends. She and I love doing just about anything or even absolutely nothing together. In my third year of high school I started dating John, the man that would become my husband. John and I graduated from high school in 2002 and started working in a factory after the summer was over. As much as I didn’t like working in the factory it is an experience I wouldn’t change for anything. Working there I made friends that I will have for a lifetime.
In 2006, John and I made a choice to share our lives together and so a few of our friends and family took the eight hour plane ride to Hawaii were we would exchange our vows. Our special day was even more beautiful then I could have ever imagined! We also had a reception back in our home town for all the friends and family who couldn’t attend our wedding.
A few months after we got married we decided to move to the La Crosse area because my sister and her family lived there. Also there are more opportunities for the both of us to play sports. We have both taken advantage of greater amount of sports by getting involved in softball, basketball, I play volleyball and John sometimes plays football. We also made the choice because we both new we wanted to have a family someday and wanted to raise our family in a larger area. Since moving to the area we have rented a duplex and then a year later bought a house. Buying the house gave us the freedom to have pets which we both really wanted. So now we have two cats Kona and Buttercup who are brother and sister. We also have a black lab named Brett. We would like to add children to the mix some day but have had some difficulty doing that since I have had two miscarriages in the past few years. I do have many children in my life though. I help my sister with daycare during the week and a lot of those kids and there parents have become really great friends and some even like family. On the some weekends and weeks, we have kids that stay with us though the FCC respite program. We really love having these kids that are from so many different backgrounds. They really teach us a lot and make us appreciate every little thing we have in our lives. We are also thinking about becoming foster parents either though FCC or though the county.
In all this is pretty much who I am, I love my family, friends, children, animals, sports and pretty much every experience in my life. Even though I sometimes wish things would work more to my plan I remember that if it did I wouldn’t have some of the great experiences I have had. For example if I would have had a baby I may not have done respite care and wouldn’t know some of the amazing kids we have met though the respite care. I hope you enjoy learning a little about me, Jackie!