I was born in Tallahassee, FL to two wonderful parents, John and Diane. We lived in a cul-de-sac in a neighborhood called Avondale. My two older brothers lived with us for a while. They are much older than me, eleven and nine years to be specific, so I only got to grow up with them in the house for ten years. I loved living in Avondale. I would go outside and play in the yard, or create bicycle courses with side walk chalk in the cul-de-sac. Our home felt so private, like we were in our own little world.
When I was five years old, I met my best friend Katie. She lived two houses down and we spent almost every day together. We might have spent too much time together, as sometimes I would just need a break from my best friend who was two years younger than I. But these "spats" or "fights" didn't last long. Within a few days we were back in the cul-de-sac riding our scooters through our sidewalk chalk courses and catching frogs and lizards down at the pond. I loved catching frogs and lizards, Katie...not so much. She would squeal sometimes if they jumped on her (love you kid) but I dragged her into it anyways. What a great friend I am. We would build habitats for our "pets for the day" out of boxes. These habitats quickly became two story homes with windows, stairs, and furniture as our creativity was endless. We recruited my daddy to help us create door knobs and such for our critters. Katie and I quickly realized that we could build homes not just for critters, but for ourselves. And so the scouting began. We went door to door in the neighborhood asking for old boxes and we created homes, duplexes, and cities out of these treasures, each one better than the last. From an outsider's view, we probably looked like homeless children, but we had so much fun doing it. Catching critters, building homes, and just playing in the neighborhood with Katie were some of the best times of my life. She is now a junior and high school and has matured into a beautiful young woman. Leaving her in Tallahassee was one of the hardest parts of moving to Gainesville, but we still remain best friends and I can't wait to see her again! 
Sports were a huge part of my childhood and still are today. For eleven years, from age three to fourteen, I was a gymnast. Gym Force is where I trained for three hours a day, and it was also my second home. My teammates were more than teammates, they were family. We traveled around the state and country together, flipping on balance beams and flying through the air. As much as I loved gymnastics, my body took some beatings. I bent/broke my left arm and had to have surgery, I broke my right foot, broke my nose, fingers, and a few toes. One of the reasons was that I was continually growing and in gymnastics, even a fraction of an inch can throw everything off. After breaking my nose the summer going into ninth grade, I decided that it was time to stop. Although I loved the sport, I was afraid. I knew it was over. Even though I was injured numerous times, I don't regret being a gymnast one bit. Gymnastics taught me so many things and prepared me to be able to do any sport that I set my mind to. I will never be as strong, flexible, and mentally fit as when I was a gymnast, and I miss that.
After leaving gymnastics, I shortly thereafter joined Capital City Rowing and became a competitive rower for two years. Crew is an extremely intense sport, just like gymnastics. (I think I have an addiction to intensity and adrenaline) There is nothing like being out on the water with eight other girls rowing in sync and feeling the water move beneath you. There was nothing like trying so hard during a race to win and collapsing over with exhaustion afterwards. I loved it. But, I had to stop crew before I was ready. Partially due to overuse from gymnastics and the other causes are unknown, but I developed an injury in both of my knees to where I could no longer row. It seemed to unfair to be sixteen years old and have my body, injuries, stopping me from something that I love. And to this day, I still am battling my knee injury. It's getting better, but I still can't do all of the physical activities I want to do.
Well, so much for a little more about me. That was kind of a lot more...oops. I'll continue to expand on my background, my "story" if you will. But for now, that's a pretty darn good start I think.
