I’m so excited to link up with Stephanie over at Bowmania and Angie over at Many Little Blessings today with a few things to share about myself with all the ladies I’m looking forward to meeting in just a few more days at the Titus 2:1 Conference! Here’s me in a nutshell–so you don’t have to read my blog to get to know me before we meet next week!!

1. I’m an eternal optimist. I believe there’s very few things in life that can’t be fix, but if it really can’t then we should just let go and move on. I tend to have a very long-range vision and there’s very few plans that won’t work if you just give yourself a few more years. {grin} Sure, I get down sometimes but, especially when other’s get upset, I tend to be able to see the rainbow through the rain.

2. I’m a planner. Seriously. That’s been my job title for 10 years, and matches both my personality type (I’m an ENTP, btw) and my passion. My Mr. Fix-It is not. At all. It makes life interesting. Planning and executing are two different things, though. I’m a big picture girl and I can lose details easily if I don’t focus. That makes our life together even more interesting from time to time.

One boy in boots.

3. I don’t watch much TV. I prefer movies, and I prefer happy endings (remember, I’m an eternal optimist!). I think life has enough painful drama and depression in it that I don’t need to watch more of it to “relax.” I do make an exception for Without a Trace and Criminal Minds when Mr. Fix-It isn’t home, but I usually have bad dreams afterwards.

4. I absorb a lot of TV anyway. Mr. Fix-It is a TV watcher, so I tend to absorb a lot of it while reading or writing in the living room with him in the evenings. He likes “reality” guy-stuff TV. So if you haven’t had an update on Axe Men, Gold Rush, or American Pickers lately I can probably catch you up.

5. I love music. You can tell if I’m the only one home because the stereo is on rather than the TV.

Two boys in boots.

6. I lost my parents in a motorcycle accident in 2006. It defines who I am now…it’s part of every breath I take…it’s part of what I’ve become and what I’ll never be…but it’s the most awkward thing to bring up. “Hi, I’m Jamie. I’m a motherless mother…I’m an orphan…I’m sort of a PTSD parent after having my parents ripped out of my life when I was only 27 years old…” There’s just no way to say it that doesn’t make everyone involved cringe. I actually don’t mind talking about it most of the time–like I said, it’s part of who I am and it’s definitely part of who I am as a mother. It’s just that ice-breaker moment when it first comes up…

7. I have 3 strong-willed children. Yep, 3. Out of 3. People who know me say they know where they get it. Yeah, me too. From their father.

8. Yes, these are my real eyes. I wear contacts–I’m blind as a bat without them–but they’re not color contacts. This is my God-given eye color, I promise. (It comes up more than you’d think!)

And dusty jeans.

9. I struggle to be flexible. Conviction comes easy to me. Being flexible, changing directions, revising the plan, forgiving and forgetting (most of all myself!)…these are things that are only coming to me slowly, as I mature–and parenting beats me into submission. {grin} God’s doing amazing work in my heart on these things.

10. I love fiercely. I hold tightly. I protect fearlessly. I think it’s a gift.