My Father, Bryan:
I am a daddy's girl through and through. He has always given me perspective and taught me how to think outside of myself [even though I still sometimes don't] I can talk to him about anything. He has been through so much in his life that sometimes I look back and barely understand how he was able to be such an
incredible parent, while the things that happened where happening. He has the largest heart I've ever seen in anyone and I just hope that I inherited his strength and love for people. I feel like I don't have the words to describe how amazing of a person he is. He is not judgmental, he doesn't overly criticize me and he's probably the funniest person I know. I have learned so much from my dad, and I definitely would not be the person I am today without him to level my head out and help me through life's roughest moments. I have a tattoo for him of a purple dahlia [his favorite flower that grows in his backyard] in the elbow ditch on my left arm. He's the best.
My mother, Samantha:
My mom and I haven't always been the closest, but after the past 5 years or so she's become one of my best friends and my hero. My mom is such an incredible lady. She has accomplished so much in her life and I hope to have that ambition as I grow older. I talk to her about everything, her and I share the same love for coffee, gossip and planning trips. I sometimes feel like I wish I could do more for her because she's done so much for me. [one day mom] I am really happy that I have such a positive female influence in my life to light a fire under my ass when I'm feeling down. I can't begin to explain how many hard times my mom has helped me through and I'm finally in a place of my life where I can feel like an adult and someone that she can be proud of.
My Stepdad, Matt:
So, I know that he's not my
birth parent, but I care about him like a parent. He has contributed a lot of insight and advice on my life that I needed. I remember one time when I was having a really bad week/month of breakdowns and could not shake the sadness and the disappointment in myself and he wrote me a note and left it on the counter [at the time I was living with him and my mom] and it was a letter of serious encouragement. It meant so much to me, and I have to admit, I still keep it in my wallet and look at it when I feel sad. He's a really great man and I'm so happy for my mom that she has found someone who has such a tremendous heart and cares so much about her and her family.
Over all, I feel like I am truly blessed with parental influence. I can't imagine who I would be with any other parents and I am grateful that they are here for me to encourage, inspire and sometimes push me to where I didn't think I could go.
When I was 19, I went to Paris with a friend I worked with. After the first day, he decided that Paris wasn't a place that he wanted to be and left. So, I hung out in Paris solo for 10 days. It's probably the best vacation I've ever been on. I loved everything about that city. I had a friend that had a friend that lived in Paris, and I met up with him a few of the nights and I got to see the non-tourist side of paris. We went to a few night clubs and went to this bar called the Shabeen where I met a few European famous people. I also was able to go see one of my favorite bands at the time 'The View' at a really awesome venue that reminded me of a less beat-up Kilby Court. A few things I regret not doing while was there was going inside of the Louvre, seeing Versailles, and not researching what days The Catacombs were open [I saved it for the last day, and it was closed]
