Nice to Meet You

You may be wondering, "Who is this "amylocks" and why am I reading her blog?  Well, let me introduce myself.

I'm a baker of bread and a maker of scrapbooks.  I like to cook good food and read good books.  I spend time with friends and I homeschool some kids.  I'm a taker of naps and lover of romance.  I regularly light candles and buy flowers.  I worry about my curly hair making me look unkempt and my Southern accent making me sound stupid.

I love being a wife to my sweet husband who has put up with me for 21 years.  TWENTY-ONE YEARS!  21 years of laughter and travel, nagging and laziness.  21 years of friendship and photographs.

I also love being a mom to my kids.....most of the time.  I occasionally want to hide under the covers or run away.  Sometimes I need a night at the movies alone or an afternoon when no one asks what's for dinner.  I get tired of driving my van to and from the high school and I get unnecessarily irritated by wet, smelly socks left on the laundry room floor.  

But, more than anything, I consider myself a follower of Jesus.  

More than marriage and motherhood, more than being a Southerner or an Auburn fan, more than anything, a relationship with Jesus has defined me.  I made a decision to follow Him when I was 15, and that one decision, more than any other, has shaped me;  has made me who I am.  And, this is really the only thing you need to know about me.

But, because of that one thing, I started on a path, a journey that has brought me where I am today.    

So, how did I get here?  To Nebraska (and now Pennsylvania)?  To a 40-something, stay-at-home mom?  To a blog where I'm putting far more of myself out there than anyone cares to see?

I guess it all started in Lanett, AL where I made life-long friends and learned how to skim a book.  I spent hours doing homework at the dining room table and twirling my baton in the front yard.  I grew up in the shadow of a magnolia and the shelter of a truly loving family.

The path next took me to college at Auburn University where I lived with my best friend from high school and learned how to break into my duplex apartment when I locked myself out.  I learned that you really do need to study to make good grades and that I wasn't cut out for the honor's program.  But, most of all, I fell in love.  

I met Bobby my freshman year and the rest of college is wound around my relationship with him, like we Auburn fans roll toilet paper around the trees at Toomer's Corner (or the trees that USED to be at Toomer's Corner).  The last part of my college life was spent daydreaming about our upcoming wedding while I was supposed to be learning how to teach history.

From there, the path gets a bit more circuitous.  A blissful first year in Montgomery, AL lead to missionary training just outside Chicago.  That training lead to 2 years in Baden, Austria, then, a short stint in Nashville, TN.  From Nashville, we moved to Birmingham, AL then to Fort Worth, TX.  From the Lone Star state, God brought us to Nebraska.  From here, we'll move to Pennsylvania.  We've lived in 11 homes in 21 years.  

Along the way, there's been good stuff:  mission work, twins, homschooling, travel, adventure and lots of friends.  But, there's also been bad:  infertility, job loss, comparing myself with any and everyone else, moving.  


In this blog, I'll share more about all this, but I just wanted to take a minute to really introduce myself so you'll know where I'm coming from.

That's just a bit about me.  I'd love to hear something about you!