Age: Late 20's
Current Residence: Dallas/Fort Worth area, Texas
Marital Status: Single.
Children: 1 - Isabella - age 2. She practically has her own blog. As my Mother says, "She's the most documented child in US history." and it's pretty true. But, I love capturing it all! Check it out here.
Hometown: Grew up in Allen, Texas. Graduated from Allen High School. My claim to fame there was my obsession with drill team. I loved being an Allen Tallenette regardless of it's setbacks. In drill team is where I really learned my love of dance. (It would just take me 3 consequent years of NOT dancing in college to realize that.)
Parents: Dennis and Suzanne, married 30 years this year!
Siblings: 1 - Jeffrey - mid 20s.
College: Texas Christian University. Major was Psychology, minor was Communications. I was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority for 3 years, VP of Finance my Sophomore/Junior year. I dropped because our pledge class never came together like I hoped and I lost any remaining interest I had on a loser boy who was much older. Plus, I really stuck my foot in my mouth with drama and hence FINALLY learned the lesson to shut my mouth. I dropped before my Senior year - no regrets.
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Post-College: The first year following college graduation, I had a handful of job offers but, turned them down to teach dance full-time and went to Grad school for counseling at UNT and moved back home with my parents in order to "figure out" what I wanted to do. My now ex-husband (then boyfriend) was also trying to finish his undergrad degree at SMU so, I was unconscious/consciously waiting for him to finish. He did and we moved in together (after 2 years of dating). After teaching dance for a year and realizing I was sick of school, I took a job in HR for a mortgage company and consequently worked in HR for a year until, I started teaching dance again PT and was soon offered a FT position at the studio as the Director.
Dance Life: Started as the Director (with an owner being the owner of the building and program). Started with 17 kids and little hope for the upcoming school year (due to it being September already and the August back to school boom was gone). Finished the year with over 100 kids. Worked my butt off day and night for little money and bonuses that were promised and never came. It took a HUGE hit on my personal life and yet, I loved every minute of it. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. After a year, the owner offered the studio to me and said if I didn't take ownership, it would shut down. Stupidly, I said yes. I loved it too much regardless of the risks. After taking a quick ownership, I was then thrown the card that the building we were in would be sold and I needed to build out somewhere else. After months of searching and hoping it would work, I realized it was too much for me to take on and I closed the studio in December (in the end it was only a full time studio for a year and 1/2). I kept my teams going for another year while subleasing but, at the end of that year, knew it was time for all of us to move on (they outgrew me and I had more responsibility at home.)
Pregnancy: Became pregnant with Isabella, January 2010 (less than one month after closing the studio). Thank goodness I closed the studio!!! What a potential overwhelming nightmare that could have been. Isabella was not planned. AG and I were not married. I had just closed the means of any income I had and we were not financially or mentally prepared for a baby. Plus, after my initial visit to the doctor to determine I was indeed pregnant, they threw the information out that my insurance didn't cover pregnancies (damn self employment insurance!!!) I was scared beyond belief. Luckily, God was in our corner and I ended up walking into delivery with 4 different insurances (YES, 4!!!) and ended up paying next to nothing for my care and delivery (I'm sure the premiums alone through paid for them self). In the end, it was still cheaper than having to pay cash for our delivery and we were blessed with a beautiful, healthy little girl.
Motherhood: Went back to work for 6 weeks following Isabella's birth to an amazing employer who offered me a FT job at 9 months pregnant. I knew in my heart regardless of a great job at an amazing company, I had to leave. I still had a some dance classes that continued a few months after that but, then, in May 2011, I officially became a FT Stay-at-Home Mom (SAHM). I'm sure by reading my posts, you can conclude the joys and tribulations I've faced with that. In the end, I truly enjoy it and LOVE getting to spend my days watching my sweet baby (now toddler) grow.
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