(I already wrote this once but it decided to go to techno world, which I loathe!!!!)
I was born in West Jordan, Utah and moved to Mesquite, Nevada when I was 7 years old. I was raised in Mesquite until moving to Ephraim, Utah to attend Snow college and earn my Associates degree. I moved back to Mesquite not knowing what I was to do with my life, which career path to take, what university to attend, or who I was to marry. I needed to go to school in order to stay on my parent's insurance so I attended Community College of Southern Nevada with my childhood friend Ashley. We both completed the phlebotomy course and was hired on at Mesquite Medical as a phlebotomist. I gained a lot of experience working there as a phlebotomist but it was time to get the "hell out of dodge". I moved to Cedar City, Utah thinking I would attend Southern Utah University in the spring. I got a job working at Robert's Arts and Crafts where I dominated at organizing ribbon and candles! Soon the winter season hit and I HATED it! I became depressed; hated being cold and shoveling snow. With only 5 months living in Cedar City, I found a job with Intermountain Healthcare in St. George, Utah working as a phlebotomist at the River Road Instacare. I worked as a phlebotomist in St. George for 3.5 years before transferring to Salt Lake City, Utah on a complete whim! I worked at the Salt Lake Clinic for another 3.5 years before quitting my job, again on a complete whim! I did go back to school while living in Salt Lake City. I attended the University of Utah and earned my bachelor's degree in Human Development and Family Studies, with an emphasis on child specialist. I quit my job not knowing what my next move was going to be. I just knew I had to get out. That there was more to life than drawing people's blood. That I am so much bigger than the bullshit I was dealing with every day. So, I quit. I went into early retirement and haven't looked back, not even once. I began the application process for the PeaceCorps but my patience ran out, as it always does. I looked into OSSO (www.orphanagesupport.org) and I was instantly drawn to their special needs orphanage in Cuenca, Ecuador. I thought "why not"! Haven't been to Ecuador before. Haven't worked in a special needs orphanage before. Let's do it! I came to Ecuador August 2015 and I haven't quite left yet....
January 2009 I took my first volunteer trip to Guatemala with a group from St. George, called Guatemala Children's Project (www.guatemalachildrensproject.org). We worked with an orphanage, cleaning and organizing, and of course playing with the children.
January 2011 I took another trip to Guatemala, this time taking my Dad with me. The group gave relief aid to those villages who had been swept away by the terrible rain and mudslides that had occurred the summer before.
August 2013 was my last trip to Guatemala. We worked with an organization preparing for them to open an orphanage. We built bunk beds, worked in a school, and interacted daily with the local children.
Upon graduating from the University of Utah, I joined Destiny Rescue (www.destinyrescue.org/us/) in July 2014 on a trip to Cambodia and Thailand. The group fights everyday to rescue underage children from sexual exploitation and human trafficking. This has been THE hardest reality I have yet to witness. This trip tested my physical, emotional, and spiritual strength. (I'll talk more about this trip later.)
This is quite the timeline but I wanted to share my journey of how I got here. How I got to living my dream. As you can see, I was never set out on an amazing career path. I never knew what I wanted to be although I woke up every day with a new career in mind; oncology nurse, photographer, sex therapist, travel agent, nail artist, social worker, and the list goes on. With so many ideas of "What I Want To Be When I Grow Up", I saw this as weakness. Did I lack motivation? Am I just lazy? Where's the drive to learn? Why can't I decide? Why was growing up so damn hard? Through all the confusion, this is what I did know. I wanted to work with orphanages. I wanted to work internationally. I wanted to work with disadvantaged children. I wanted to share my love with those who had been abandoned of such love.
I just wanted to love.
When I was offered to stay in Ecuador as a Volunteer Director for the OSSO program, I was speechless. Was my dream literally just handed to me? With no application process or series of interviews, did my dream just come true? The truth was, it did. My dream of working in an international orphanage, able to love so many children daily, did come true. High Five!
Now I could go into each specific detail of how I got to this point in my life (without even knowing it) and perhaps I will in other posts but, do know that trusting your gut, having faith in your heart, and following the path you are set out to be on will get you where you need to be, to your dream. It's an incredible feeling and breath of fresh air knowing that all the confusion and shit you had to deal with got you to where you need to be.
Make your own decisions and then trust them. It may be a long road ahead but you'll get there. I know you will.
