Birmingham
The sense linked to strongest memory and emotion recall is smell. Have you ever used the shampoo from high school and the second you smell it, it takes you right back to that place and time? Sounds cliche (and maybe even more like a country song), but it’s true. The feelings you had in that season of life come flooding back. Birmingham is similar to that for me. Special memories and funny stories are intertwined into restaurant walls, hospital beds, and downtown streets.
I was raised in Jasper, Alabama but after going to college at the University of Montevallo, I fell in love with Birmingham. I knew it was a place that I could see myself putting down roots. Birmingham is lively yet serene, for singles while also for families. It has seen me through many ages and stages of life. It continues to be the place that I am proud to call home. Birmingham is where I got married, where we bought our first house, where we started growing our family. Truly, it is a place near and dear to me. Every where I turn, Birmingham reminds me of some of my greatest memories, and I know there is only more to come.
Mom
On October 18, 2021, my heart swelled in size. The baby we longed for and worked so hard for had finally arrived. My husband, JR, and I had struggled for infertility for several years before getting pregnant with the help of fertility treatment. So the day that Ruby was born was truly the happiest and long-awaited day of my life. Now, Ruby is two and everything I could’ve dreamed of for a daughter. She’s spunky, sweet, smart, thoughtful, funny, outgoing. Obviously, I could go on and on. However, that is not to say that motherhood is not hard. We all know as much as we love our children, sometimes we are just trying to make it to bedtime when those little eyes flutter closed for the night.
Even with the hard days and hair-pulling moments of raising a feisty and independent toddler, motherhood is my favorite thing on earth. I think it is because we worked so hard to get to this point: doctor appointments, ultrasounds, medicine, injections. And tears. Lots and lots of tears on my end. So now, even when I am at my wits end with the “no’s” from a little mini-me, I take a deep breath and remind myself that this was exactly what I hoped and wished and prayed for for years. And it’s true. I wouldn’t change it for anything in this world.
With a background in teaching kindergarten and library media, I enjoy creating authentic, novel, and engaging learning experiences for Ruby. I also enjoy sharing my knowledge of how a child learns with other moms and parents through my Instagram page. Like I always say, parents are a child’s first teacher.
Collective
I have always been fond of stories, poems, writing, and design. Creativity, ideas, and words are constantly flowing through my brain (side note: those who don’t have an inner monologue…how?!) I tried starting my own blog many years ago but, with teaching kindergarten, I just didn’t have the capacity for it. Now, I share my some of my creative side on social media, but I was still seeking an opportunity to write. I was so excited that Birmingham Mom Collective was searching for writers because it came about at the perfect time for me. I am thrilled to write for and share with the moms of Birmingham.
