Summing Up My Life in 250 Words

I decided to participate in a writing challenge to blog every day in May! I can already tell that this is going to be exciting. I'm going to be disclosing a lot more than I ever have on this blog before, and you're going to get to know me a whole lot better. And, hopefully, my writing will continue to improve. I mean, that never hurts, right? If you're interested in participating in this challenge, you can head over here and find the writing prompts and all of the information.

Now, prepare to hear the story of my life in 250 words. It's a little choppy because I was trying to keep the word count low, but I'm sure you'll get the gist of it. It's kind of crazy how much you have to cut when sticking to a word count!

I was raised to know who I am and what I believe, but somewhere along the way I got lost. My childhood was mostly happy, but it was also unstable and scary at times. I had to make hard decisions at a young age. I got lost in books. At some point, I turned into a teenager. I snapped. Rebelled. Questioned everything. But no one had any answers, so I stopped asking.

I moved to Utah and quit partying, but on a visit back to Wisconsin, I got caught in a bad situation. My rape shaped my life in more ways that I'll ever know.

After the rape, I threw myself into working and finishing high school. I didn't tell many people. I was ashamed. I did lots of stupid things to cope, but nothing could change the past.I dated and fell in love but was called a liar. I was judged for how I'd handled myself as a kid. Afterwards, when I met Josh, I'd given up. He helped me remember who I am. We went back to church together, and I just graduated college with my BA in English Lit.

Hawaii is my favorite place in the world. I survived Josh's deployment and came to terms with who I am while there.

I want a family more than anything. A baby would bring so much more joy into my home than I can create, myself.

My life's not always easy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Aaaand THE END! That was rough! Stick with me to learn more about all kinds of stuff during this May challenge! The other prompts look like a lot of fun!

(I'm the one on the far left. I was probably about 13 or 14 here.)