30 Day Challenge…

Folks, I have hit a wall.

Despite the literally HUNDREDS of blogable moments I’ve had in the last several months, I’ve found myself suffering from a severe case of writers block. I’m really not sure what that’s all about, all I know is that I’m working on it.  In the meantime, I’ve stumbled across a bit of a writing prompt in the form of a thirty day blogging challenge.  (Thank you to EMT Dani for the inspiration!)

So…. Day 1.  Introduce yourself.  Show a recent picture.  Share 15 interesting facts about yourself.

It seems kind of odd to introduce myself on a blog that I’ve been writing for over three years, but I’m game.

My name is April. I’m mom to two beautiful kids, Nick and Abby, who are 10 and 5 going on 15 respectively and are the most important people in my life.  Nick is a miniature version of my sensitive, inquisitive side. He loves music, and learning about anything and everything.  He’s been through a lot over the last two years, but he’s pulled through like a champ and is now thriving in a new school.  Abby is a carbon copy of my impulsive, wild, grab-life-by-the-horns side.  She started Kindergarten the very day that I worked my first shift as a medic and we’ve been going through our growing pains together in that way.  Most days we spend trying to incorporate pink into our wardrobe while chasing fire trucks.

I’ve been in EMS for almost six years as an EMT-B, and three months as a paramedic.  I just started a fantastic job with a hospital based service in NW Ohio that I’m beyond excited about.  I am one of those people who loves to learn, and this position is providing me with countless opportunities to do just that.  I consider it a privilege to do the work that I do, and I can’t see myself doing anything else.

I love photography.  More often than not I’m seen lugging a camera bag around with me.  There’s something… intoxicating… about being able to capture a moment in time.  You might shove those photographs away, or leave them on your hard drive for months on end, I know I do it.  But when you do get back to looking at them, it’s like you’re right back where you were when that photo was taken, complete with all of the emotions you were feeling at the time.  I love that.

Just Me and myself at EMS Expo last month.

15 Facts.

1.  I am a VERY lucky girl.  I am surrounded by some of the most amazing, encouraging, intelligent and kind people in the world (the lovely lady I’m standing next to in the above picture represents all of those traits and more).  I have the very best friends.  I have friends I can laugh with to the point of tears, I have friends who will kick me in the ass when I need it, I have friends who I can call at any time, day or night, with questions, or ideas, or just talk about any little thing.

2.  Up until last month, I had a fear of flying that was was so intense that for almost ten years I refused to get on a plane.  It was so bad that just the thought of flying was enough to make me shaky.  When faced with a 24 hour car ride vs. a two hour flight to Dallas, I opted for the flight.  I survived.

3.  My parents divorced when I was five and for the fifteen years that followed I spent every other weekend on a farm with my Dad.  Quite a change for a city girl.  As a result I can drive a tractor, I’ve played in a hopper wagon filled with soybeans, and for years got into more trouble with her cousins than any one girl should.  I’ve also been to at least ten National Tractor Pulling Championships in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Don’t judge me :)

4.  Speaking of Bowling Green, I attended Bowling Green State University and was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority.  I still keep in contact with many of my sisters on Facebook.

5.  I’m one of two children.  I have a younger brother who I absolutely adore and am so proud of.  He is a new Daddy to a beautiful little girl, which means that I’m now an Auntie.

6.  My mother wouldn’t allow me to get my drivers license until I was out of high school.  It made me a very angsty teenager, but looking back it was a very wise decision on her part.

7.  I lived in Colorado Springs for a while in my twenties.  I would give just about anything to move back there.  Absolutely gorgeous part of the country.

8.  Before going to EMT-B school I worked on computers.  For eight of the longest years of my life. I do not miss it.

9.  I have four tattoos, yet I hate having IV’s put in.  Yes, I’m one of those people.

10.  I am fascinated by abandoned buildings and love exploring them.  Mansfield Reformatory is one of my favorite places to do this.  I have chills just thinking about that place.

11.  I started writing at a very young age.  In the second grade I wrote a play about Christopher Columbus that my teacher allowed me to cast and perform in front of the kindergartners and first graders.

12.  I am fiercely protective of my people.  My children, my family, my friends.  I will go to war, walk through fire and face certain jail time for them.  That being said, I will forgive someone who has wronged me over and over and over again.

13.  I can be a miserably cranky Irish redhead.  (See how I made that one number 13?) I consider this one of my biggest downfalls.

14.  I am probably one of the clumsiest people in the world.  I pray to God that my children don’t inherit this trait from me.

15.  I change cell phones like I change clothes.  I drop them, I lose them… If there is a way to destroy a phone, I’ve probably done it.

(By the way, my phone number changed about two weeks ago… If I haven’t contacted you with the new number, I apologize, I’m working on it ;))

Tomorrow, God willing… Day two.