Where does it all begin?

16-years-old. That's where my story begins. Before then, my dating life was extremely limited. Dated a few guys, had two "steady" boyfriend, the last one ending one month before I met him. Funny story....... we met at Wal-Mart. He was cute, quiet. Didn't really say much that first night we met. But I did get to ride in his truck. I loved it. Funniest thing, he was interested in my friend first. After we hung out that night, with mutual friends, I asked his friend (who happened to be a really good friend of mine) to give me his AIM screen name. After about two weeks of talking to him, I decided I liked him, but I did NOT expect a relationship. We met a little before Christmas, and I wanted a NYE kiss. So I asked my friend if he minded if I dated his friend. He said no! Me and Ryan decided to hang out NYE, so I could get my kiss. :)

The easy story would be that the rest is history. Hell, I got married at 17, and I don't regret it. It has now been more than 8 years, and it has not always been easy. Anyone who ever says they have a perfect marriage or that marriage is not hard or that it does not take work, lies. However, I can say that through all the rough patches, if two people really work, they can overcome them. There have been many chapters over the last 8 + years, but they have all been adventurous in some way or another.....

Let me make a formal introduction of myself...
My name is Mary. I am 26-years-old. I am currently in graduate school for Clinical Mental Health Counseling. I am from a large family. I will not share details about anyone in my family or disclose their identities. This blog is for me. What do I hope to accomplish by writing this blog? I don't honestly know. Do you ever just get an urge or an instinct to try something different? Have you ever wanted to tell your story? Do you ever wonder if others can learn from your story? If I am being honest, my posts may flip-flop in time frames, but I will try to provide a label (year or time-frame). However, I do feel that other people may benefit from my story or a part of the story. It is not completely filled with angst. There are happy times, depressive times, angry times, etc. Emotions are a part of life, and we do not always have a map to guide us through those emotions. Will I be posting everyday? Not necessarily. When inspiration strikes, I will post, but I do plan to post at a minimum, once per week. 

I do not know if anyone will read this, but if you do read this and decide to respond in any way, all I ask is that you are respectful that this is MY story, and MY experiences. I do not want critical and insensitive feedback, but I will accept responses. If anyone is reading this, thank you for taking the time to read and/or follow my story. 

Mary