My life summed up quickly.

Often in our lives we meet people in person or meet them via a forum and form friendships without really knowing anything about them. It is sad that in today's society we have become quite good at hiding our true selves or what made us who we are today for fear of being ridiculed or not fitting in with the norm. Today's post is about getting to know me. So I thought I would start from childhood and work my way up to today. I will try to keep it to 20 points or less.

• Born 11th March, 1974 at Bankstown Hospital. I am a typical Piscean female. Dreamy, creative, trustworthy (at times to the point of stupidity). I love my freedom and hate constraints. I love my privacy (funny that - I am blogging on a world wide forum).

• I am the youngest of 3 with two older brothers born to Uruguayan parents. To this day my parents play a huge part in my life and I respect what they have to say even though at times I don't always agree with it. Thats probably another Piscean trait - stubborness.

• I did ballet for 5 years as a child and was really quite good at it. Towards my last year I was approached by the Australian Ballet Academy and told that when I turned 12 I would be eligible to join the academy - I quit at the age of 9 and persued my swimming career.
  

• I started swimming at the tender age of 6yrs - if I had fallen into the water then I would have drowned. But I made it State Championships at the age of 7 and came second in the Under 9's for my 50m & 100m Backstroke and Freestyle. My swimming life continued till I was 14.

• Went to my first concert - Whitney Houston. She was awesome.
  

• I went to two Primary Schools and four High Schools. I didn't graduate from High School - I left half way through Year 11 to go overseas. I had always dreamed of being a marine biologist but although I was really good at Biology at school I was useless at Maths and Chemistry. There went my dream and my determination to finish high school.

• I started smoking - boy what a mistake. But I succumbed to peer pressure. And smoked for the following 9 years close to a packet of 25's a day. I never smoked during my pregnancies or around my children, but I started again shortly after giving birth. I quit after my son Kyle was born.
  

• Trying to find a purpose in life I flitted from job to job - I was a Sales Assistant at Sussans Clothing Store and Williams The Shoeman. I worked as a receptionist and this nearly did my head in. Repeating the same sentence everytime I answered the phone was a little more than I could handle. So I quit. Although this was a rough patch in my life it opened a door to a very big part of my life NURSING.

• My mum had introduced me to nursing at the age of 18 in a nursing home. Boy this was an eye opener - initially I was quite shocked by things I had seen but I then realised that I was responsible for another humans life. What a feeling. I took my responsibility seriously and this became my life for the next 18 years.

• I started as an Assistant in Nursing, progressed to being an Enrolled Nurse, Endorsed Enrolled Nurse then Registered Nurse. A fantastic journey - one I do not regret ever having undertaken.

• I met my husband Stephen at the age of 18yrs, he is my oldest brothers friend. When I first met him I was instantly in love but saddened by the fact that he was 11 yrs older than me (Oh, the fickle mind of a teen). Two years later we started dating and we have not looked back since.

• At the age of 22 I gave birth to our twins Kurtis and Taillah. I was blessed and knew this but my joy was overshadowed by Post Partum Depression. I never knew how low my thoughts would get - and wanting to disappear off the face of the earth was never far from my list of things to do. Luckily I have a supportive husband and family who got me through this period.
  

• At the age of 23 I suffered my first bout of back pain. This was the first of many to come.

• At 25 I gave birth to our 3rd child Kyle. Postpartum depression returned but this time I think it was more manageable.
  
• I loved being a parent, so feeling this overwhelming sense of sadness was so incongruent with how I felt towards my family.
  

• My next bout of back pain returned and I managed it with non-steroidal anti-inflammatories.

• Started my university degree and finished with almost "Honours". Got a job as a Paediatric Registered Nurse. A blessing and an honour, but my lifelong dream was short lived. My next bout of back pain was severe and needed medical intervention.

• I never knew what the next year would bring - but I am glad I overcame it.
  

• The rest I guess has been documented in my blog so I won't bore you repeating it all. You just have to read it from the beginning. I hope you have enjoyed this post - I have gained alot from it.