Happy New Year!

I invested in making this beautiful blog quite awhile back, but it never got off the ground due to a whole heap of life taking place and pushing writing to the back burner. Now I'm taking a hiatus from working full time as a school counselor so that I can be a stay at home mom. Oh yeah, and I'm dedicating this year to writing my first book! My "memoirs of motherhood" is in the editing phase right now and I hope to submit it in the next month or two, with the goal to publish nationally by the end of this year.

In the meantime, I'm getting back to what I love to do, spending time with my kids and finding fun and exciting new things for us to do together. So I'm dedicating some time to journal here to put my memories in print for me to be able to reflect on these days at home with them.

With that said, here's 20 introductory things about me and what you'll find here.

1. My name is Laura. I'm an 80's baby born and raised in Northern California. Yolo County to be exact. I've come and gone from this place 5 times but somehow I always wind up back here.

2. My identity pre-marriage was largely in coaching, swimming mostly. I have worked for every possible place since I was 15. I grew up on the year round swim team and then became a lifeguard and swim instructor. I worked with the club team as the ten and under coach for 6 years before moving on to coach our local high school JV/Varsity girls and boys team. I also started up the city club team after the summer league that was run out of a local rec club closed down.

3. I married a guy that I met at Junior high church youth group. Except we never spoke when we were younger. We were properly introduced about ten years after high school and we were married 4 months later. He left for Navy boot camp within six weeks and then we spent six years with the military.

4. My undergrad degree is in Physical Education and if I could spend the rest of my life doing something sports related, I'd be a happy camper. I'm particularly passionate about football.

5. I got my master's in social work with a school counseling credential. I combined my love of sports and my desire to work with at risk youth to compile a grant and thesis for an adaptive aquatics program for children with physical disabilities.

6. My professional counseling jobs have varied from non profit family resource centers to county therapy for children in the foster care system. With life as a navy wife I had to be flexible with jobs, which is what ultimately led me to a career as a youth and family counselor for the juvenile justice system. Most recently I have worked for both the County office of education as well a the local school district.

7. I have two kids. My boy is in special ed and is a miracle story I talk alot about. Many of the reasons I like to blog about our adventures is to bring awareness to places that are inclusive to all. My son is also the primary subject of my upcoming memoir. More on that later.

8. My daughter is 19 months younger, but is often mistaken for her brother's twin. They have a beautiful friendship and she balances out his caution and observation with her outgoing nature.

9. I'm actively involved in a local church where I help out with women's ministry throughout the year. Having been a working mom, I recognize the importance of building relationships with friends during the limited free time we have.

10. I have a love hate relationship with social media.  As a navy wife I utilized facebook and blogging to keep up with friends and family in California while we lived in Virginia for 4 years. I much prefer instagram though. you can find me @yolocountykids

11. While I wait for the edits on my memoir, I'm starting a companion children's book as well as a guide for NICU/PICU/Pediatric hospital parents.

12. My themes largely focus on the growth mindset which helps kids use positive language and metaphors in learning. I'm excited to tie my small town farm knowledge into a counseling analogy.

13. I also have an obsession with the ocean and Lighthouses. This theme will be the basis for my author website and writer blog called @the_AB_Seas. It is currently in preview phase at instagram.

14. If you've come to this page out of curiosity, you'll notice some changes in my links since I'm starting fresh with my social media profiles. This will definitely be more of a personal spot to share resources about what my kiddos are up to.

15. The banner at the top of the page will have links to various topics if you're looking for something specific. Parents will be resources that families have asked me about in the past that I'll occasionally pass on as things come up.

16. The places link will have details and reviews about where we like to go and what we are up to. As my friends know well by now, I typically like to get out of the house to a different place every week. During the school year this is more limited to scoping out new parks and things close to us, but you'll see that I will cover ground from the bay area of San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Cruz; all the way past Sacramento up through the foothills to Lake Tahoe. Pretty much anything in a 3 hour radius.

17. Practical is another favorite link. As a counselor and special needs mom I try to stay up to date on the latest products and sales and all sorts of kid stuff. I will try to highlight seasonal things as well as what we're into at any given moment.

18. Promoting. This category will likely be reviews of new places we've been.

19. Partner! There's a lot of great social media accounts I follow to stay in the know. I'll list these folks and their web addresses here so you can find your target area and interests.

20. My new years resolution is to write every day. For now that has included building my author profile on social media, journaling ideas for my characters in my children's book, and keeping up with the Bible study workbooks I'm doing. With this blog I hope to check in atleast once a week.