Soon after I met my husband we had the conversation about kids. For me, children were non-negotiable. I had also always wanted to adopt and knew that the man I married had to be on the same page. Lucky for me, he has a big heart and felt the same way. After dating for 5 years we decided to tie the knot. A healthy marriage has been very important to us, so we wanted to take the first year without even trying to have children working out all the fun new marriage situations. A year later, our journey begins.

My story?

Well, I will start with saying that I am one of the estimated 3.1 million breast cancer survivors. I never thought that cancer would be a part of my story. It has been a part of my story for the last 9 years.

My cancer journey began in November of 2008. This was the first time I noticed I had a lump in my breast.

I want to share about how our infertility journey has impacted my faith, in hopes that it may encourage others who are struggling through the same battle. I can remember when I first became a Christian, all I ever wanted was for God to use me for His glory, but I never really knew how or what that would look like. I see how He built my faith and refined me in the trials that my husband and I faced through trying to conceive. I remember growing up in such an unstable and dysfunctional home and all I ever wanted was a family and kids of our own that I could shower with love! I wanted to break the cycle of abuse, dysfunction, and chaos.

Being joyful toward others and spreading joy is one of my favorite things. Recently, I had a personal struggle with my career path. After being rejected into multiple graduate programs I began to ask myself: Am I a failure? What am I going to do with my life? Where will I work? Were the past 4 years a waste of time?

When I was five years old, my school's strings teacher gave a small presentation to my kindergarten class and at the end, the students were invited to try out the instruments.  When the violin first sat on my shoulder and I curled my hands over the fingerboard and around the frog for my first tentative note, my life shifted. I went home that evening and demanded to be enrolled in violin lessons. That decision made at five to play the violin ended up setting the course for the rest of my life.