I am a Blogging Virgin

Welcome to my blog for all of you reading this...and to me...welcome to blogging.

I have meant to do this for a long time and I finally sat down to start.

So this blog will be dedicated to everything that goes into making me who I am...however boring, interesting, or embarrassing it may be.

To start I grew up in Southern California...the OC...and it is NOT like the TV show...I grew up in Northern Orange County which is a world of difference from Southern Orange County. I attended college for a little while and then decided to go to Cosmetology School, I have always been creative but not very artistic and I had to learn that there was a difference. Doing hair was a great creative outlet for me and I found that I was very talented, but it was hard work for little money trying to get a clientele built up so I went to do the 9-5.

I found myself always seeking "something better" so I had many jobs and was always moving to another company or another position and had a struggle against myself trying to decide if I should go after money...or passion.

When my son was born in Nov 2008 with a heart defect I quit my job as an Insurance Agent and decided he was the most important thing I could do with my life. He was born with a life threatening heart defect called TGA (Transposition of the Great Arteries) which was repaired with open heart surgery when he was just 3 days old. We found out he had a Congenital Heart Defect when I was about 21 weeks pregnant, they found a white spot on his heart that they wanted the Neonatalogist to take a closer look at...it was supposed to be "nothing" but it was something alright.

I am a very analytical person so I gathered the facts and learned as much as I possibly could about CHD, I am still learning more now. I didn't cry or get emotional when I found out or even when he had his surgery, part of it was because I knew the facts, and part of it was my extreme faith in the doctors and his surgeon...I just "knew" it was going to be ok. I am not really religious but I consider myself a person of "faith" and it was my faith in just knowing he was going to be ok that helped me through.

Once he was ready to go home I knew my path was going to be difficult, I was bringing home a newborn who just had heart surgery and I was still recovering from my C-section...and then add the fact that I needed to find a source of income...and quick! I had planned on doing hair from my home, but I doubt many people wanted to be flipped into my kitchen sink to have their hair shampooed. I had been making jewelry and had created a "catalog" that I had my husband pass around his office to try to sell as much as possible. I am shocked now that people ever bought anything considering the awful pictures they were shopping from.

Then I stumbled upon Etsy...and I created my "store" http://www.excellentcreations.etsy.com/ it has come a LONG way from when I first started listing items and I am learning new tricks all the time. I donate 10% of everything I sell to the research of CHD, still with all the advancements 20% of kids born with a heart defect won't make it to their first birthday. They need funding...and a lot of it. I know my store will not donate huge chunks of money...but every little bit helps.

Thank you for reading my blog and if you stumble across my store and find something you love, please know your purchase will be going to a great cause!