Who am I?  Well, I guess that’s a good question.  I am still trying to figure that one out myself.  I guess the best I can do at this point in time is to give you a brief overview of my life up to my current age of 28.  I was born in Bloomington, Illinois to Frank and Tina Stapleton.  I was an only child until the age of three when my sister Jessica was born.  We had that love/hate relationship that all sisters have.  My parents divorced when I was five and I was introduced to a completely different lifestyle.  Mom lives here and dad lives there with his new family.  It was a little strange, but I was still too young to understand everything.  I acquired another sister, a brother and another mother.  A few years later my mother (Tina) had more children.  I then acquired another sister (Ashley) and another brother (Anthony).  Life was grand until tragedy struck when I was fourteen.  My stepmother was killed in a single motorcycle accident.  This would once again change my life as I knew it and from my standpoint, be the end of my childhood.  This would also be the last time that I would ever see her children.  So…not only did I lose a mother figure I also lost my brother and sister.  Why do we not keep in contact?  Your guess is as good as any.  But with every tragedy comes greatness.  With my father being on his own for the first time in a long time, I thought it would be best for me to move in with him.  He was my papa and I didn’t want him to be alone.  Little did I know my father was quite the lady’s man and didn’t really need my company.  Hahaha!  Jessica eventually moved in with us as well. 

About a year and half later, when I was sixteen, Patricia came into our lives.  She also brought two lovely women with her (Lizzy 18 and Katie 17).  Poor papa!!!  Five women in his home!  We all know he couldn’t have been happier though!  I was a little unsure of what to think of Patricia at first.  She was different from any woman that I had ever met.  She was/is a very strong and opinionated person.  Don’t get me wrong.  It’s not that I didn’t like it.  I just wasn’t used to it!  I became used to it very quickly though!  Lizzy, Katie, Jessica and I were going to have to get to know each other as “sisters”.  The word “step” is not allowed in our family.  Four teenage girls trying to get to know each other is not an easy task.  Liz and Katie were protective of Patricia and Jessica and I were protective of our papa.  We have had our rough patches, but those patches brought us closer together and we laugh about them now. 

The fall of that same year I met my husband, Justin.  We are high school sweethearts.  I actually hate that term, not sure why.  I was nervous for my father to meet him.  If you saw my father you would understand why.  His appearance is that of a tattooed, long hair, bearded biker, but he is the gentlest, kindest man you will ever meet (unless you hurt one of his daughters!).  I brought Justin home with me and he walked right up to him and shook his hand.  I could tell dad was really impressed and that was extremely important to me because I am a daddy’s girl.  If dad would have said “no I don’t like him”, I would have kicked him to the curb immediately!  So things worked out!  We stayed together all through high school and eventually it was time for me to venture off to college.  I didn’t want to go far away from home because I didn’t want to be away from Justin (he is a year younger than I) or my family.  Illinois State University became my college of choice in the fall of ’98.

College was a great experience for me.  I joined a sorority and met my best friend in the whole world (Renee).  For those of you who think you pay for your friends by joining a sorority, let me tell you….you can be in a sorority and people still not like you!  I loved my sorority experience.  Justin on the other hand was a little upset by the fact that I was hanging out with fraternity boys, but he had nothing to worry about.  None of those boys ever measured up!  A couple of years later he joined Illinois State and became one of those fraternity boys!  I miss the carefree days of college.  I still keep in contact with many of my sorority sisters and we reminisce about “the good ol’ days”. 

I graduated from college in December of 2002 and that Christmas Eve, Justin proposed.  I was ecstatic.  I had been waiting for six years to get that darn ring.  I was in bliss for a couple of months, but then became miserable because I had chosen a career that was not suited for me and was only a part of that that field for about a year.  This was the only time in my life where I actually felt like a failure.  I have vowed to never let anything affect me like that again.  I threw myself into a job and environment that I knew was not for me and I will just leave it at that.  At that point I decided to go back to school to get my paralegal degree.  During high school and college I worked for a fairly prestigious law firm in our area and chose to pursue something of that genre.  During my studies I ventured back to that same law firm and became a Litigation paralegal.  I really enjoyed going to trial.  It was very exciting and thrilling to be a part of.  I actually miss it to be quite honest. 

In June of 2005, Justin and I got married, in August we bought a house, and in January of 2006 I started a new job as an Investment paralegal for a large corporation.  I won’t disclose which one as most of you would be familiar!  I found that working for a large corporation was not my cup of tea and then in November of 2007 chose to work for a smaller company which I love!  This brings you up to date.

You see, with all of this change going on around me and constant focus on other things and people, I have not had the chance to fully discover myself and figure out who I am.  Now that I love my job, have my home, have my husband, many think that it is time for me to have a child.  I would eventually love to become a mother, but not during my discovery of self.  I encourage everyone to figure out who they truly are and to figure out what it is that they want out of life.  I have followed the “traditional” way of life.  I went to college, landed a great job, married my high school sweetheart, but I know there is more to life and I am determined to experience it.  I just hope all of you will experience it with me!

Welcome to coffee talk! I love that we can have coffee together everyday!