I graduated from Belhaven College with a degree in Elementary Education with the hopes of someday being a kindergarten teacher, and although I haven't ever formally taught school, I use my education every day as a stay-at-home mother and a nursery leader at church. I grew up in Mississippi and am a southern girl at heart even though I have lived in Utah for the past 9 years. I'm hoping my southern accent will eventually rub off on my neighbors and friends.
All About Me
My husband, Drew, and I met through an LDS singles on-line dating site. It's a crazy way to find your soul mate, but it worked for us. We have been blessed with three wonderful children ages 7, 5, and 2.
I love children's literature. I started my library long before I even had children to read to. Although I dreamed of someday writing my own book, I never had the inspiration I needed to get started. That was until my husband and I adopted our first child. I went on a quest to find the perfect book to read to our daughter about her journey to our family. I found nothing that would help answer the questions I knew she would have someday. I just felt in my heart that this was a story I needed to share. That's when my book was born. All three of our beautiful children were adopted at birth. Their adoption stories are much like the many stories I've heard before but that I've never seen in print. It's the story that needed to be written for everyone touched by adoption.
When deciding which illustrator to use to bring my story to life, I knew immediately I wanted Amy Hintze, the artist behind the book I Chose You. Her art is amazing and so true to life which is what this book needed. Which led me to Cedar Fort Publishing. I was so grateful that they agreed to take a chance and publish this book.
I am also a wanna-be photographer so when Amy agreed to let me photograph my vision for each page, I knew I had taken the right path. After all, every detail of this book had been in my head for years. I just didn't know how to get that on the page. Luckily she did. She and I worked so closely together on this project that I know this has become her story too.
What's next? Well, we are in the process of adopting an adorable little boy from Taiwan, so I'm hoping my next book will be about an international adoption journey. Let's see what happens!
