Introductions

    From very humble beginnings, I was born on January 22, 1989, Super Bowl Sunday. It was the Bangles against the 9er's, and the 9er's lost. From the beginning you could say I was a little strange. I didn't talk or behave like your average little girl. I didn't play with barbies, I played with dinosaurs. When all the other girls were accessorizing their dolls, I was either up a tree or in a dirty old creek with the boys. I also began talking quite early and had an extensive vocabulary by the time I was two. I was reading before I even started kindergarten. Sometimes my family didn't know whether to be frightened or proud of me. Once, I was with my mom driving through an upper middle-class neighborhood of Roseville, CA, quite different from the lower class apartment life I was used to. I turned to her and said "Wow, these houses are very well constructed." I was two years old when I said that. Two! I was always saying things that kids that young simply shouldn't be able to pronounce, and I knew very well what they meant and wasn't just repeating what I heard.
    My dad instilled in me an intense appreciation and love for animals and nature, taking me on many hikes and adventures. Much to my mother's dismay, (She didn't care much for animals) that started me finding sick or injured animals and bringing them home to nurse them back to health. Not all my attempts had happy endings at the start, but little by little as time went by I started having more success. I've had a multitude of pets throughout my life time, and for the most part, again, they weren't pets that you'd imagine a little girl to own. Although I love ALL animals, I've always had a thing for all things scaly, feathered and spineless. I've had cats, dogs, chickens, ducks, turtles, snakes, lizards and even tarantulas. I honestly don't know why I have such a connection with these particular animals. Perhaps it stems from the fact that I myself was misunderstood and shunned just like they are. Over the years I've become a huge advocate for ALL the unloved animals that are wrongly considered ugly, scary, or out to get us, and I strive to educate and show people what these animals can really be like. You'd think that I was dead set from an early age about what I wanted to be when I grew up then, huh? Well, that simply was not the case. When I was small I wanted to be a paleontologist. I was obsessed (and part of me still is)with dinosaurs, but then when I realized that they didn't exist anymore I dropped it. "How fun can that be?" I thought. So then a veterinarian, you say? Well, being a very mature, realistic person (for the most part) I knew that maybe even though I had what it took to be a DVM, I simply didn't have the time, money, or the background for it. I still am quite the dreamer and never quite took school as seriously as I should have, and maybe would have had I attended the more well-funded schools, and sort of got a little lost in what I wanted to do in my life. Then I had no idea that veterinary technicians existed, I just thought that there were doctors and that was it. It wasn't until about a year after high school until I found out about going to school and becoming an RVT: Registered Veterinary Technician; the equivalent of an RN or Registered Nurse for humans. I'll be the first to say that college isn't for everyone, and I knew early on that it certainly wasn't for me. Western Career College (You can do it!) suited my needs perfectly. This was the only time in my life that I ever had fun at school, took it seriously and actually learned something. Well a lot of things. Needless to say, with the help of the most wonderful, dedicated teachers I've ever had the pleasure of learning the ropes from, I graduated in 2010 and have my tassels hung up on the rear-view mirror of my car.
    I have developed a greater sense of myself over the past several years. I have less friends, but the ones I do now are the truest I've ever had. My best friend and the love of my life, Robert Treherne, brings stability and reason to my sometimes neurotic personality. We've gotten each other through a lot. Soon after getting my driver's license I developed an obsession with cars, with a fair bit of partiality to super cars, especially European models. Of course, the car I own now (my first) is a 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier LS sport sedan. It's 14 years old, makes odd noises, and likes to over-heat, but it gets me around and I'll be sad to see it finally kick it. I have five wonderful pets that that include two tarantulas, Teresa and Claire. They are Brazilian black and Chilean Rosehair tarantulas, respectively, and they will not be the only ones I will be owning. I intend to have many more in the future. Then there's Sandy the tortoise, or as she's known as around the house, "The Diva" for her fussy attitude, she's become a bit spoiled on the care that I've given her after I rescued her from the inadequate conditions of her last home. The newest addition my odd little family is a special needs leopard gecko named Mathilda, another rescue that I brought back to life after being horrendously neglected. And last but not least, we have Mikey, a four year old bearded dragon and he's easily king of the castle. He was born on Valentine's day, and has become the best pet I ever had. You'll hear a lot more about him and the others on this blog.
    Fast-forward to today, and here I am, at the hardest time in anyone's adult life, in the beginning. Both Robert and I are working hard trying to get our careers underway.Getting my foot in the door of this business has been a harder road than I thought, but I'm not giving up for anything. I belong in this field, I feel every bit as comfortable in a veterinary hospital as I do in my own home. It's very hard now; no bed of roses being broke and starving, but I honestly wouldn't trade it for anything! I have a roof over my head, I'm in a wonderful relationship and great pets! There's a light at the end of every dark tunnel, and this hard stage of life will not last for ever. We're making the most of what we've got going, and we're having the time of our lives!
In the meantime, I'll be posting daily videos, news and updates on my life and all things regarding pet ownership! Stay tuned!