There were several loves in my life that I cultivated early on. One was music. Unfortunately, the only instrument my family was able to afford for many years was a harmonica, which my dad played as we sang as a family. But I had the radio, these family sing a longs and my grandparents records. I've been told I memorized "Barry Manilow Live" at the age of 3, along with a variety of other songs. I've also been informed that I gravitated to every piano there was, since many of my parents' friends owned one.

I don't remember how old I was exactly, maybe 6 or 7, when my dad said I'd love to be able to buy you a piano or keyboard and get you lessons. When just can't afford it right now. This wasn't surprising news. Its why I had never asked. But something about him telling me that told me it was happening someday. Don't know why. I just said to myself, you will learn to play piano someday. You will. And I did at age 14 I started taking lessons, practicing so long and hard, trying to make up for lost time. (I realize how silly that is now) Later, I fell into giving piano lessons, something that gave me a great amount of joy. Its also how I met my husband.

My second great love is for being a veggie/animal lover. Unlike many, I loved vegetables as a child. My parents cooked them in yummy, interesting ways and we usually ate what we grew in our backyard garden. Certain meats have always sat heavy on my stomach so I limited the amout I ate. Due to the financial situation of my family as a child, there was a time we had 20 chickens and 6/7 rabbits. Getting fresh eggs was awesome, but when I found out why we bought the rabbits I was rly upset. Especially since he had already served one of them to us all and didn't tell us! My mom knew and wouldn't eat it but my siblings and I were in the dark. I expressed interest in becoming a vegetarian at that point, but my dad's reaction made me drop it. After all, he was having a hard enough time just feeding us.

Today though, as my stomach problems continue to increase, vegetarianism has really been the answer I was looking for. I tried it once before for purely ethical reasons and only lasted 4 months - missed chicken so much! But, when you get really sick, your whole attitude changes. I'm excited to share all the things I've learned by trial and error. And I want to know your tips too!