Who I am

Team Mom

I am a mom. First. Always. About 8 years now.......Some days I'm the best mom I know. Some days I need to wear sunglasses so they don't see my tears/fear/cluelessness. It's all about being consistent, keeping them safe, keeping them happy, keeping them healthy. Half the time I feel like I'm the same age as them and I'm pretty sure they can sniff those moments out. How do I get through the days? Sam. Friends. Family. I have a group of girlfriends that I bounce ideas off of, tell me I'm doing the right thing, laugh with me, cry with me, drink with me. I'm getting pretty good at this mom thing......some days.

I die.

Team Hardman

I am a wife. Going on 11 years. We have been together 15 years. You would think that we know all there is to know about each other. Nope. I know Sam better than I know myself, but there are moments that still surprise us both. Sam is my best friend, my cheerleader, my biggest supporter. He is blown away when I doubt myself - he always believes. Always. My world is better with him. It's not all perfect. He snores. I hate change. He lives to be spontaneous. He doesn't multitask as well as me (duh). He loves to party and socialize. I tend to like a small dinner party. It works. Why? Because we work at it. Together. Daily. We are Team Hardman.

In public of course

Mom date. Dad date.

Team Speech

I am a speech therapist. Not the most exciting thing in the world. No pics of my clients. That's illegal! :) HIPPA and all. Trust me. I work with kids. I have been a speech therapist for 11 years. I've worked with 18 month olds up to 18 year olds. Right now I'm in a middle school. I typically have a large range on my caseload. Autism, Downs Syndrome, Language disorders, Apraxia, Selective Mutism, deaf and hard of hearing, and articulation disorders. It's fun. I love working with kids. I love the people I work with. I therapize my kids at home (working on an /r/ right now!). I've done public school and private practice. Public school is where it's at for me now. Snow days. Summer break. Done deal.

Team Crossfit Annandale

I am an athlete. Yep. I am. Going on my whole life. I don't always feel that way, but I am. My sport has changed. I started in dance, then gymnastics (short lived), and softball. When high school sports were approaching it felt like all the girls were signing up for Field Hockey and Lacrosse. I saw the uniforms. Kilts. Cute. I'm in. So in high school I played field hockey and lacrosse. College came around and I didn't know what to do without a team. I worked hard and played both in college (2 years of hockey.....I was better at lacrosse). Graduated. I was lost. No team. No practice. No real goals. Went right into Grad school. That became my team. I did adult league lacrosse for a while. It was fun, but just games. Packed on the weight. A few years later I got into road races, triathlons, and then fell on Crossfit. That's where I am an athlete now. I have goals. I have made progress. Crossfit Annandale is my team. They push me. They notice when I'm not there. They make me smile. 

That's who I am. I feel pretty good about it.