What a big question! At the very basic level I'm a Christian woman in my early 30s happily living in Texas after being raised in California. My husband and I have been married about a decade. We entered into parenthood with a biological child in 2006 and then became foster parents in 2010 after learning of our infertility (sterility).
My given name is Marie, but I often go by Mie, especially online. That's Mie, said like Me, as in Auntie Mie - when my nephews and nieces were born years ago early on they had trouble saying Marie. Instead of Auntie Marie it was Auntie Mie. It was cute and it stuck - when they were old enough to say my name properly we corrected them and Auntie Mie is now "my name" - even though some are entering their teenage years I'm still Auntie Mie. Their mom is Auntie K to my kids - it works out.
Aside from being a wife a mom, I work in corporate America primarily in adult learning & strategic planning roles (I know they don't seem to go together, but they do I assure you!) and I have spent a good amount of time in Academia over the past several years working toward a Ph.D, which I earned on 10/18/12.
Why Letting Go of Mie?
I began this blog originally as a mommy who lived far away from family and friends after giving birth to our son. It was a great way to journal about things going on in our lives, things we were struggling with, and things I was passionate about.
Year after year I faced unexpected challenges, things I couldn't have predicted if I tried. As we went through this trials I began to realize how much of an obsessive planner I was - I had my perfect life all laid out and though to that point it hadn't gone perfectly, I'd rolled with the punches and generally things were going as I designed them. 2009 & 2010 showed mie otherwise. By grace we were brought through severe infertility, job changes and stress, several deaths of family and friends, foster parenting and associated loss, and many other things that rocked our world.
I do a lot of thinking and processing over the holiday season, as many do, and it hit mie - this is not my life. I finally realized I needed to let go of myself, my dreams, my plans, the things I'd designed for myself and stop relying on mie all the time. Letting Go of Mie was born in January 2011 as a way for mie to chronicle our journey through this life I'm still trying not to overplan.
Being a foster parent really helps that endeavor. You really can't plan anything. You're literaly up for a change any minute. One minute we can have 2 kids (our permanent ones) and the next we can have 5 and the next 3 and the next 4 then back to 2 again and we have almost no control over it all.
I'm learning how Letting Go of Mie can help me embrace what God has called Mie to be instead. And it's a wild ride.
Are you interested in expanding your blog into other opportunities?
Absolutely. Though I use my blog as a semi-unfiltered (and therefore unedited) expression of thought, I'm a public speaker and teacher by trade and a skilled writer for publication. I am interested in partnering with others to write and speak on a variety of topics including but not limited to:
- Foster Parenting
- Adoption
- Infertility Support
- Working Moms
- Christian Living/Christian Parenting
- Work/Life Balance
- Professional Topics (Training & Development, Adult Learning, Gifted/Talented Education, etc.)
What if we want to know more about your story?
I'm always open to talk with people who read my blog. Visit my contact page for additional ways to connect with mie. Until then - here are a series of blog posts that can catch you up:
First Post
Initial Infertility Post
One and only disclaimer
Most Popular Post - To Date
On Narcolepsy
Technically Infertile
Diagnosed Infertile
Infertility Answers - A series
Our Foster-Adopt Decision
Second Disclaimer
What I expected from 2010
The Infertile & The Good Samaritan
Officially Foster Parents
About Letting Go of Mie
