Memoir Photo 1 - Blissful Isolation

For the first decade of my life, I lived in the mountains of midwestern Colorado: first, in Evergreen, a beautiful, sprawling mountain town set in the surroundings pictured above, and then in Conifer, overlooking a valley that stretched to the barely-visible Pike's Peak in the distance. It was a gorgeous land to grow in; I'm certain that the many adventures I went on, hiking with my dog and looking for bear caves, kickstarted my imagination into overdrive.

Ultimately, though, it was rather unhealthy concerning my social skills; my closest friends lived a forty-five minute drive away, and the school bus took as long to get to my elementary each weekday morning. It didn't help that I was naturally shy from the very beginning. The isolation of the mountains turned me into a hermit. I became painfully, horribly shy, and lacked self-confidence.

So when we moved to Suburbia, Colorado (first Erie, then Louisville), and my social skills finally had a chance to develop, I had to work hard to overcome my own uncertainties.