Due to some emails and questions on some of the forums for Natalee, asking me who I am and do I have a cd, I decided to write a quick bio. It ended up long and a bit "rambly"...like me..so I will be back to edit it later, but for now here it is.... .Let me start by letting you know that I have been married for almost 13 years to an awesome guy who is so supportive of me when it comes to music that he up and moved us to Nashville a couple of months ago. I have three great kids! Logan is almost 10. He is growing so fast, in fact we signed him up for football today so I am already freaking out!!! Garrett is 7. He is the funniest kid I know and I love that he will still come sit in my lap whenever I want him too! And I take what I can get because soon he will realize how "uncool" I am and my lap will be empty! Our daughter Kendall, is about to turn 4. She is so beautiful and I can't take an ounce of credit for it since we adopted her from Guatemala when she was 9mo. old. She and I are "best friends" she says!!!! I love doing the girly things with her but don't let all the pink fool ya! That girl is tough! You have to be with two older brothers. Well now to the music thing!!!! I started writing Christian music back in 1999. It sort of came out of nowhere and it has been a passion ever since. I also had never ever sang in front of anyone before until one day in 1998 after praise team practice, the lady who was doing the rotation for solos asked me when I wanted to do a solo...Don't ask me where this came from but I did not hesitate and said "oh anytime"...Well the reality hit the next day and I have to say when I finally did it, it was the scariest thing I had ever done. Well I continued to do a few solos but writing was my thing. I started entering competitions and going to seminars. I actually placed a few times and I met some great up and coming singers who are now my life long friends. I finished a cd with 11songs that were mostly co written and recorded by various artist..none of which were me. I did not think my voice was good enough or that anyone would want to hear it! It was great to have it done but most of those friends went on to get married and work in other areas and so I had this cd that was not being heard. On top of that in 2002 the exact day we brought home our daughter my husbands company went under and he lost his job. Because we had just bought a new house, adopted, and of course had debt we ended up having to move in with my parents for 8months. This was actually a blessing in disguise because we all had a chance to bond with Kendall, our daughter. And my husband and I went on more dates during that time...we had a live in babysitter every night and my mom would hand me some money and say "go to the movies with Kevin or something" It was a tough time but not as tough as some of the things that others have gone through. Now I will fast forward(if you can't tell already...I ramble...sorry) Financially we bounced back and moved back to Mckinney Texas, the area we had to leave the year before and everything was great, but....I still had this desire to write. I had prayed so hard for two years for God to take away my desire to write if I was not supposed to. At some point I became content to write on a more local level within the church and share the music with our congregation. Well of course right when you are content and totally trusting God is when He says "now you are ready". So my husband asked if we wanted to move here and I was so excited yet a little scared. We moved here the end of May. Just about that time Natalee Holloway went missing. I remember hearing her story and just feeling something stir inside me. I cried thinking about my own children and what I would do if I didn't have them. In that moment money issues, where we lived, to write or not to write didn't matter. What mattered was my family and my love for the Lord. I had such a peace and yet such a sadness all at once. I sat down and wrote the song "Natalee". I went back and forth wondering if I should just crumple it up or have it produced and sent to the family. In my mind only big name artists do that and I didn't even consider myself a singer, only a writer. But after lots of prayer and making sure my motives were right, I decided to produce the song. My producer and I wanted to get it to the family pretty quick so we did just a quick production and I decided to sing it. I emailed the Mountain Brook church and sent the MP3 to a women there. She was so kind and she burned a copy to give to Marcia, Natalee's aunt. I decided not to pitch it but to rather send it out to family and friends and see what God had in store for the song. After reading a forum about Natalee for awhile I decided that I should share it with the people who care, and are praying for this family. I never knew how much this was going to bless me and others. I have had so many emails and other things happen since this song hit the internet. I have cried more than I ever have hearing not only about Natalee but others who have loved ones missing. I don't really know what God has in store for me but I know I am open to whatever way he wants to use me. With that to those that wanted to know...no I do not have a cd of me singing any songs except "Natalee". I do have an older songwriting demo that I hope to have clips up soon . I am also working on some current songs that I will be recording but other than that we will have to see. I have had such mixed emotions the past few days with all the feedback that I have gotten. I want to be so excited that people want to have this song and know if there is more from me, I mean I did come to Nashville to make it as a writer...but what could be something so great for me is someone elses pain and nightmare. All I can do is pray and know that God has a plan. Right now my heart goes out to the Twittys, the Holloways, and all their friends and neighbors. I apologize for the length of this. If I actually wrote ALL that the Lord has done for me lately I could fill up pages |