lets take it back, waaaay back, where it all began.

I'm almost 15 years old, my dad and I had been living in a little country town called 'Galong" for around 9 years after my parents had split, I did most of my primary schooling at the local small school, at most I remember there being around 14/15 children who attended in total it was the best. we all hung out and we all LOVED sport, our teachers Mrs Stewart & Mrs Hall and our parents all supported and pushed us to train, accept defeat, be kind to one and other but at most try our hardest. for a small school we had it all, we had a lovely women 'Leonie' who would come out  and train us, with athletics and swimming  she was brilliant, we excelled, climbing the ranks and landing ourselves spots in state titles, for me this was what I was all about a long legged Tom boy growing up with my dad in a little country town, sport was my thing all the way through high school.

why is this all important, well...…. it imbedded in me drive, a sense of community, patience, respect, hard work pays off and staying fit and healthy for a long and happy life, those years and those people helped me become me and those lessons have stuck with me throughout my life.

At almost 15 years old I got my first couple of jobs, lamb marking with a friend of my dads, working at a chemist and at a super market, whilst attending high school, (thanks dad for driving me around) :) this kind of work ethic was instilled in me by my dad, he worked hard to give us the life we had, the things we had, although he still wouldn't let me eat milo out of the tin (as if he didn't do it). I worked many jobs while holding up a social life, working out, playing sport, riding my motor bike and still getting my chores done from a young age, I was grounded when I acted up, I was taught how to make a mean spag bowl, we had 'how many cheese and bacon balls can you fit in your mouth comps', he would  rouse on me for having a messy room, I was taught how to drive from a very young age, we went through many hardships together, I saw my dad struggle through relationships, excel and work hard at work & and all the extra work he would do after normal work hours and on the weekend, I saw him down in the dumps many times, start drinking alot but never gave up all through out my life, to this very day. He made bad decisions and lived through them accepting the consequences that followed, he was shit on many times and lived through that too. I saw my mum on and off live through similar experiences and I thank them both for teaching me strength , determination, drive, resilience and on top of that many many things what NOT to do haha.

By the time I was 20 years old id worked 50 thousands different types of jobs (overexaggerating slightly) but finally id found one I wanted to follow a career in.... I wanted to become part of the Australian defence forces, I applied and was accepted into the Army! you ripper, hard work pays off. I thought it was the perfect roll for me,helping people, community, fitness, hard work, opportunities for growth and travel, change, you name it this roll was for me, I was going through the process awaiting training. At this point I was already working a couple of jobs, bar tending at a night club 3 nights a week and 5 days on a farm or working in the shearing sheds, I also had a partner at the time, I was exercising heaps (getting ready for training), saving money and socialising, driving people here and there, I was saying YES to everything. I was doing it all and in the midst of all of this I forgot to look after myself.

Then it happened, it all fucking happened....

the moral to this brief part of my story is, you say im an inspiration for getting through everything that I have BUT my inspiration comes from my parents. my drive comes from seeing my parents go through & still go through a lot of shit and still smile.

i was once asked not too long ago, was it hard growing up with my dad?...…. why the hell would it have been...……. I got to build lego cities, learn how to change my car oil, ride motor bikes, clay target shoot and laugh at farts, I wanted to knock his block off sometimes as im certain he wanted to knock mine off too, but hard.... no way...… never judge a book by what you hear or the cover you see because no one is who others say they are.

we all make mistakes, my biggest mistake would have been not paying attention for the past 26 years of my life.

im Glad I did because at 20 years old shit was about to get as real as it does.

Thankyou for tuning in to my first blog post, my blog will be mostly like a story, things ive been through, beer, the ins and the outs, people ive met, hardships, the highs, random thoughts, poo talk and mishaps, farts, finding myself, wine, my business, my love life and anything else I feel the need to rabbit on about :) peace out legends