Introduction: The Beginning

Hello! Welcome to my life on paper, eerrr...cyber space! I'm definitely in a territory that I've never explored before. I have talked for years, threatened really, to write a book! There is so much that can happen on a daily basis working in salons, that unless you are stuck with us for hours, one will just never know the kind of full on crazy that walks through the doors! So I've coined the term "I'm putting that in my book". Oddly enough I have a title, whether or not I will ever share this prized title with anyone will all depend on how "THIS" goes! Ha! No pressure at all on this seasoned stylist. I better just start at the beginning of the story since we have to set the stage for this very unlikely pairing of the beauty industry and myself. I grew up in a conservative Christian family in a suburban neighborhood like any normal, middle class, blue collar child. Unlike other girls I was super outgoing and loved people, I love to hear people laugh and carry on. I was average height in an un-average weight class....you got it, FAT. We don't have to go into much detail to know my entire elementary school years I was the last one picked for any soccer team in gym. It didn't get any easier as I mentioned before I was super outgoing and just had to make people laugh. I've always loved using humor to relate to people, and find it almost necessary to use when talking about all the "NO -NO" subjects I hope to delve into on here! It's anybody's game in school to make your mark in the class hierarchy before they determine that for you. I was going to be the girl last picked for any group activity and the first to be picked on for any group activity. Great start to the story I know but it gets better! As God would have it planned out, I have always enjoyed the deep life lessons one can learn from looking back into my past. Those years were the most delicate of years when I had been neglected in my home or family life and then sent to school to get attention, but none of it was healthy or what any sane person would want. I never backed down from not being the most popular, I used my known fat funny girl theme(years before Rebel Wilson made it cool) to make my voice be heard. Whether I was at school or youth group I made it known I could hold my own and wanted to be a part of the group. At the time I had obviously noticed that being over weight wasn't just in MY water, but it didn't seem to phase people the same way it did to me. So I graduated from 5th grade knowing I wasn't like other people, to my acknowledgement it wasn't a priority to help me figure out just what was it that set me apart. Jr High created a huge melting pot of hormones just waiting to figure out how the slicing and dicing of popularity(not to mention your parents status, or natural good looks or the lack thereof) would affect your everyday walk through the halls. I've been 'oinked, and mooed" at one too many times, and praise the Lord himself I am out of that phase in my life! As I sit here listening to my fingers tap the keys, I feel so desperate to get all that gut wrenching feeling down and how it affected "ME" as a young girl. What it did to my self esteem, and my self worth, what it did to my personality(added anxiety is what it did). This is the line in my life that I remember so clearly pushing me down a road of unwanted addictions to find balance (where there was none), to find control and value (where there was none), and last but certainly NOT least to find Laura the real girl under all that crap life had laid out for me. Don't get me wrong, I had all of life's hardcore necessities- parents (who do not understand me at all), clothing (all forms of hideous torture I was forced to be seen in), food (too much of that I've already stated I was FAT), siblings (to which I am not sure we will ever get along), and church family(where my faith began & all my topics will eventually lead back to). In families like mine, it wasn't like my parents set out to destroy my life. I think we all know that they work with what they've got. It didn't take me long to understand the lack of communication was right around the corner with my grandparents and aunts and uncles. It didn't matter which side of the family you looked on, I realized that they are all so ashamed of just about everything, from their looks, their past mistakes, their career paths, their sibling's mistakes...blah blah blah! We get the idea their whole existence. I could never figure out why no one would sit them down, one by one, or Hell! the whole group and set the record straight! You are loved by a God most high that he would send his son to die for you, because he wants to live with you in Heaven one day! He created you with a total purpose and doesn't want you moping about burying your talents. That surreal family tree has never existed and is a distant dream at this point. Word on the street is it's currently up in flames- rumor has it I lit the match. I knew back then that we were missing the whole point for this beautiful, messy, often complicated, human life. I love HUMANS, but we are some of the craziest top of the food chain that ever did get created! I sit a lot with God, mostly aloud in my head, for anyone who doesn't know me, that isn't an understatement. I'm quite the talker (97% extroverted). I began to ask him why I could understand this silent treatment approach to topics which doesn't help people feel seen, valued, heard, wanted, counted, or a part of something greater, yet it continued to be all around me. I didn't struggle per say in school with grades, I could have totally worked harder, but I have a personality that can get by with just enough. I wasn't mentored to be more than or push through to reveal true strengths and weakness's. I knew it was because my parents had never had anyone take any kind of time to sit with them and mentor the best they had to offer. Much to their surprise my parents made it farther than most had expected. I knew college wasn't for me. The interaction yes but the extra schooling no....it wouldn't be long before I realized I had made the right choice for me. I made it through graduation easily, still being heavy(chubby now, I had started working out with Billy Blanks in Tae-Bo baby!) I had thought about going to beauty school to do hair/nails/makeup while I was in High School. Go ahead and laugh I know it sounds crazy, the picked on fat girl who thinks she's funny is going to make people beautiful! Lol! Well, the first part of that, I was hoping I would lose her through the process of finding out how to do this "make people feel beautiful" stuff. The second part about making others feel beautiful I knew I could do. I knew if I could get my hands on someone and show them just what they could be or look like on any given day, I just knew I could make a difference in someone's life, and hopefully touch my own while I was at it.......