Draw My Life

So I have seen soooooo many YouTubers do this on their Vlogs, so I thought I could do it in a blog post. So armed with my white board and pens I started drawing out my life. Just to let you all know, it's not really been that plain sailing, I had quite a rough start but I am a very open person about what I've been through and I am proud I've come out the other end normal.......well almost normal lol!!! Just ignore my quirkiness!!!

PS sorry for the wonky photos I was trying to avoid my lights reflecting on the board !! (no I'm not a professional photographer!!)

Right here goes!!

So when I was 3 years old I was taken away by the police from my biological family. I had to empty all my clothes into a black sack before being put in the back of the police car. My biological brothers were also taken away. We were all put in emergency foster care. I don't remember much apart from the first place had red velvet curtains and a tortoise. I still remember this very vividly!!

From the age of 3 to 8 years old I moved 6 times, me and my biological brothers were split up, 1x failed adoption and my last foster parents thought about it but thought I was too much to handle. I didn't really like any of the foster homes I lived in, foster kids got left to their own devices most of the time. I certainly looked like one, hair a mess, scruffy uniform and not able to read or write at the age of 8 because no one had bothered with me!! Sad story but true (but look at me now haha writing blogs-who would have thought?)

My 6th house was my permanent home, my forever home and I moved there when I was 8 years old. I was adopted at 10 years old because it took 2 years for the court case to go through because my biological mother wouldn't sign the papers.

When you get put up for adoption, you get asked what your wish list is (if you're older like I was.) I asked for a little brother, a cat, a dog, a trampoline, a mummy and daddy that loved me. I got all those things. I lived in a village in the middle of nowhere and we would ride our bikes to the cricket ground or through the deer park or go blackberry picking (most of them were eaten while we picked them!) We also had great fun having water fights with Super-Soakers and water bombs!! I enjoyed living in the countryside and it kept me out of mischief.

So at school I had a nice group of friends, that I had met when I was in year 4 and we then went on to secondary school together. I loved hanging out with them and we used to go into town, then we would go into the bigger town nearby with better shops and then when we were a bit older we would go to London. I have to say I was not the best at timekeeping so I was always late getting the train and the trains didn't really go that frequently. I often got told off being late-oops (not much has changed!!)

At secondary school I loved art and hanging out with my friends. I played the clarinet but I didn't really practice-not sure I could really read the music. I didn't like maths and I was very shy in front of people if I had to talk to a large group. So I didn't do that great in drama-I did get a half colour (a thing our school did when you took part in something I guess!) I got one in hockey too but I was always distracted hanging out with my friends so I never got a full one. I used to carry loads of art folders, clarinet, hockey stick, gym kit around school. I was quite often late for a lesson and I sometimes turned up in the wrong lesson or classroom (still struggle with timetables-think it's my dyslexia-does anyone else have this issue?) I did quite a few clubs, Air Cadets, kayaking, hockey, orchestra, synchronised swimming and a few others I can't even remember. The best bit about school was the prom at the end of year 11. I had an amazing time and we went in a Rolls Royce and I went with the guy I had fancied for a while lol!!

I lost a friend from the Air Cadets who passed away in a car crash which I could have been in if I hadn't chosen to get in the other car (first time losing someone was hard.)

I went on to college, I did photography (yes it was film, people before all the fancy digital cameras came in-old school, I know!!) I loved it and really enjoyed capturing unique photos but I was a bit rubbish at the written work. I also loved my art lessons but I struggled to produce work that I thought was perfect so I would rip work out of my sketchbooks and throw it in the bin, much to my art teacher's dismay who would fish it back out. I liked to work backwards from a final piece to work out my development but apparently they didn't like this approach!!

I got an unconditional offer for Falmouth Uni, we were all tested for dyslexia when we arrived and they said I was quite dyslexic. So I had struggled throughout school and college and I finally understood why I struggled more than others. I struggled with a few personal things going on (including my kidneys failing, but being told it was food allergies, but being ill in bed, not able to get up!) So I needed to repeat my first year, but when I went back to repeat my first year my dad had got cancer. I struggled dealing with that as well, so I came home to support my family and help be there for my dad.

I got a job working in a travel agent's but I soon realised that this wasn't what I wanted to do. I applied to join the police and to my complete surprise and most people around me I got in. Within my first week I had saved someone from seriously hurting themselves and I really enjoyed my work with the youths at the local youth centre. I enjoyed the mix of jobs I worked on and I got a letter of commendation from our Superintendent for a job I had done well on.

While I was in the police I did a sponsored trek for Macmillan in Cambodia (another blog to follow on that!). I saw it advertised in a paper and I just turned to my mum and said I was going to do that trek. I had to raise £3,000 and my own costs of getting there etc. I did a pub quiz and I contacted the local football team to get a signed copy of a brochure. I also decided to do a half marathon the week before my trek (both I had done no training for-I do not recommend this!!) I also called my local paper to try and get an article featured on me and my trek-guess who answered the phone? Yep my now husband, he was the local reporter at the time (that's how we met!) I trekked for about 15 days and saw some amazing views. I had an amazing experience and I am proud to say I did it. I hope to do another sponsored trek (for Kidney Research once I am fit enough.)

Me and my Hubby started dating in 2008 and I think we had moved in together by the 3rd month. I think we knew it was serious and at the same time I was considering joining the RAF. We then had to move up north for jobs.

We moved to Bedfordshire and we lived there for 5 years. I did many sales jobs, I didn't really enjoy those jobs. Lots of great things happened while we lived there (we started our married life there.) Some sad things happened as well, I lost my dad in 2009 after his 4 year battle with his cancer. He had kidney disease and cancer. I found it very hard and I struggled with our loss a lot.

After 3 years of being together we got engaged at Christmas in 2010, hubby put my engagement ring in the bottom of my stocking-so magical. We got married 6 months' later. We had a lovely wedding with all our friends and family around us, my brother walked me down the aisle and we did a tribute to my dad too. It was the perfect day and then we went on our honeymoon in Barbados at our own private villa. We went snorkelling and swam with turtles as well as feeding wild monkeys in the rain forest. We had the most amazing time and we found it hard to leave. We decided while on honeymoon that we wanted to move back to my home area.

A year after we got married I was rushed into A&E and ended up in hospital with my kidneys having failed. I was put on dialysis and I was in over the summer of 2012. It was a major shock and I was told back then that I would need a kidney transplant. I then overhauled my diet and I managed after some time to gain some kidney function, I became stable at stage 3 and we were able to go on a few holidays in this 2 year period.

We then moved down to Dorset in 2014 and within a few months of moving my kidneys had failed again and I was in over Christmas. I was back on dialysis and I had 7 blood transfusions and 7 plasma exchanges this time as well. I went onto peritoneal dialysis but unfortunately a day before our cruise I ended up in hospital again. I then got a massive clot in my right arm from my elbow to my collar bone due to my line being moved to that side. I missed my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's wedding. We did buy our first house in 2016 though and we are so excited to decorate this year.

I had gone back to work after the summer holidays and the second day back I got the call from my transplant hospital. I was in shock and it was all so out of the blue. I enjoyed my first Christmas post transplant and my kidney function is great but my medication has give me diabetes, so now I am working on reversing it. I'm happy with my progress and I hope to become fitter in the next few months.