About Me (and this blog's journey)

I used to doodle. All the time. Usually it was the name of the “boy” who was occupying my mind and who made my heart a-flutter at the moment. I would draw pictures of hearts with our initials in the middle. Of little fur-balls with happy faces and arms spread open for big fur-ball hugs. Of daisies and sunflowers because they made me smile and gave me that “I’m so in love” feeling.  

But usually my doodles just consisted of the name of the “boy” I “loved” – written in as many different ways it could be written: cursive, rounded, printed, flowery … oh, Microsoft would’ve paid millions for my font inventions!  The best part was that they were created from that warm, fuzzy feeling that came when one (me) had a really BIG crush on someone, thus, the clouds over my head and the goofy smile that made a permanent display on my face.  I missed that.

I missed me.

Because I stopped doodling.

I’m now a busy lawyer, who works all the time.  I always have one thousand-and-one things on my to-do list, and one thousand of those things are always running amok in my head.  I spend most of my mornings plotting my day.  But no matter how much planning I do to make life more controlled, organized and manageable, there are the uninvited phone calls from irate clients or their distraught family members and fifty other emails that always arrive at very inopportune times.

When I first started practicing law, I had no idea how to manage my time. I had no idea how to balance being a lawyer and being a person. I was working 60 to 80 hours a week. Is that even possible? you may ask. Well, yes, but not in a very healthy way. I thought I was losing myself. As much as I wanted to be a lawyer, I also wanted to be a writer and it was that unfulfilled part of me (as well as a very broken heart) that made me start blogging.

And this blog has gone through several transformations and name changes. Looking back, it has become a record of my own transformation and change.

Coffee Moments
It started off as being called Coffee Moments because as I said, in the beginning of my practice as a lawyer, I had forgotten how to be thoughtful and present. The idea of coffee moments came from when I used to take coffee breaks with my study partner in law school. It was at those moments I felt like myself again and not merely a frustrated and moody law student. So this space became where I went to remind myself who I was. This is where I allowed myself to feel and be human for at least a few minutes.

Red Picket Fences
Then, in 2013 I changed the name of the blog to Red Picket Fences. I thought it was more fitting to where I was at that moment in my life. A fresh start. And why Red Picket Fences? Because I believe that when life does not turn out as you planned, you make the best with what you have.  You go on boldly.  Paint that white fence red, which is one of my most favorite colors.

Thus, the new name was a resolution of the past and about making the best life out of the life God gave me.  It wasn't the life I planned for myself (y'know, the one with the white picket fence), but it's the best life I have.

And now, It's a Storied Life. I promise this will stay.

I changed the name in the beginning of 2014. The year I turned 40. The year when I started figuring things out in a less flawed way. The year that I finally stopped fighting who I am and the story of my life. I'm this person who loves to take too many pictures of the sky and sunset; who loves musicals and becomes emotional no matter how many times she has heard Les Miserables’ I Dreamed a Dream. A person who cries in almost every episode of The Parenthood and can watch the entire four seasons of Felicity over and over again. This person who went to law school because she wanted to change the world or at least make a small difference in a troubled kid’s life; who struggles between her love for the law and her love for the arts. This person who finally found and lives by the belief that you’re never too busy to be a considerate friend and you’re especially never too busy to show up for family. This person who is just constantly bargaining with time to allow her to do the one-thousand-and-one things on her daily to-do list; and above all, I'm this person who found God, loves Jesus, and prays that whatever I do it’s good and for His glory.

So, if you follow me, you'll find that I'm constantly trying to figure things out: how to juggle a career, a business, and finishing my novel, while staying loyal and considerate to those I love and contribute to the best parts of me. If you get anything at all out of this blog, hopefully it's hope and inspiration to trudge on in making the best life possible even when it disappoints you in not turning out the way you planned. And along the way, I may share a few tips on embracing your discomfort zone, and maybe even humor you just when you needed a good laugh.

I hope you join me as I continue on my journey of figuring this life out and making the best out of it. Journeys are much better with good company anyway. So, follow along!