Oh my goodness!!! I finally hit “publish!” This blog has been a distant and hidden thought in my mind for many years. Why did it take me this long to introduce myself? I don’t know…I guess the whole, “Once it’s on the internet, it’s out there forever thing!” Well, I decided with social media, I’m out there anyways, right? And I have grown to love documenting my life and preserving it in such a way I can always revisit those special moments.

My name is Shawnta Nicole. My whole life my family called me by my middle name, Nicole. On the other hand, I was known as Shawnta, pronounced shawn-tay by the way, in school and later in the career world. So, I decided to merge the two and say hello to the world as both my personal and professional self. Makes sense, right? I was born in Ohio but raised in Europe, due to my military dependent status. My upbringing consisted of trips to Paris for my birthday, summers in Italy, spring breaks in Spain and teen dances on cruise ships. I also was a certified nerd. Oh, you don’t believe me? Well, ask my younger sister where I loved to hang out growing up. She would say, “The Library.” That was my place. Reading, learning and doing my homework were just a few of my pastimes.

 

So, what inspired me to finally launch this thing? Well, it started kind of like this – boy meets girl, girl and boy date and quickly get married,  girl and boy have first kid, girl and boy have second kid shortly after, boy gets out of the military and finally…boy gets accepted into NYU and voila, the whole family moves to the city. The city gave me an excitement for new beginnings and a re-introduction to my love for photography and writing. Along the way, people also gently nudged me to really consider blogging.

There’s so much richness in the lives we lead and there is something for each of us to share. This blog is meant to share part of my journey and a day in my life. My goal is to encourage others to lead the lives they desire and to spark something inside you to do something “different.” My background is Information Technology so I am currently a working mom, a full time mom of two toddlers and loving wife. I’ve also been a lead actress on the TV show, Happily Never After on the Investigation Discovery channel, which landed me credits on the IMDB. Super proud of that accomplishment. I love to create, explore, eat and cook and document my life with photographs. Please hang out and get to know me. It’s a pleasure to meet you.