User:Juliekristine08

If I had to sum up my life in one word it would be NOMAD. I've moved over 20 times and I never really felt like any place is home. I wouldn't change that for anything in the world.

I was born in TN as a pastors kid right off the bat. My parents moved to TX when I was 2 and there I was blessed with a sister and a brother. "There" would be Sweeny, TX. The only way you know where Sweeny, TX is, is if you were terribly lost or you knew someone who lived there. This is where my family was called to missions. Before we went to the field my dad finished his degree in another small town called Waxahachie, TX. After that we moved to San Antonio, TX where we based out of while we traveled the U.S. to raise funds. Funds spend to send us to language school in Costa Rica to learn spanish and then to our new home in Chile to build a church. For the next two years we practically lived in a van on weekends and some weekdays for longer trips during the week and homeschooled in our van. We met tons of people and my father preached to increase their passion and awareness for a country few had even heard of. Finally by the age of 10 (my sister 8 and my brother 5) we had raised enough money to go. We lived in San Jose, Costa Rica for a year and a half. My parents were in language school to learn Spanish while my siblings and I were in an American school with a few Spanish classes a week. I really didn't learn a lick of Spanish. I did gain some friends that I will never forget; memories & experiences that will last forever. Not many 10 year olds get to have parrots for pets and iguanas crossing the streets while seeing monkies and tucans in their natural habitat.

When I was 12 we moved to Santiago, Chile. We stayed in a house that was rented by fellow missionaries who were kind enough to let us stay with them while they were out of town. The house was right next to President Eduardo Frei. We had presidential guards 24/7 who were so nice and ended up teaching my little brother to play soccer. We finally got to meet the president in his home on Christmas Day. We went to an American school for the remaining semester while my parents searched the country for the perfect place for us to set up "camp". That place ended up being where I've felt most at home my entire life... La Serena, Chile.

La Serena is about 8 hours north of Santiago. It's a small city and sits next to its twin city, Coquimbo. My brother, sister & I were enrolled in an International School... however after 7th grade everything is in Spanish with one English class so needless to say I picked up Spanish pretty fast after that. The next year I went to a catholic school in Coquimbo and soon after were homeschooled when my mom started to notice our English deteriorating.

We started having church meetings in our living room with just us 5 and quickly out grew our home and had to move to a nursery school. We out grew that and soon had to move to a school gymnasium. We stayed there for some time and the crime was not always good and the rent was going up. My father was on a constant search for our own land but always ended up having some difficulties thrown into our paths being we were Pentecostal missionaries and not Roman Catholic, Morman or Jehovah's Witness.

When I was 16 we came back to the U.S. to raise money again. I hadn't been to the U.S. in 6 years and didn't want a thing to do with it. In my heart I was Chilean. The culture shock from a third world country then to Santa Barbara, CA was crazy. I met some good friends though while we stayed for a month or two with my grandparents. Then we headed off to San Antonio, TX where we stationed ourselves for the next year.

We travelled again from church to church on weekends meeting more new people, some strange ones, and reaquainting with old friends. I learned how to drive and got a part-time job and attended a christian academy that was an experience all in itself. After the money was raised we were off to Chile again and so excited to go home.

I stayed for about a year and a half longer in Chile until after my 18th birthday. I had graduated highschool and was trying to figure out what to do. My family still had 3 more years in Chile so I had to go back to the U.S. alone. I had a friend in TX who's parents offered to let me stay with them while she was in a missions program in Mexico. I had only met them once so my mom flew up with me and stayed with me for a few weeks to get adjusted.

Adjusting to a new family, college, the U.S., new church, etc was the hardest thing I had ever done. I lived there for about 6 months before I met the man I wanted to marry. I was 19 and he was 23. He was a military kid so he understood my third culture adjustment. I was lonely and he was there for me.

Six months of dating and I took him to Chile to meet my parents. He told them he wanted to marry me and he wanted a blessing. Quite a shock for parents meeting a boyfriend for the first time. Six months after that my dad called him with a blessing and I got my ring. About 8 months after that we were married.

We were married for two good years and nine bad months. Irreconcilable differences. Then what?

Some people burn things for closure... some people throw them away... others keep them to remind them of their mistakes... i shred pictures, write a book and move on.

To occupy time I started helping out local bands. Soon after I was interning for Greg Carnes Productions. I booked hotels, called newspapers, designed, promoted, assisted, whatever was needed of me. Mostly I worked on myspaces and played with html & css coding until late night and early morning. I wrote constantly out of hurt and drove myself mad.

Ten months after my separation and five months after my official divorce I couldn't bare the gossip from former friends and people that would not let me forget what happened. I couldnt stand to live in the same city or home where I was once the misses of the house. So I decided to move to Nashville, TN.

I packed up my little car and drove a 15 hour drive with my cat Clyde. We drove all night straight into the city. I crashed at a friends for about 12 hours and set off to sign my very first lease on my own right outside of Nashville. It was the most liberating thing I've ever done.

I've been here almost a year now. I love it. It still isn't home to me and I still think I will keep moving, but for now it suits me. I work as much as possible. I'm self-publishing my book and it's already available for sale online and will soon be out in paperback. It's truly the best closure.

The plan is to finish up school and run my own web design busines. I never want to stop writing, working and traveling. Everyday I get closer to that goal and it's truly exciting! If you've read to this point I want to thank you for your support and interest. I look forward to meeting each one of you and hearing your stories as well.