Blog Introduction

My life is a mixed bag-I like to call it "organized chaos." I currently reside in the same Southern California area in which I spent most of my childhood. I am married to a Kansas transplant and still find it ironic that in Southern California, I get more comments about any KU attire I might wear, rather than my UCLA gear.

I am the mother of three: a 17-year-old daughter, a 4-year-old son and a 3-year- old son. Yes, that is a huge age gap between my oldest and middle children and then less than a year in between my middle and my youngest. So I have had the experience of all different types of parenthood- young mom, single mom, stay at home mom, student mom, working mom, more established mom, mom to kids with special needs, you name it, I've done it.

And am still doing it! Each of my mom experiences has afforded me an opportunity to see things in a very different perspective, in addition to learning numerous life lessons.

While earning my education (BA from CSUN and MA from PGI) granted me the opportunity to become "book smart," I have also found that my life experiences have been a major role in why I enjoy my life and career to the extent in which I do.

In addition to my current position at a local mental health agency, I have been in the social services/mental health field for quite some time. For a number of years, I worked with Haven Hills and LAPD in a joint venture to provide domestic violence crisis intervention and advocacy to victims of domestic violence. I have also worked as an in-home therapeutic behavioral counselor. Some of my best memories have come from the places and people I have had the pleasure of working with.

As for the reason I want to begin a blog, I guess the simplest answer is "why not?" I truly enjoy my career field. I am very lucky to have found a path in life that has met my expectations in so many ways. I do notice that as daily life goes on, I can become complacent. So, this will be a new challenge. I hope that I can come up with interesting and creative topics that will keep my readers coming back.

My website is www.amandacooverlmft.com.