I went with the name when I began teaching basic pistol and concealed carry classes. But it goes so much deeper than what most people think. I’ve always been about being prepared. What do I mean? Well, many years ago I worked as an usher at the Nauvoo Temple open house. A family looked to be in crisis, so went over to see if I could help with anything. The mom said her teenage son’s zipper broke on his pants and they needed a safety pin. No problem! I have one attached at the hem of my dress. Yes, really I did. Why? Because you never know when you’ll need a safety pin. On another occasion a friend brought their baby over for me to babysit for the day. But dad forgot to pack the formula. No problem! I have a can in my pantry. Yes, I really did. Once, I was out with a friend and her baby had a blow out. She didn’t bring her diaper bag because we weren’t going far and didn’t plan to be gone long. Guess what? Yep. I had an extra diaper and wipes tucked away in the glove box of my car.

As a young kid I loved going to church. My Grandma had a friend named Irene that would come visit every year. Which meant I had to clean my room extra thorough, because Irene stayed with us. But more than cleaning my room, it meant I would get to go to church. I loved going to church. I loved the singing. I loved Jesus. I loved all the smiling people. I looked forward to her visits for that reason. At the age of 13 I was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Easter. I’ll share that story another day.

I grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. If you’ve ever been there you know it has quite the distinct smell. In fact, it’s nickname is the City of 5 smells. Quaker Oats. It kind of smells like Capt Crunch, but not really sure. Just don’t go to the other side of town where Corn Sweetners is. We never knew what that smell was, but it made my sister throw up in the car almost every time. We would tell my mom to drive faster! We also had Mount Trashmore. There was always talk of making it into a ski slope. We lived in a nice neighborhood. Plenty of kids to play with all summer long. The crick was across the street from our house. Many days were spent building forts and splashing in the water. There were also trails along the crick that we would ride our bikes on. Kickball was our go to game with the neighborhood kids in the summer. We loved when our mom had a yard sale, because that meant we would get to have a Kool-Aid stand. We would also get to walk up to the grocery store to get our supplies. Life was always pretty good.

In 1993 I met my husband at a Conference. A Singles Conference to exact. I was the Stake Singles Rep at the time so I felt kind of an obligation to go. Plus my friends Laura and Mindy wanted to go, so I went. Saw this handsome guy in the elevator. He doesn’t remember. Mhm. Anyway, we met up with him later when he pulled up and asked me if I wanted a ride. Sure! We danced and hung out the rest of the time. Then he followed me home. I remember the look on my mom’s face when we pulled into the driveway. I always seemed to have guys follow me home. We were married for time and all eternity in the Chicago Illinois LDS Temple later that fall.

Some of my hobbies include reading, quilting, playing the violin, four wheeling, restoring classic cars, target shooting and traveling. I would say I kind of concealed carry many of my talents.

We now live in beautiful Colorado. My husband and I have 5 children ranging in age from 23 down to 12. I was always blessed to be able to be a stay at home mom. I now teach basic pistol and concealed carry classes as a hobby. As a side hustle to that, I empower people to take responsibility for their safety by sharing the Damsel in Defense mission to equip, empower and educate. I love traveling. I’ve had some great and not so great adventures in life that I hope will encourage you to dig deep and keep going. Enjoy the journey!