Ayame: About Me! ;)

Hi! I'm Ayame. I am many things, like an artist, mother and wife... I'm also a gardener, fish hobbyist, dog owner.... well many things really, I suppose. I have a pretty busy life. I like to keep busy. It helps me stay focused. I like to create things and care for people, animals and plants. I love that feeling you get after you've accomplished something. You sit back at the end of the day and say: "I did this. I made that. I took care of this." It's a good feeling.

I love my kids and my husband. I'm shy, but I enjoy travel. I love taking my kids places like to the zoo or horseback riding. I want them to see dolphins and swim with them someday. My daughter, Rei, is moderately autistic... she goes to a special class and seems to like school very much. She is still learning to talk at 3 years old. She's beautiful and has a big heart. My son, Ian, is learning to walk, he's 9 mo old. He smiles a lot!

My real name is Susan and I was born in 1975. Old! LOL My online name, Ayame, I chose from one of my favorite Animes and Mangas, Fruits Basket. One of the characters in the Anime is named Sohma Ayame. He's really loud and outgoing. He's actually very different from me, but I wish I could be more like him. I wish I was less shy! I like Chinese dragons, so I made my own anthropomorphic persona a Chinese dragon and named him/her Ayame. Ayame, the dragon, can be many things, male, female... small, big... It is fun for me to have a character to work with that has many possibilities.

I did go to art school. I graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1999 with a BFA in Photography. I've made a lot of mistakes in the intervening years--and a couple of good decisions. I joined the US Army in the summer of 2000. I got to go to Germany, which is where I met my husband. I liked Germany a lot. I'd love to visit again. I live in Texas right now, smack dab in the middle of the desert, by the Border. I like my city, El Paso. I am trying to learn to speak Spanish. I like the people in my neighborhood. I love Rei's school. I never thought my life would turn out as it did, but I like it! So... that's me.

Rei at the park in Ohio, June 2006. My daughter, Rei at a park in Ohio. We spent Rei's summer vacation in '06 in Ohio visiting our family. :)