? Who’s that lady? Whooose that lady? Lovely lady…ok, song got in my head. That lovely lady is the reason I call myself a tech editor today! It’s Lorene Eppolite. She is Cre8tion Crochet and also the creative director at Furls Crochet*.

*My affiliate link.  Don’t forget to try their new yarn!

I became a tester for her several years ago. I didn’t really know what was needed, but when I saw anything that was off in a pattern, I’d mention it.

After a while Lorene would send me patterns and say “I’m pretty sure it’s good but I know you’ll find something.”

Then she started to really encourage me to present myself as a tech editor. Without her confidence in my work, I wouldn’t be doing this today.

But what about before all that?

My schooling background was completely different!  I pursued Wildlife and Fisheries management, Range and Wildlife management and the study of prescribed fire and it’s effects on South Texas shrubs.  

Yes, Shrubbery! 

Not the nice kind, the really pointy kind.  In South Texas, all the woody plants, save one, have big pointy nasty teeth.

During this time, whenever I heard a mentor saying something inspirational like “follow your passion” I thought to myself, “all I want to do is cross-stitch.”  I didn’t consider myself artistically creative.  But I had no idea that there could be legitimate professions in the fiber arts that involved my skill set.

I continued down the path of Wildlife and Range management, BS, MS, Worked at an Environmental Consulting firm for a while (thought it was my dream job), then I was recruited for a PhD position at Texas A&M University.  Within weeks of arriving in College Station, I met my future husband.  We started dating and by the end of the first few months, I knew my true purpose for coming to this town was to meet him and have a family.  

What else was happening?

Overlapping the period of my life after the Masters degree and arriving to College Station, I chose to take control of my weight.  It’d gotten massively out of hand.  I joined Weight Watchers in January 2004.  The first year I lost 55 pounds.  It was fantastic!  But while admiring my new, thinner neck, I also noticed a weird lump on one side.  It wasn’t until months after this discovery (DON’T EVER WAIT!) that I had it checked out and discovered that it was thyroid cancer.

February 2005 I had a total thyroidectomy.  One month later, I had radioactive iodine treatment.  The process of preparing for this treatment and recovering from it is a completely other story.  But still a big part of who I am.  Visit that link for more of that story and videos of support for you.

Within the first year or so of arriving in College Station, I achieved my goal weight after a complete weight loss of 87 pounds from my joining weight in 2004.  After that, I started working for Weight Watchers as a leader.  I continued working for them during the beginning of our marriage and those first 3 years as the babies arrived very quickly.  

The Weight Watchers career plus babies monopolized my time and I didn’t spend much time working with fiber.  

When I was pregnant with the third baby, I quit working for Weight Watchers.  It was just too much for my schedule.  After the third baby was born, I suffered from massive post partum anxiety and depression.  When the third baby was 6 months old, I finally received the proper treatment.  As I recovered, I also joined our local Embroidery Guild of America chapter.  

I had seen them at a community event and I nearly flipped my lid!  I knew all about professional organizations in Wildlife and Fisheries, but it never dawned on me that there was an organization for freakin cross stitch!!!  I was in HEAVEN!  I absorbed so much love and support from the ladies in our group.  They are a massive part of my recovery.  I also learned numerous forms of embroidery that I would have never attempted on my own!

While searching the library for embroidery books, I noticed that the yarn/knitting/crochet books were on the next shelf.  A book of cute little amigurumi animals caught my eye.  I took it home and made several for my children.  They still play with those, today.  My crochet took off with the budding blogging career of many designers.  From here, you can scroll back up to the beginning of this post and my discovery of Lorene’s call for testers. 

Aaaaaand we’ve come full circle

It has been truly amazing to see God’s hand in my life over the last 2 decades.  By trying to answer his call and say, “Yes” to God, I strive to imitate Our Blessed Mother and her fiat that she gave the Lord and the Angel at the annunciation.  She said, “Be it done unto me, according to thy word.”  It is this reason that my business name is Fiat Fiber Arts.  Fiat = Let it be done.