Loudly, Jenna

I figured if I’m going to sit here and tell you all my business, you should probably know who the hell I am first.

Hi. I’m Jenna.

I’m from a small town in Eastern North Carolina. I’m not quite a coastal girlie, but I’m close enough to tell you which beaches to avoid during the summer unless you enjoy sitting in traffic questioning every decision you’ve ever made.

I grew up with country vibes—four-wheelers, bonfires, back roads, and the occasional questionable decision involving how fast somebody could get from Point A to Point B. Before all that, though, I was a tiny little thing on the back of a horse. I grew up riding, barrel racing, and going on trail rides with my family. Eventually I traded horses for softball and followed in my older brother’s footsteps. He was a beast on the diamond, and naturally, little sister had to give it a shot too.

I’ve pretty much always been a little rowdy. I’m the comedian of the group. I like to giggle. I like to have a good time. And I’ve never been particularly interested in being the quietest person in the room. My mom would probably describe me as a full-force, stubborn, boujee, big-hearted, chaotic, selfless smart-ass. And she’d be correct. I’m also apparently intimidating when you first meet me. I’ve been told more than once that people initially thought I was a bitch. I’m really not.

I’m just closed off until I know you, and I’ve learned that confidence—especially coming from a woman—can sometimes be mistaken for arrogance. As for the completely random things that make me happy? Labrador retrievers. Really, any big dog. Volkswagen vans and Bugs. The color yellow. Window shopping. Redecorating my entire house in my head approximately twelve times a week. Watching cooking videos. Trying new restaurants and giving them an unsolicited 1–10 rating. Sending my dad ridiculous jokes I find on the internet. And, weirdly enough, the smell of fresh asphalt. Don’t ask me to explain that one. I’m equally passionate about things I cannot stand: people cruising in the left lane like they have nowhere to be, leaving the shower curtain open so it can’t dry properly, being late, people who consistently create their own problems and then play the victim, and the absolutely infuriating lack of funding for education.

Also, if you know me in real life, there’s a good chance something involving a possum has made you think of me. That’s a story for another day.

The more important part of who I am, though, isn’t a list of things I like or the fact that I have strong opinions about shower-curtain etiquette. It’s that I don’t want to stay the same person forever. I’ve changed tremendously over the last couple of years. I’ve learned, screwed up, healed, changed my mind, changed my boundaries, and walked away from things that stopped aligning with who I was becoming. And I’m still becoming. I don’t want my past to define me. I want it to teach me.

Now I’m a mom, and more than anything, I want to keep becoming the best version of myself for my daughter—even when that version doesn’t make sense to everyone else. I’m not interested in staying stagnant just so the people around me can remain comfortable with the version of me they already know. So that’s me. Country roots with boujee tendencies. Loud. Stubborn. Soft-hearted. Slightly chaotic. Forever rearranging furniture in my head. Probably stopping to look at a Labrador. Definitely judging your left-lane driving. And still figuring myself out as I go. Which, I suppose, is exactly why we’re here. So now that you know who you’re dealing with… we can get into the good shit.

With love & a little chaos,

Jenna