I'll be honest with you, I've been looking at my screen for hours now trying to figure out what to write for my first post. It's been quite awhile since I've written for someone other than myself; journaling seemed to become a profession of mine. Since we're being honest with each other, it's nerve-wracking.

I don't like being the center of attention and I certainly don't like the idea of someone having an open look at my thoughts and judging them.

That's probably the most difficult thing to grasp about myself; having so many ideas, thoughts, and opinions in my mind, yet being scared to express them. Being scared of putting them out there.

That's the excitement of expression though, isn't it? I know that my future posts will help someone the way they need it to, and others may disagree with what I say or what I believe. I'm welcoming of both. And I hope you're the same.

Before we jump into the personal stuff, I want to take advantage of this first post to introduce myself informally.

My name's Mandy Parsons and I'm an avid Jesus follower, book reader, animal lover, concert goer, and (this doesn't rhyme very well, but it will
probably be important for later articles) Psychology student.

I have three dogs; Saidee, Zeek, and Lewis. They are all the light of my life and keep me sane. And as a warning, I will more than likely dedicate one entire article to show them off. I am a choir nerd, through and through. For any other choir fans, I am an alto and I love Z. Randall Stroope, Eric Whitacre, and Eric William Barnum. And I tend to spend a lot of my money on concert tickets.

I believe in the power of speaking your mind and that is exactly what Odyssey is allowing me to do. While stepping out of my comfort zone, I hope you all are open-minded to what I may write about and I pray that my words help someone the way that someone else's have me.