It has been a few days since I have been able to write. Business is good, busy preparing the launch of three additional products into the Infinite Labs line.

My training is going well. I jumped right back in after the Arnold, and seeing many disappointing photos of myself. I wont beat myself up. Life gets in the way. This is not an excuse, but reality. I spent years training for fitness competitions. I loved it. However when I retired, I was burned out. The gym was the last thing I wanted to step foot in. Speaking of which, I am picking up where I left off. Taking second at Southern States, in 1999, newly married, to a wonderful man, him and I raising my two children. We even bought our first home.

Life was good, everyone suggesting that becoming an IFBB pro was my next step in life.  HA,, not yet.

You see, when I married Marc, he was very aware that I would not be having anymore children. After the birth of my second daughter, with alot of complications with my legs, and blood clots, leg stripping, and being told that another pregnancy would lead to even more clots, and potentially life threatening complications. It was decided by my doctor to cut and tie my tubes. This was at a very young age of 20.

Now I was in NC, married, great house, great kids, and my new husband and I decided we want a child together.

So why not, we had made things happened that seemed impossible. So we took a loan against our home, and in Sept of 1999, went to a specialist, who went in, carefully untied my tubes, repaired them, and put them back together.. I was pregnant two weeks later...lol

Talk about alot on your body. The pregnancy was not without risks, I was carefully monitored. Could not train much during pregnancy due to the pain in my legs. And of course, my veins did indeed pose a problem. Not only medically, but emotionally, as they become worse, and looked visibly horrible.

But we prevailed, and in July of 2000 gave birth to a healthy and beautiful Shayla Alise Jacobs. The spitting image of her father..lol, If ever a father and daughter could look like twins,,this was the case.

Well jumping ahead through more leg surgeries, repairing the damage, a ton of post partem depression, trying to get back into shape, brings me to April of 2001, when Marc and I were preparing to get back on stage at the Jr USA's. Marc looked great, my body was fighting me. My doctor kept reminding me of how much trauma I had had on it in the past year, and felt it a mistake to try and compete. But my head wouldn't allow me to stop.

Two weeks from show day, tragedy hits, baby Shayla stopped breathing in the middle of the night. One of the scariest moments in my life. Holding her as she turned blue. Marc and I rushed her to the ER. Where on the way, her doctore sat on the phone with me,, pleading me to pull over, and call an ambulance, suggesting she would not make it. There was no way we were stopping on the side of the road. We arrived at the ER, where a swarm of doctors descended onto her. She had developed croop. and she was not even in the worst stages of it. Her bronchial tubes were swelling shut. She was admitted, to prepare for the worse in the coming hours.

I knew I would not be competing. My priorities were there with her. However I begged Marc to continue to the show. We both stayed with Shayla for one week in the hospital, Marc trying to stay on regiman, but nearly impossible. Running the hospital stairs for cardio. But the stress of what was happening to his new daughter was showing in his physique. Regardless, he finished what he started. Placing 5th at the show. ( still a good placing),  especially under the circumstances. I  changed all my competing plans to the Jr Nationals, which were to be held 6 weeks later. In order to focus on my daughters recovery. As well as my other 2, who also had been affected by the health scare.

Unfortunately for me, I would end up going to the Jr Nationals, not in prime condition. Understandably so, I needed to finish what I had started. I also took 5th place. It was at this time, That Marc and I decided to focus on our children, and our lives together. Much of Shayla's problems were coming from the fact that she was diagnosed with asthma. And it was brutal, everytime she got a cold, it ended up in hospital visits, breathing treatments, a few scary episodes. But we were an incredible force, our family of 5, we could overcome anything.

We spent the following two years, training, living, watching our children discover who they were. Marc focused on building a better career at Europa. I was being a mother, and wife,   although I mentally needed to work. So I took a part time position as a gymanastic coach. It was great. Marc and I made a decision that in 2003 we would make our comback. We would go the NC State to requalify. Since we are not trophy chasers, we knew we would go back to the NC State in a different capacity. Him as a middleweight, ( he won prior as a lightweight), I would go into figure at the NC State. I had already won the title in Fitness, and planned on continuing in fitness. But at this show. I felt it unfair to go in at the same, as a previous win. We would both come out victorious again. I also winning the overall in Figure. On to the Jr USA's,, Marc dropped back down to lightweight, winning his class. I took 3rd in Fitness, and 6th in Figure. ( I did both at that show).  Nationals was next. We had perfected the balance needed in our life. We were in the best shape of our lives. Then once again, Life decided to test me. 5 weeks out from Nationals, I blew a disc in my lower back....... I will leave it there, and continue this saga a bit later.