Introduction to me

Hello my fellow HIVE'ers! It has been about a week since I joined I think it's about time I introduce myself to all you awesome people. So here goes..

A little history

My full name is Michelle Pieterse. As Afrikaans as you can get, I know. It's only one name and surname. I am truly grateful for my parents who decided to break the tradition of passing on family names and not wanting to give us more than one, cause who needs that? I am the youngest of 3 daughters, even though people usually mistake me for the middle one. My middle sister and I were basically mortal enemies when we were younger, and now she is my best friend.

Photo is a few years old, but it's one of the very few decent ones we have. We are all a bit crazy, especially when we are together

My hometown is Centurion in South Africa, always has been. Traveling is fun but I don't ever see myself doing that alone. I have been a few places in my life; our neighbouring country Mozambique, Bahrain (Saudi Arabia), and my favourite of all Paris, France.

I visited Paris with the love of my life, and was one of THE BEST experiences I have ever had. I will tell you all about our trip, but not just yet.

Me and my favourite person

I met this weirdo in 2016 and we officially started dating in 2017. December we made his bachelor pad our home and I couldn't be happier. We lived our best life making memories and building a future together. In the process we had a fur baby. A little Daschund x girl that completed our family.
The start of our relationship was a bit delayed as he is a Cape Coloured. I respect my parents very much and was worried what they would think, but in the end they were totally supportive and loved him from the get-go.
My relationship with his family was a bit different. His parents lived in Paris when we started dating and therefore we did not get the chance to know each other as well as he did mine. Once they came back from Paris we did however start building a relationship and eventually they realised I am not going anywhere and accepted me.

Beginning of 2021 we made the decision to take the next step and started looking at rings to get engaged. We found one and that was it. I told him I was bowing out and the rest of the planning is up to him. FYI, he was not the romantic type or one to organise surprises. .

July 2021 he had a terrible accident, falling down the stairs at home, and passed away a month later. That month was probably one the hardest times in my entire life. I never thought I would have to go through that or say goodbye. One thing I am so truly grateful for is the support system I had, and still do. Without my friends and family being by my side every day I don't think I would have made it through.
I miss him every day but life goes on. I am proud to be able to say that I made it and I pushed through the hurt. I am stronger than ever and now know that I can overcome anything.

Okay, enough of the sad..

My kids

I am an extreme animal lover. Visiting any wildlife park or going to a game farm to get away is relaxing to say the least.
Since I don't have a licence or knowledge to own wildlife, I have 2 pups and a fish.
I had 2 labbies for 10 years, but they past away in the last year due to cancer. Now it's just my 2 babies.

Luna is my first, silver and black dapple daschund x, Dutch is the 2nd, white and brown miniature daschund. He is as awkward and destructive as he is adorable and loving.
Luna is the sweetest, most intelligent girl you will ever meet! My mom says she only needs to start talking.
My fish, now he is another story. I have had 3 before him, and none of them survived, in a span of 5 weeks. I am ashamed, yet I know what I did wrong, and now, Fish, has survived for more than a year!

All my children

Education

If you are still reading, I am quite shocked, yet know you are interested. I won't keep you for much longer.

My dream has always been to become an architect. I had all the necessary school subjects, took the necessary tests in order to be able to be admitted to University. Unfortunately I was not accepted, and as I was very confident, I didn't have a plan B.

I eventually applied to The Open Window, where I obtained my degree in Visual Communication, with speciality in 3D Design. I struggled for years to get a job in my field. During this time I dabbled in many courses such as UX Design, 3Ds Max, HTML/CSS, and Graphic Design.

Finally I landed my current job as a Key Marketing Manager at a Social Media Marketing agency. I have never been happier at any job. They are more focused on the people's wellbeing than burning them out to get the work done, but don't think you can mess around.

Interests

When I am not working or breaking my phone's camera with all the dog photos, I enjoy sitting outside and looking at our garden. My addiction is succulents and cacti. I started a small garden for my happy place. One of the plants I cherish the most is my Impala lily.

Source

Mine is still small, hopefully it will look like this soon.

Closest flower to my heart right now is the Niobe Protea. It was the first flowers my other half bought me, and coincidentally the last.
I got a tattoo in memory of him, with this flower.

Other than flowers, I read when I can, and when I really wanna lose myself, I pull out a puzzle. Architecture puzzles are my favourites to build and for some reason I always find the ones with one 3 colours 😂

My plant babies

Congratulations if you made it to the end! I know I can ramble. I will definitely start posting a little more so keep an eye if you found my intro interesting.

Just want to say thanks to @zakludick for all the help, wise words and encouragement to start this,and thanks to @pixelhuntersam for introducing me to this platform.

See you all later!

Credit

All photos were taken by myself, except the Impala lily image.
Collages made using Photo Collage Maker App