Everyone has an extraordinary story to tell. My tale has excitement, adventure, love and even some comedy. This story however, is just an overview, as we must save the many tales of Pickles -- my alter ego -- for another day.

This introduction is brought to you by @krvin, who introduced me to Steemit only a month ago, and by @jerrybanfield whose expansive collection of youTube videos helped me to acclimate myself to Steemit as I awaited the days to the approval of my account.

ickles was not my real name, but it was the only real nickname that stuck with me for more than a week. It was given to me as a result of a dare that went horribly wrong during the summer of 2001. It is nevertheless, a crucial part of my "coming of age" and for that reason, we shall save the details of its origins for a later date.

My real name is Nick, and in 2005, I left the comforts of Arizona deserts and followed a girl to the Queen City of the South -- Cebu City, Philippines. A year later that wonderful girl and I walked down the aisle. Over the past decade and a half, we have become the proud parents of three lovely kids -- an eleven year old girl, five year old boy and an eight month old who joined our family last September.

The story of how I got here, is much more in-depth. It was an exciting adventure across the high seas, aboard a cargo ship that took me from Los Angeles to Macau, and eventually to the Philippines. I could have flown on a cramped 16-hour flight, but what fun would that have been? A couple weeks of open seas was a true adventure. If you have ever contemplated a vacation over seas, I would recommend taking a voyage.

My wife and I were married in a centuries’ old cathedral on Bantayan Island back in 2006, and since the day I said my vows, I promised to never leave the Philippines. This wonderful country has now been my home for a third of my life, and as long as I have any control over it, it is where I will spend the rest of my life. Sure, I miss my home in the States, and I miss my family, but I have absolutely no regrets.

Almost one year to the day, my wife and I were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. The hardest part was coming up with the perfect name for my princess. After thinking about it long and hard, we decided on Anastasia. Since my name was Nick, it would only be fitting that my daughter would become Anastasia -- in reference to the heir to the Romanov dynasty as told in the Disney film with the same title.

Next on the list, with five years of separation, was our son. Born at the start of 2011, we decided on a more religious name, but with a twist. I couldn't let anyone tease him over his name, so we gave him a double name, Gabriel Xian, or GX for short. Now that was a manly name. And, as expected, he prefers GX over his full name. He is quickly becoming one of the most popular kids in the neighborhood too.

Last, but certainly not the least, with another five years of separation, we had a second daughter -- Oriana Siobhan. My Irish heritage took control, and we decided on a name which was based on ancient Gaelic. While our first two kids had hazel eyes, she has lived up to her name, being the only one in the family with grey eyes since my grandfather. She is growing up too quickly, all of our kids are.

In 2016, we celebrated our 10th anniversary with a gala event. It was the first time in ten years that I was able to convince my beautiful wife to get dressed up and go out for a night of celebration. It was a wonderful night for all of us. I am looking forward to many more anniversaries to come, and I cannot wait until we hit that next major milestone -- our twenty-fifth anniversary. We still have quite a while to go, and many more memories to make.

I am, in its most simplest terms, a story-teller. I have a knack for taking a boring pointless story, and turning it into a captivating tale -- a tall-tale if you will. I have been planning on putting together a book of my tales, entitled "Pickles Around the Campfire". And while it would be great to make a book out of it and sell online, it would be even better to share these stories here.

So if you are interested in hearing a slightly exaggerated truth of my adventures and exploits around the globe, then stay tuned, follow me, and keep an eye out for my stories and tales that are perfect for campfire fishing tales.

I am also a trainer, and I help people improve their business and professional lives, by giving them the tools they need to succeed in their endeavors. I have more than ten years of experience, and have more than 4,000 topics relating to professional and personal development based on this experience that I will share.

Follow me here, and on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/cebunick

My profile is private, but you can send me a friend request -- in order to be approved, please send me a private message on Facebook, letting me know which one of my posts you have upvoted.

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