My name is Amanda Dunn and I am a 32 year old mother of 4. I started smoking cigarettes around age 14. A few years later I became what I would consider a true smoker. Meaning that I was addicted to the nicotine and always made sure that I had a steady supply of cigarettes available. In the beginning my cigarette of choice was Marlboro Reds. By the time I was of age and able to buy my own cigarettes I was smoking about a pack a day of Marlboro Lights. I smoked throughout my first two pregnancies. In 2004 I switched to Marlboro Light Menthol cigarettes. Prior to finding out that I was carrying twins with my third pregnancy, I had never even attempted to stop smoking. Considering the high risk nature of that pregnancy I stopped smoking cold turkey. Every single day was a struggle not to buy a pack but the motivation of 2 healthy babies got me through. I was back to smoking before the twins were 3 months old. I slowly increased the amount I was smoking once I became a stay at home mom. I reached my peak and stayed pretty consistent at a pack and a half a day. My sister told me about ??vaping? in January of 2013. I immediately dismissed the idea because I had no interest in quitting smoking. A couple of weeks later I decided that it was worth looking into just for the sake of the money that I could save. At this point, I was spending $200 a month on cigarettes and also tired of freezing my tail off smoking outside (I had smoked outside since 2002). I spent 2 days doing research and talking to my sister who had already started vaping. I was so overwhelmed with information that I decided it would be best to visit a local shop and talk to them. I walked into Mike??s Electronic Cigarettes on February 4th and walked out with my first ??eGo starter kit? and some 12 mg nicotine juice. On the way home I smoked half of a cigarette, threw the rest out the window and have not smoked a cigarette since. I upgraded fairly quickly to longer lasting batteries and I am not at a point where I feel that my equipment can keep up with me. I have also moved down to 9 mg juice since my favorite manufacturer does not make 12 mg. My children have even said how I smell better and not like cigarettes. My asthma is more controlled and I have noticed that seasonal allergy infections are not escalating into bronchitis like they always did before. Since I stopped smoking I can probably count less than a handful of times when I have felt that I ??needed? a cigarette. The feeling passed pretty quickly on those occasions. During my exploration into vaping my husband became curious as well. He stopped smoking over 10 years ago and has been dipping on and off since then. He is now a ??vaper? as well and no longer dipping. In addition to the obvious benefits of not smoking, ??vaping? has also introduced me to a community of some of the nicest people that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. It has allowed me to interact with others outside of my own home and improved my mental health by doing so. As much as I love the availability of support and knowledge from Smoky Mountain Vapers, I strongly feel that I can remain not smoking even without the support. ??Vaping? truly does make it that easy. I understand completely that the healthiest solution is to not have nicotine in my body at all and maybe sometime down the road I will have the courage to attempt that. But it will not be anytime soon. In the meantime, I provide my body with the nicotine that it is accustom to, but without all of the countless carcinogens, tar and other chemicals that cause so much harm to our health.