Poker Through the Eyes of a Beginer

My cousins introduced me to Texas Hold'em about 5 years ago while on a family vacation. I played in our family home games after that off and on for the next couple years but never really took a real interest in the game. In May of 2009 I started dating an avid card player (Tom the love of my life, well next to poker ;)) By September he had me playing at the weekly game he attended. Tom and his buddies taught me the skills needed to survive in poker and improve my game. By March I played in my first charity event of around 75 people. I took 3rd place. Tom was so excited for me as other poker players expressed the talent they thought I had for the game. From that point I would strive to improve my game. Reading books, talking to other players and constantly asking Tom for advice on hands. I thought Tom would get annoyed with my new obsession. He didn't though, turns out it's his obsession too. He loves that fact that I'm so interested in Poker. He helped me set up an account on Pokerstars.com to get more practice at during my free time. 2 weeks ago weeks ago Tom took me to Mountaineer to start playing in tournaments there. The first one a satelite to a $550 tournament I came in 14th place out of 86. I got taken out on a bad beat. If I won that pot I would have cashed for sure. The next tournament I played in there were 74 people and I came in 18th. I feel like my game gradually improves every time I play. I'm so excited to keep learning and improving!