What have you been doing for the last 25 years?
Goodness, sooooo many great things have happened! Let me hit on the highlights. From high school I went to MSU where I earned a BS in Parks and Recreation. I spent two summers during my college years working in Yellowstone National Park, an absolutely awesome place, and my last summer completing my internship at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi.
About a year later I landed a job on Johnston Island (JI) which is located roughly 750 miles southwest of Hawaii. The island is half a mile wide by 1 ½ miles long, and is now a bird sanctuary, but at the time was a military base. I spent two years there - one year coordinating special events for the 2000 inhabitants (none of which were native) and the second year managing the clubs system, a major undertaking since the number one activity on the island was consuming alcoholic beverages. During those two years I learned to scuba dive and windsurf, vacationed in Hawaii, spent a weekend as Alex Trebeck’s personal tour guide (he was on the island looking for candidates for the military week of Jeopardy), meet Kevin Greene from the Green Bay Packers and Darius Rucker from Hootie and the Blowfish, and I also meet the man who eventually proposed to me while we were flying over Park City, UT in a hot air balloon.
Before the big proposal but after the two years on JI, I went to San Francisco and received a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification, which lead to a job in Japan teaching conversational English to college students. It was an awesome opportunity to see Japan, but the pay was horrible, so I completed my 9 month contract and returned to Caro. Back in Caro, I got a job at the Human Development Commission. I spent one year teaching mediation techniques to middle school students in Sanilac County and a second year as an intake specialist for the elderly again in Sanilac Co.
That is where I was when our 10 year reunion took place; however, just a few days after the reunion I packed up and moved to Alabama to be with my fiancé. I moved to Anniston, AL located roughly 20 minutes from the Talladega Superspeedway, which is where I got my very first job in Alabama. The position at the racetrack was only temporary and ended after the 1999 fall race. From there, I somehow ended up at an urgent care and occupational medicine clinic as a personal assistant. I was employed there at the time of my wedding which took place at Cheaha State Park – the highest point in Alabama.
Shortly after getting married, I changed jobs and got back into the field of recreation as I went to work at a nursing home where I focused on providing recreational activities to patients with Alzheimer’s, a very rewarding and humbling experience, which I am grateful for. However, I eventually realized that working weekends, evenings and holidays (that’s when most people want recreational activities, right?) wasn’t always going to work for me, so while continuing to work at the nursing home, I pursued an associate’s degree in accounting. That decision was rather odd, since I already had a bachelor’s degree; however, the situation worked well with my current situation.
As luck would have it, almost immediately after completing the accounting program, one of my teachers who taught as a second job at the community college I earned my associates degree from, hired me to work under him at a small refinery which refines precious metals out of catalytic converters and catalyst material. The job entailed (or perhaps I should say entails since I still hold the same position) not only accounting work, but also human resources.
Work wise, my life has remained fairly consistent for the past 5 years; however, a little over three years ago my husband and I were thrown a curve ball (that we still find hard to believe) which completely changed our lives. Basically out of the blue, we received a phone call from a young girl who asked us if we would take and raise her then 3 week old baby girl. The young mother wanted her daughter to have a much different life than she had, and realized that in order for that to happen, she had to give up her little girl. Arionna came to live with us just 3 days before Christmas day 2005. She was a dream come true. We call her our Christmas miracle. She is a beautiful, happy little girl, and my husband and I are very proud, dedicated parents.
Arionna is involved in gymnastics, ballet and the church choir. I teach her Sunday School class and I’m currently coordinating a daddy-daughter dance fund-raiser for our church in honor of Arionna and my husband.
