Answers to your Questions

Wonderful questions ladies! Now it is my turn to come up with wonderful answers :)

1) What do I feel I gain from being a member of Junior League?

The answer to this question continues to grow as each year goes by. When I first joined it was to meet other local women and do some professional networking.

Since then it has blossomed into much more than I expected from those two goals along with motivation to challenge my exercise goals, giving back to the community, and continuing to better my skills all around through my different roles in the league.

For example, during my first year I joined a running group through the JLG and we set out to run a half marathon and we did! To this day that is one of my life's greatest accomplishments. Maybe one day I'll do another.....

Also, since joining the league I have faced some difficult times in my life. These ladies are always standing there waiting to scoop me up off the floor when I can't do it myself. It is a firm belief of mine that I'm a better person even in my marriage because I surround myself with such great women to share both the best and worst of what life throws at me.

2) Where did I grow up?

Jacksonville, FL is the short answer. Actually, I was born in California. Lived in Maryland for a minute before moving with my family to Florida.

Once my dad retired from the Navy in 1997 or 1998 we moved to North Carolina where I attended high school and college. After college, I returned back to the area and bought my own home after getting my first job.

3) Where did I meet my husband?

We both used to work for a company associated with Nascar. As it turns out, my whole family knew him before I did but they did not introduce us to each other. It was years later, after my family had exited that business for retirement that we ended up working for the same company. After that, as they say the rest is history :)

4) What was my major at ECU?

Actually, it was Communication with a concentration in PR as well as a minor in Biology.

The story behind the Biology minor is that I started my college career at UNCW before transferring to ECU with the excuse of "I want to be a doctor".

That all crumbled down around me about the third time I could not pass Chemistry. To this day, I have a fascination with medicine and have not ruled out pursuing something in the field at some point in my life.

Likely, it would not actually be an MD but maybe something along the lines of a Genetic Counselor.

5) How did my work respond to our loss of Megan Grace?

For the most part, they have been excellent.

Early on in my pregnancy until after we found out I really did not share with anyone at work I was pregnant due to both my history and the fact that I just could not shake the feeling that something was not right.
During this time there were a few people who knew because of obligation. One of these individuals could not stop prying. In the end, when I revealed the news of both my pregnancy and Megan Grace's condition at the same time it seemed to put an end to any prying to this very day. Thank goodness.

The rest of my office has been fabulous. Tons of cards, gifts, emails, and they even sent flowers and brought food. Wonderful!

5) What is our favorite place to vacation and what special memories does it hold for us?

We are split 50/50 on this question. His favorite place is Jackson Hole, Wyoming while mine is St. John, USVI. He likes cold, I like hot.

The truth is we both LOVE both of these places and they both hold a special place in our hearts. They are both beautiful in their own way and basically untouched in many places by human hands. It is amazing to think that God created such beautiful scenery.

St. John is special because we got married with many of our closest friends and family on St. Thomas and spent some time on St. John with them all. It was probably the only time we will have that many people so close to us on vacation together at the same time. I'd do it all over again in a minute.

And for reading through this long post you get pictures :)

Check out the scenery in the background. Simply beautiful!

The boys

The girls

A Bison in Jackson Hole. This was taken as we were snowmobiling through Yellowstone.

A Moose in the neighborhood where we always rent a condo.

The beautiful couple.

A waterfall inside Yellowstone.