Background

      I was born in New York on January 1, 1979.  We moved to Decatur, IL when I was 1 ½ years old.  I have been a Decatur resident since then!  

     I went to Stevenson Elementary School K-6.  I was very involved with student council, basketball, volleyball, cross country, softball, and pom pons.

    Then I graduated to Mound Middle School, which is getting ready to be torn down.  I participated on many athletic teams including basketball, track, softball, and volleyball.  My last four years of school were at Stephen Decatur High School.  I continued to play every sport that I could and even added soccer to the list.  I enjoyed keeping busy and in shape!  I graduated from SDHS in May 1997.

     I furthered my education, with the intentions of studying education, at Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma.  I played basketball for the first two years and was a Resident Advisor my third year.  I decided to transfer to Olivet Nazarene University my senior year to be with my boyfriend(at the time).  I graduated in May 2001 with a B.A. Elementary Education.

     I was fortunate enough to get a job in Decatur for the 2001-2002 school year.  I taught third grade for one year before they made more budget cuts.  This past year, I was a full time substitute teacher in three different districts.  

     By the way, I did end up marrying that boyfriend from college.  We actually met at junior high church camp, a long time ago!  We dated for about 5 years before finally getting married.  We’ve been married for over a year (June 22)!!!