Who am I? What an interesting question. Let's see ...
I grew up in a tiny little town of 5000 people in southern Illinois (and no ... Springfield is not southern Illinois!). I'm the oldest of three kids, and we are all very, very different. I took honors classes in high school and was involved in a gazillion extra curricular activities, including the student council, color guard and math team (I know, I know). In my spare time, I was a shift manager at the good old Taco Bell, which is where I met my hubby, Bob.
I went to Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin after high school. I started dating Bob when I was home the summer after freshman year, and we've been together ever since. It wasn't always easy since he was in college in Missouri! I had the most amazing roommate my last three years of college (love ya, Jess!). I also had an amazing group of friends who helped my survive the trials and tribulations of a Chemistry major and Biology minor. One of my biggest regrets is that we all drifted apart during grad school. While I was at Carthage I was again in a frillion activities, but the most prominent was the campus newspaper. I was the Executive Editor for two years which was a lot of work and a lot of fun.
Bob proposed in November of my senior year, obviously I said yes. My parents divorced that January. My graduation was the first social event after that. Um ... awkward!I moved back to the suburbs of St. Louis and started working on my PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Missouri St. Louis. It was tough to teach, take classes and do research all at the same time, but apparently I survived.
At the end of my first year of grad school, Bob and I were married. It was a wonderful day filled with family and friends and even a groomsman dry-humping my mother. Oh the memories!
That fall, Bob and I started leading the youth group at our church. It's a job that we love, but can come with some very prickly thorns. We put in countless hours working on lessons and events and dealing with teenager drama, but at the end of the day, when one of our kids makes the right choice, or a parent says thanks for being there, it's all worth it.
In March of 2006 we bough our first house. It was built in 1887 and needed some serious TLC. We spent lots of time and money working on it. We also managed to acquire three dogs in the process. I had Champ, the Maltese, but he was living with my dad until we bought the house. We also rescued Hunter , one of the labs, from a family who couldn't take care of him. A couple years later, my mom gave us the second lab, Schlafly.In May of 2009, I graduated from UMSL with my PhD. I was quickly hired on at Pfizer as a contractor with the hopes of being picked up full time. Shortly thereafter, Pfizer merged with another company and closed the St. Louis site. I, and lots of other people, lost my job, but God quickly opened a new door.
I am currently working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Washington University School of Medicine. I am studying a pediatric tumor disorder called Neurofibromatosis, which causes brain tumors in children. It's an amazing opportunity, and I hope to make the most of it.So there we are. I think I've covered it all. I can't wait to see what doors God opens for me next!
