User Profile

Well let's see... I joined the Navy right out of high school in 1987 and got stationed at Naval Air Station Moffett Field, CA, which is in the San Francisco Bay Area. I started going to school while enlisted (the big reason I signed up), explored some of California, went on deployment to Japan for 6 months, and generally had an all-around good time getting my feet wet as a grown-up :) I also fell in love, and got married in 1989.

While married to (yep you guessed it) my Navy guy, I worked in retail and later in an office as an apartment leasing consultant. We lived in Mountain View, CA from 1989 - 1992. In '92, we left CA for VA so he could go to "A" school. After that, we moved to Misawa, Japan for what was supposed to be 3 years. Well, long story short, things didn't work out, and we ended up divorcing in 1995. We were young - I wish him well.

So, after that, I returned to the states and lived for awhile in both WI and IL, working retail jobs & going to school. Then in 1996, I was given a chance to return to my former job as leasing consultant in Mountain VIew, so I loaded up my little car and drove west back to my *real* home - Cali-freeking-fornia! I LOVE LOVE LOVE CALIFORNIA!

I don't know how to describe how comfortable I am here. There is so much cultural and ethnic diversity - it makes life so interesting! More often than not, the weather is nice, people are friendly, and there's ALWAYS something to do. I'm within a few hours drive of the ocean, Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe / Reno, gold country, Yosemite, and Monterey - and a most-of-the-day drive from Disneyland and San Diego. It's only about 40 minutes from my driveway to San Francisco, and, if nothing else, the city is incredible - there is just this almost tangible ENERGY that flows along on the wind there; when the good deal I've got on my little house here ends, I'm seriously thinking of moving up there, finances be damned. As far as we know, ya just get this one lifetime, right?

Well, of course, whenever I go back home to WI, someone inevitably teases me about all the "fruits and nuts" here - and I have to admit, I fit pretty happlily in the middle of the trail mix myself.

Since being back here for the past 10 years, I worked sometimes 3 part-time jobs at one time... I was at the apartment complex for a few years, at NASA in their gift shop, in a few other retail places, at an internet start-up that went bust, and, for the past 4+ years, as a project accountant for a construction company.

During most of this time, I have also been working toward my Bachelor's Degree and finally, in 2003 - after 16 years of going to college - I graduated from San Jose State University with a BA in English. (I like to consider it a testament to my tenacity.) Oh - and did I mention that I had a Hello Kitty jumping house at my graduation party? ;-)

What's next? Well I'm kind of laying low for awhile until some of my medical issues are resolved. I'm in a great relationship and really happy to be able to really be *me* with someone I love - like I didn't know I could. We live in a great little house that has a huge backyard and a nice view of the cows on the hillside - something I never had in WI. No kids, but we're ok with that. (But never say never...) In addition to each other, we've got a grumpy 16-year-old cat and 2 rabbits for company.

Beyond that, we both love to travel and have not ruled out living overseas again - this one was in the Navy too, but on a ship instead of an airplane, and has sailed around the planet more than once. We could teach English or just go nomadic. Who knows? But whatever we do, I'm sure it'll make for a great story!

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