Where did you grow up? Where did you go to high school and when did you graduate?

I grew up in Ft. Jennings in Putnam County. I went to high school at Ft. Jennings High School and also attended Vantage Vocational School my junior and senior year. I graduated from both schools in 1996.

Tell us about your childhood. What were some of your interests, after-school activities, etc.?

In my childhood I was very involved in Girl Scouts. I earned my bronze, silver and gold awards. In order to earn my gold award, I had to complete a service project. My service project was a safety day for youth where I had the county sheriff come in and teach kids about fire safety, bicycle safety, etc. I was also a volunteer for the organization. Beginning in the summer of my sixth grade year, I was a day camp volunteer at Woodhaven in Lima. I volunteered every summer and loved every minute of it. It also carried over into my early adult years as I volunteered as an archery instructor, trainer of trainers and camp counselor and eventually a girl scout leader for a Bluffton troop.

I was also very involved in the youth group with my church. I was a youth leader at "Hearthstone" events. Hearthstone was a youth group within the Toledo Diocese that is no longer active. We would hold youth gatherings during the year and youth leader training once per year. I would also attend youth Mass once per month at the Cuba church, which is also no longer there.

My family is a close-knit family and I attribute that to the family vacations we would take each year. My parents purchased a 1984 Rockwood motor home in 1984 and we took it on annual vacations. As a child I visited every state east of the Mississippi in that motor home. I have two equally favorite vacations. One is every kid's dream and that was when we went to Disney World in Florida. Beyond Disney, we visited the Everglades and saw alligators. My other favorite vacation was when we did a New England coast tour. We traveled up to Maine and then back home. I remember my parents purchasing a lobster and taking it back to the camper to cook and then keeping the lobster claws as souvenirs. I also think mom and dad traveled out of our way a few times to go through some states just to say "we were there."

When did you first discover an interest in graphic design? What is your favorite design program and why? What was your first computer?

I first discovered an interest in graphic design in high school. At Vantage I was enrolled in the Desktop Publishing program. Prior to that I knew I wanted to pursue a career in computers and chose that class for the heck of it. As a result, I was enrolled in the Business Professionals of America organization by default of my program. This allowed me the opportunity to compete in Desktop Publishing competitions and I went all the way to the National competition in Arizona. I took first place in the regional competition and second place at the State level, which earned me a spot at the National level. Ever since then, I've been hooked on designing with the computer. I love the creativity it affords me.

My favorite design program is Adobe InDesign. I like how it brings all of the components of the other Adobe products to life. My first computer was a Toshiba with one of the early Windows versions on it. I love, love, love working on the Mac at my job. However, I am just as happy with my PC at home.

Where all have you attended college? You're completing a bachelor's degree now. How can you balance that with family, work, etc.? What do you enjoy most about your current studies?

Right after graduating from high school, I attended Lima Technical College and enrolled in the Computer Information Systems program with a focus on MultiMedia. I earned an associates degree and the day I graduated from there I was hired at The Courier in Findlay. I worked there for awhile before getting the itch to earn a bachelor's degree. I thought I wanted to earn one in Graphic Design so I enrolled at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and took online classes. I was on track to earning a bachelor's degree when life smacked me in the face and my daughter began having seizures. I dropped out of the program and began focusing on my daughter's health. After a few years and even more life events, I still felt the itch to earn a bachelor's degree. I earned myself a role in management and thought it would benefit me to take a management course which is what lead me to Bluffton University's BCOMP program. I am currently halfway through the program and love every part of it. I love the flexibility the one night a week class affords me and the understanding of the professors for working adults and parents. More importantly, I love the fact that you go through the entire program with the same group of people. This offers a family-like support system that really gets you through the hard times everyone endures while trying to balance school, work and family. Other ways I balance my family life is with a great support system at home.

You just started a new job. What are you doing? How is this both similar and different from your past jobs?

I just started as the Graphic Artist for the Toledo Diocese and the Catholic Chronicle and truly believe that this will be the job of which I retire from. I love the feel of working for a non-profit organization and the one that is the support system of the church. This job allows me to take everything I've learned from working for three newspapers (a daily and two weeklies) and wrap it into one job of which I can assist in spreading the word of God. It's different in the sense that I feel as if I am exactly where God wants me to be at this moment in my life.

What was your first job? What was the most important thing you learned from that experience?

My very first job was at the Delphos McDonald's. I began as a front line crew and evolved into a trainer. The most important thing I learned from that experience was the importance of trust and respect between you and your colleagues. I learned from my managers the importance of gaining trust and respect from your employees.

Share some information about your family. Your daughters, their names, ages, interests?

I am married to Shawn, who is originally from Pandora. He works as a Material Handler at Orick Tool and Die in Elida. He is my rock when it comes to taking care of our two girls, Hannah and Hailey. Hannah is 8 and Hailey is 6 and they both attend Cory-Rawson elementary. The girls are each other's best friend and at times each other's worst enemies. As a family, we love to go places. We have a very old (1974) Winnebago Brave that we take to close campgrounds. We love to stay at state parks and the girls love to swim. While camping, the girls love to go swimming, hike and cook over the camp fire. We try to get to the Bluffton pool as much as we can during the summer and just the other day, the girls asked if the pool was opened.

How is your husband doing by now? Can you explain his accident and what has happened since?

My husband was recently involved in a work related accident that was another "slap in the face of life". He had a 1600 pound steel coil fall on his right leg. The incident caused him to be life-flighted to St. Vincent's in Toledo where they inserted a rod into the large bone below his knee. He also had a large wound on the front of his leg from (we think) the coil. It ended up getting severely infected and the doctors had to cut away the infection, and cut away tissue down to the bone. This caused the need for a muscle flap, where they took muscle from his calf and flipped it to the front of his leg to cover the bone. He underwent two skin graphs to heal the wound and is now in the beginning stages of doctoring with a broken calcanious (heel). He is currently in a large walking boot and finally, after three months of non-weight bearing, able to put a little weight on it.

When did you first move to Bluffton? What brought you here?

I moved to Bluffton in 1996 with my parents. Prior to that I grew up in a house my father built on two acres outside of Ft. Jennings. During the fall of 1995, a couple knocked on our door and asked if our house was for sale. Dad told him no but after some conversation, Dad said he would sell anything for the right price. The man asked Dad to think about selling the house and get back with him. That year over the Thanksgiving holiday, we took a family vacation to Arizona. We discussed it as a family and Mom and Dad decided to go ahead with selling the house. The family purchased our home in December and we had until July 1 to find land, build a home and move out of our current home that Mom and Dad had lived in for the previous 22 years.

Mom had always liked the Bluffton area and was the decider on moving to Bluffton. They placed a classified ad in the local Bluffton paper saying they were looking for 40 acres to build a home. Someone answered the ad and Mom and Dad fell in love with the property he offered them. We began building a home and ended up living in our motor home for two months until our home was completed.

Your parents own a local business. Do you ever work there? What is your favorite baked item from their store?

My parents own The Dough Hook in Bluffton. I work there on Saturdays during the summer up through the holidays. I love all the food they offer but my favorite is the chocolate, peanut butter chip cookie. Mom's cinnamon rolls are the best in the world and Dad's steaks simply melt in your mouth.

You probably don't have a lot of free time right now, but when you do, what do you enjoy doing?

My favorite thing to do in my free time is curl up under a blanket, in a quiet room and read a good book. I also love to put puzzles together however, I don't dare start a puzzle because I will not get anything else done until it is completed.

What is the last book you read? Given the time, what would be your preferred type of reading?

The last book I read was (with a red face) 50 Shades of Grey. I read the series because everyone was talking about it. Honestly, it has a really great "Cinderella" storyline to it. I enjoy reading books of a series, like Sue Grafton's mystery series of the alphabet. I have read every book except for the final book she released last year. I also enjoyed reading the Harry Potter series and the Twilight series. I tried getting in to non-fiction books but have yet to find one good enough to hold my interest.

What was the last movie you saw? Favorite movie? Least favorite?

The last movie I saw was Parental Guidance at the Shannon Theatre. My favorite movie of all time is Hitch with Will Smith and Kevin James. I am a huge Kevin James fan. He played Doug Hefernon on the sitcom King of Queens and I honestly believe I married a Doug Hefernon. I really don't have a least favorite movie...I try to watch comedies and feel good movies. The one movie that did not live up to my expectations was Anger Management.

Where do you hope to be in 10 years?

In 10 years I hope to be continuing my journey with the Toledo Diocese. I would be okay if I was still the graphic artist for the Diocese and I will be okay if I am in a different position with the diocese. As the former editor of the Putnam County Sentinel, I loved the feel of being a manager and in charge of an organization so if I'm meant to serve in that capacity, I know that God will place me on that path.