I graduated in 1994 with my bachelor's degree in social work from Texas Lutheran College in Seguin. At that time, job prospects were kind of grim for a social worker who didn't want to work in child protective services, so I decided to change things up by moving to Denver for a while.

I found a job working in a small Alzheimer's home, which was great for a while. However, when one starts to exhibit signs of dementia from hanging out with people with actual dementia, it's time to move on. I got some great stories out of the experience, along with learning the meaning of the word "patience."

From there I tried banking, and for the next few years learned about the business world. I eventually came to the realization that, as much as I loved my job, it wasn't what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. So I decided to move back to Texas, go to graduate school, and learn more about the field of aging.

I completed my master's in Gerontology in December 2002, and have since been working in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for a small agency that provides social services to seniors. All those years when I thought I wasn't achieving much actually ended up paving the way for my current career. My affinity for dealing with older people is combined with what I learned about the corporate world. Yay for things coming together!

Now I'm living in Arlington, with my 2 monster kitties. Even though I'm not sure if this area is where I'll be long-term, I took the plunge and bought a condo last year. This way, if the cats decide to tear anything up, well, it's ours, and we'll worry about it later.