How did I find my passions?

TRAVEL

When I was 19, I participated in a college program that contracted with military bases all over the world, to provide different types of camps for the children of military personnel. I was assigned to a day camp on an army base in Schweinfurt, Germany. My evenings and weekends were left to explore and I took as much advantage of that as I could. I traveled to Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), Austria, Italy and different parts of Germany.  That summer was when the travel bug bit me.

 

FOOD

My grandmothers and mom were very good cooks and bakers. They all would let me participate in making desserts or a meal. While my "teachers" didn't experiment a lot with seasonings and sauces, when I got older and out on my own, I found experimenting with seasonings and adding my own twists to recipes challenging and fun.

 

My Grandma Frances worked in a bakery for 20+ years and I was always in awe of her creations. She made most of her grandchildren's confirmation, graduation and birthday cakes. She also made my wedding cake. Grandma Frances has always been my inspiration for the creativity in my baking.

 

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography is my newest passion. While traveling, I found that I love to take pictures to capture the details of architecture, the spontaneity of a moment and to explain culture through photographs; however, traveling isn't the only time I love to take pictures. There are moments and scenes in my every day life that bring me much joy. Photography helps me share the things and people that I love.

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Me

Growing up on a farm in Iowa, I had the best childhood, the best parents and, on most days, the best brothers.

 

After graduating from University of Northern Iowa, I got married to another Iowa farm kid, and we left to explore "the city life" in Kansas City, and later in St. Louis. We began our own little family and moved back 10 years later. We wanted our kids to have more opportunities to be around family and to give them the same kind of childhood that we had.

 

Now, one daughter is in college. Another daughter is gearing up to begin her college career. My son will soon be the only one at home, for a few more years. This will be long enough for him to give me me a full head of gray hair.

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Thank You

If you've read this page this far, thank you. I hope you find my space on the web interesting, helpful, funny or inspirational. Whether you have come here to find a good recipe, get good advice about where, when and how to travel or if you're here to be inspired from photographs around the neighborhood or around the world, I hope you will come back often.

 

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