Where we come from...(Carolyn)

It all started on a sunny morning in Southern California....ok, I wont do that to you either....much.

I was born in Southern California to middle class parents in a growing middle class neighborhood. When I was 4 my dad was transferred to New Jersey, which was a huge change for my very Californian parents.

My dad loved New Jersey- and nearly dumped his telecom career for farming. My mom was ok with it too- she fell in love with antiques, but missed California. I was crushed at 9 when my parents decided to move to Northern California. I was leaving my green field and my woods for a barren concrete backyard behind an ugly stucco track house.

We lived in the San Francisco Bay Area throughout my Junior High and High School years- going from house to house (my parents liked to move). I wanted to become a fashion designer (my worldview was a TAD different back then), and decided on FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) in San Francisco. I love that city and was told I'd probably do well at that school. But my parents felt I needed to go to Christian College for at least a year- then
I could go to design school.

So, I visited a couple- one of which was in New York that we were able to see while visiting friends from New Jersey. I eventually choose Nyack, and so that next summer- I was off to New York.

I met Matt at college and we were engaged in my second semester. I dropped out of college before we got married and got a job as a dispatcher in the town Matt grew up in. I felt I had found my career! I loved that job. There was possibility of me going to police academy if I choose to, and the pay was great.

We were both working so much after we got married, and like my mom, I was really missing California. So, we moved.

I tried for almost a year to get a dispatching job here, but ultimately the departments were run differently, and the wouldn't just hire any old kid that came in the door- there was a ton of applicants for each position. So I gave up on that an took random boring clerical jobs.

When I got pregnant with Wyatt I was working for our friends who are Chiropractors- this was my first job here that I enjoyed. But after having Wyatt, I realized I was not going to want to work. I had found myself. I was a mother. And I couldnt have been more surprised.

I desparatley wanted a home to take care of and settle down in and hated our apartments. But with Matt working for the church- buying a home was impossible. When he changed jobs...I quickly begged for a house and put an offer on one. The only one we could afford.

It was important to me to get back what I'd lost when my family left New Jersey- I wanted my kids to be able to wander around in open space and hide in a grove of trees. So, we choose to move to the end of the road in a rural gold rush town.

I am sort of living my dream life right now. I love this community- I have amazing friends, and this town is about as Mayberry-ish as it gets. We get snow a few weeks a year and its not too hot in the summer. And we're 35 minutes to the nearest traffic light.

So, my only job outside the home is doing co-op preschool. Ok, not a real job, but it's work, and I find it tremendously furfilling. I love circle time- it is my chance to sing and be hammy without any critcism!!!

I hope thats a sufficient amount of info. I'm not the writer here...Matt is. (and he is frequently annoyed by my abuse of puncuation!)