Even though I grew up in a one-income blue-collar family, we still had it pretty good. My earliest memories are of playing on the beach, hanging out in San Francisco's museums, driving through the fog in Napa, going to wine tastings (my parents are shameless) and going to cheap movies on base. They recently tore down the government housing there and replaced the little duplexes we lived in with million-dollar condos. If you've ever seen the TV show MythBusters, the abandoned airstrip they use for a lot of their "experiments" is where I learned to ride my pink bike sans training wheels. I have one younger brother. We are complete opposites. He was a little devil until about age 22. And yes, my mom used to dress us alike.
I consider the beautiful city of San Diego to be my hometown. I was born there, spent the majority of my formative years there, was married there and more than likely I will have somebody toss my remains there after I'm gone. Like any good southern Californian, I like avocados, washing my car, playing outdoors and at the beach, carne asada, good wine and good weather. Perhaps surprisingly, I don't particularly like snow, Los Angeles, fake people, fake tans or swimming. I don't know anybody famous, my street wasn't lined with palm trees, I don't have a perpetual tan, blonde hair and/or breast implants.Somehow I made it to the midwest for college. It's probably good that I did that, so I could step outside my comfort zone and learn to appreciate where I came from. I also learned that they do in fact speak english in the midwest and not everybody out there is a farmer. I still laugh when people from one midwestern state makes fun of other states...as if Indiana or Illinois or Ohio or wherever are really all that different! I don't think they know that 95% of the rest of the country thinks they are equally rednecked. My husband is from Indiana [i guess that counts as another good reason i went to college in the midwest] and people there are pretty nice, so as a
state it's OK in my book.
I graduated with my BS degrees in December of 2002. I had about 1/2 a credit more the minimum graduation requirement after 3.5 years. All part of my (and Tara's) plan to stick it to the man. But the man stuck it to us in the end because all that tuition money later got us a tiny diploma with a spelling mistake on it. In case you didn't know, I had the distinct pleasure of
We moved to Arizona a few months later and kissed the last of those harsh Michigan winters goodbye. My car is no longer a shameful asian outcast and now enjoys a popular fuel-efficient status. The sunshine is abundant, the heat very hot [its a dry heat, you know], and the people are pretty nice. We bought our first house a day before our first wedding anniversary - how's that for the gift of paper? [and there was a LOT of paper]
We have a dog named Stinky. She is "special" and is also a cancer survivor. You can read her story here if you are so inclined.
We don't have any kids yet. Right now I am doing infectious disease research. I have two main projects: M. tuberculosis 2-component regulatory systems and a skin necrotizing bacteria that affects people mostly in Africa. Many people are surprised that TB is still a problem; in fact, 1/3 of the world's population is currently infected. TB is becoming a bigger problem -even in developed nations- due to the susceptiblity of those with HIV/AIDS. Every once in a while I get these romantic notions of going back to school...but I think I have finally decided that I am not really interested in getting my PhD.
I like to cook, I'm addicted to chocolate and the internet. I like animals and we (as a married couple) collect Christmas ornaments wherever we travel. I am trying to read more books. Once upon a time I was a pretty serious runner; my 4th grade teacher got me started and I ran my first [and possibly only] marathon at the tender age of 17. I speak a little spanish and a little japanese. I can change the oil in my car. My pet peeves are tardiness and bad spelling. And people who don't know how to use affect/effect.
That's pretty much everything. Or at least everything I'm gonna spill!
