First, and most importantly, I am a loving parent, wife, daughter, sister, and friend to many. I was born in Chicago and moved to Arizona when I was just 2 years old. I spent most of my childhood years running around barefoot and playing in the outdoors. My father traveled a lot for work ,and our family was never in one place for too long. When I was 11 years old, we moved back to Chicago, and I experienced my first snow and a lot less running around barefoot! I fell in love with the cool spring mornings, legendary summer games, beautiful autumn adventures, and frozen winter fun. When I was 15 years old, I got the news that we’d be moving again, this time to Houston, Texas. Back to the heatwave! The timing was especially difficult for me, as I was a sophomore in high school and absolutely dreaded leaving my friends from home for a brand new school and life. It turned out to be an incredible learning experience for me; life is unpredictable. I made some close friends at my new high school and loved Texas so much I ended up attending and graduating from the University of Texas at Austin. I spent my early 20’s in Texas, and just when I started thinking of myself as a true Texan, I got my calling to return home. An exciting job offer and the thrill of living back in my hometown brought me to Chicago at 26 years old. I fell in love with the city all over again, with my family nearby and an incredible man in my life (my husband), I realized Chicago would be my home forever.