I was born on January 10, 1978 at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Both my mother, Mary Ann, and my father, Neal, were students there, studying chemical engineering. After they graduated, we moved down to Texas, where they got jobs from Texas Instruments. On March 28, 1982, Jessica, my little sister, was brought into the world. We went to school in Plano, but lived in Richardson--both are suburbs of Dallas. While in school, I did a number of things. Probably the main activity (besides school itself) was Odyssey of the Mind (OM). I took piano lessons for 2 years, and I have played the viola since 6th grade. I graduated from Plano East Senior High School, class of 1996. (Go Panthers!) I then attended higher learning at the United States Air Force Academy, class of 2000 (Yeah, baby!). You can read more about this on another page. After graduating there, I trained to be a navigator at NAS Pensacola, which you can also read more about on another page!

My mother was also born in Kentucky, the daughter of James and Mariko. My grandfather served his country in the U.S. Army--he met my grandmother while stationed in Japan. Because my grandmother is Japanese, I've been exposed to things many people find strange--like eating raw fish. I like it, though!

My father, born in Ohio, was the youngest son of George and Ann Marie. My grandfather died when I was 3, so I really don't remember anything about him. My grandmother was in a wheelchair the whole time I knew her and spent her last years of life in a nursing home. She passed away in 1996 and is in a much better place now.

I've already mentioned stuff about my younger sister Jessica. She can be a pain in the butt like all siblings have a tendancy to be, but she's not all that bad. She also went to Plano East (class of 2000) and received her college education at Baylor University in Waco, TX. She and her husband Scott have 2 boys--adorable nephews Christopher and William!

That's a quickie on me and my family. Some of my good high school friends are Amy and Nettie--both of whom I've known since 1st grade--Rebecca, Ellen, Janelle, Shalini, Cara, Vanessa, Ruthie, Katie, Vladimir, Darcy, Jeremy, Ben, Brett, Greg, Jake, David, Daniel and Barbara, the list goes on. I still see a handful of these folks on a somewhat regular basis. It's nice to have such good friends! Three of my closer friends with whom I've grown up have gotten married and started having kids of their own! Unbelievable how quickly time can pass...