Personal History

In the Greenhouse

I have lived in Texas almost all of my life, with the exception of seven years that I spent in Wisconsin while I was in graduate school. My interest in sports and music began at a very young age, and persists to this day. I was a competitive swimmer and diver for many years, and I played the piano, clarinet, flute, recorders, and sang in church and school choirs until I began my professional career as a data network manager and system engineer.

I studied research methods and music therapy while in grad school and completed a thesis on the effects of different types of auditory stimuli (music) on human muscle tension. While attending grad school I worked as a research assistant in the school of education, which payed the bills and provided me with the opportunity to learn everything there was to know about PCs and networks in the early 80s (when there wasn’t a whole lot to know). I worked with IBM PCs, PC-ATs, Commodore 64s, Apple IIs, and Macs, and all of the software, hardware, and OSs that went along with them.

After securing my masters degree I moved back to Texas and got a job as a PC technician and network manager. Since that time I have had several jobs in the high tech sector in various job roles. For the past 12 years I have worked for one of the largest technology companies in the world as an IT architect and process engineer.

Although I enjoy working with technology, I have always had a passion for gardening and landscaping. Several years ago my husband and I decided that we wanted to start our own nursery/farm/landscaping business. We sold our suburban house, bought a small parcel of land in a more rural area, and proceeded to invest in and establish our business, Lost Valley Gardens. I now spend every waking hour either working at my day job or my night job. Loving every minute of it.