Roots
I was born and raised in East County in San Diego. Since people rarely know where El Cajon is unless they grew up in San Diego, it is off of the 8 east on your way to El Centro. It was a great place to grow up since most homes had a lot of property. We grew up on an acre. During the summer my two brothers and I were sent out in the morning to play with my cousins down the street and were not let back in the house until dinner. Ok, maybe an exaggeration but close to it. My mom had vegetable gardens, and flower beds all throughout the property. I used to complain about the weeding I would have to do every Saturday before I could play with friends which is ironic because now going out and picking weeds in my own yard is actually therapeutic.
Family Life
I am married to my college sweetheart Brandon. We met at UCSB my senior year, his junior year. He loves the fact that I am older. We had a lot of fun riding bikes to class, Study Hall (our campus bar) and living right on the beach. Life was easy then. Fast forward 14 years and we have two kids, Maddie 8 and Owen 5. There are definitely fewer bike rides to our local bar and more weekends filled with soccer and birthday parties, but we wouldn’t change it for the world.
Work Life
After I graduated from college, I moved back to East County to live with one of my closest friends from high school while Brandon finished his last year at UCSB. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and I wasn’t going to go back to school so I ended up working with my Aunt at her travel agency ,which was only supposed to be for a bit while I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. Well 1 year turned into 10 years and during that time I was able to travel to a lot of fun places and plan vacations and honeymoons for a lot of people. I decided to leave my job when my daughter was 3 and I was pregnant with my son. Now I am a mom Uber but also have a passion for plants and flowers and have a small flower delivery business called Petals by Pedal and deliver weekly flower arrangements to friends and family.
Who inspires you the most and why?
My dad. He is the best dad in the world. I was so lucky to be raised by a dad who kind of broke the mold for what a typical mom role and dad role was. When I was younger he worked two jobs in order to provide for our family. He is a landscape contractor and late at night he fixed arcade games at the family fun center so that he would not miss any of our activities during the day. As I got older he did not work at night anymore but since he owned his own business he was able to make it to everything. He is the most selfless person I know and and always thinks of others before himself.
Best advice you’ve ever been given?
Sometimes its better to be in the moment then capture the moment. Years ago I was one of those people that needed to capture every moment and take pictures of everything. I guess I thought I was the next Ansel Adams. My husband and I went on a trip to Europe together and got into one of our worst fights a couple days in because he said that he felt like he was on vacation by himself because I was only taking pictures the whole time rather then actually being in the moment. He said to me , “You know sometimes it’s better to be in the moment then capture it”. Fast forward a few years and people that know me now make fun of me for never having my phone or for never taking pictures. I should probably find a happy medium.
Something people may not know about you?
I am super duper competitive when it comes to sports. Last fall we had our first annual flag football game with our friends and family. Unfortunately, the game was cut short because I ran into and bounced off of my husband running for a pass and gave myself a concussion. Needless, to say that was our first and last annual flag football game.
If I were a pair of shoes I would be...
Rainbow sandals because they are very versatile and go with everything.
Favorite Color
Navy Blue
Celebrity Look-Alike
Diane Krueger
What are you looking forward to?
My 14th wedding anniversary trip with my husband in June.