As the daughter of a former IBM executive, I spent 10 formative years of my life moving with my family from my native Southern California to Denver, Colorado; Upstate NY; and St.Louis, Missouri, returning to California during my sophomore year in high school. These years of uprooting and relocating taught me how to adapt to new environments and social groups and provided rich experiences as we traveled and explored our new cities. This also meant living in many new homes, and even as a child, I understood the importance to a family of finding the right house.

I graduated with a B.A. in Art from Pepperdine University, Malibu, California, where I met the love of my life. We married in 1990 and moved to Asheville in 1992 with our four-month-old baby girl, buying our first dream home (and first renovation) in the Montford Historic District. After adding two boys to our family, we restored another historic home in South Asheville, bringing us closer to Veritas Christian Academy, where our children were enrolled (and later graduated from), and where I would go on to teach in the art department. We are deeply committed to our faith in Jesus Christ and value being part of a local church family. We thank God every day for the privilege and blessing of living in WNC.

Tidbits about me:

*I love to travel—I studied abroad my sophomore year in college and I have visited 21 foreign countries and counting!

*I love gardening and cultivating house plants.

*I love all things birds: Watching, feeding, and decor.

*I love to paddle board, locally on the French Broad River and Lake Jocassee, and in Florida in the gulf and on the Blackwater River.

*I love Yosemite National Park, CA, where my family has vacationed every summer for generations.

*I love the sun, especially on the Gulf Coast of Florida where we spend time as a family multiple times a year.

*I love being called “Mom Mom.” Lowen, our grandson, lives nearby with his mommy and daddy and frequently gets to spend the night with us.

*I love walking, hiking, and running the trails of WNC.

*I love puzzles of all sorts and the challenge of untangling things.

*I love good food, good drinks, good music, and especially good friends and family who share these things with us.

*Fun fact: My husband and I both have a parent who is a twin.