About

My Beginnings

I grew up mostly in Flossmoor, IL. A small south suburb of Chicago. I am an only child and adopted. Both my parents come from large families and I was always close to my cousins growing up. I do not know my birth mother or father but I plan on searching once I’m more settled in my life.

I graduated from Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School in 2002 and was accepted into the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Since the time I was 12, I wanted to be a microbiologist (study of microbes) or a virologist (study of viruses) and work at the CDC. It took about 2 semesters at UIUC to determine that I was not really cut out for the school or the major. I switched to nursing and withdrew from UIUC in October of 2003.

After withdrawing, I went to work at Springfield Service Corporation (SSC) and in January of 2004 started at Moraine Valley Community College. Initially I decided that I was going to go into nursing. That summer I went to class to become a Certified Nursing Assistant. However, when it came to actually treating and working with the patients, I was not confident with my skills and had doubts about going into nursing. 6 months later, I decided to change my major to Health Information Management.

Falling in love and paving my own path

I applied to University of Illinois at Chicago’s Health Information Management program in the spring of 2005. I met my husband, Alex,  in April and fell in love.  A few weeks later I was accepted into the HIM program and we decided to move in together so I could be closer to school. At the end of July, we bought Max, a domestic tabby.  We then adopted, Patrick, almost 9 months later.  They hit it off and act like brothers.

Not much longer after getting Max, we decided to get married and wedding plans began.  I graduated in May of 2007 with a wedding in June, just around the corner.  4 days after graduation, we found out I was pregnant!  Little did we know I was 3 months along and due in November.

After the wedding, I accepted a job at DuPage Medical Group as a Coding and Compliance Analyst and began working there in August.   Our little AJ came along 3 months later on November 19th, 2007.  He was 9 pounds and 20 inches.  Around the time AJ was born, we had decided to buy my Aunt’s house; which we did, in May of 2008.  Just far enough into the recession to get a good interest rate but only so far to get the $7500 tax credit you have to pay back to the IRS. :(

In March of 2008, I took and passed my credentialing exam for my profession, so I am officially a Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA).  An awesome accomplishment as I now have letters after my name.  Around the same time, I began a brand new project at work.  DMG was in the beginning stages of a document management solution, or scanning.  Myself and an IT coworker built the system together.  Rather, he built it and I told him what to do :)

Right before AJ’s first birthday, Alex and I decided we were ready to begin trying for a new baby, as AJ was absolutely enthralled with sibling relationships.  We  begin trying in November, and conceived on our very first try.  A few months later we added another new addition, William.  Our third adopted cat.  Although we were excited about the upcoming baby and the new cat, our winter was rough as AJ was sick almost every week from the beginning of February to the middle of May.  It ended with tube surgery for his ears in June.

Kayla was born August 10th, 2009 at 10 pounds and 22 inches.  My little girl grew out of newborn diapers at 2 days old.  AJ could not have been happier to meet his new little sister and to this day he still loves her.

Life, currently

Life, currently, is hectic.  I still work for DMG.  Part of me wants to be a stay at home mom and the other part craves adult interaction.  Still trying to find the balance.  Alex works from home now on a business he started years ago.  He tries to convince me to start a business almost everyday. AJ and Kayla are both thriving and could not be happier siblings.  I hope one day to go for a master’s degree in Health Informatics and possibly start a consulting business.  For now, I just wish everyone to stay happy and the house to stay clean :)