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Nicknames: Monkey Girl, Pet Monkey, Drowsy, Candy Fairy, Wart, Cheesehead, Sleepy Brains Hobbies: Sleeping, Webkinz, Surfing the Web, Working on this site, Working on G-PACT , E-mail, Reading, Drawing, Writing, Variety word puzzles, Gamecube, Game Boy Advance, Chillin' with Spunky (guinea pig), Looking for someone to talk to or hang out with, hugging trees, Sleeping some more, keeping up with my Jeep "Blue Lightning", memorizing what everyone else drives (don't ask...I have no idea why. It's a really weird hobby)
Favorite Color: Blue and Orange Favorite Food: Anything with CHEEEEEZZZZEEEE, mashed potatoes and gravy, Fried Onion Rings Favorite Author: Roald Dahl Favorite Movies: Patch Adams, Mr. Holland's Opus, Ladder 49, The God's Must be Crazy 1 & 2, Chicken Little, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, Anything with Robin Williams, Steve Martin, and/or John Candy, Garfield, Edward Scissorhands, Meet the Parents, The Cure, Flight of the Navigator Favorite TV Shows: 7th Heaven, I also love the classics (Andy Griffith, Mr. Ed, Green Acres, 3's Company, Bewitched, Diff'rent Strokes, I dream of Genie, etc), DOND, The Price is Right, American Justice, Larry King Live, KidNation Vehicle: 1997 Jeep Wrangler Sport/TJ. Lapis Blue with black top. "Blue Lightning" Favorite artists: Vincent Van Gogh, Peter Paul Reubens, Georges Seurat Volunteer Experience: TC Thompsons Childrens Hospital (Chattanooga, TN), Polyclinic Hospital Child Life Intern (Harrisburg, PA), Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Inpatient Oncology, Graduate Hospital of Philadelphia Geriatric Art Therapy, York Hospital Child Life (York, PA), Visitor Johns Hopkins Childrens Center (Baltimore, MD), CHOP Child Life Conference, KidMin at LCBC, Youth Group Leader ('94), Founder/President/Webmaster of G-PACT Little known fact: I was TN state spelling champion in 7th grade, and second in state in 6th grade. In 7th grade I beat same person who beat me in 6th grade. I memorized thousands of spelling words, and ended up winning on a word that I had not even studied: cacography. Background: I was born in Chattanooga, TN where I spent the first eight years of my life. When I was eight, my family moved right outside of Chattanooga to a little town called Ooltewah. I grew up about five minutes from the Little Debbie Snack Cakes factory which is located in Collegedale. I attended high school at Grace Academy in Chattanooga. I have two sisters. One is older and is married to Ben Barrett and they have four kids, Kyrie, Davis, Katrina, and Truett. They live in PA close to me! I also have a younger sister who married John Martzall on Feb. 17, 2001. They live in the Harrisburg area too. When I was eighteen my dad changed jobs, so my family moved to Lewisberry, PA which is right outside of Harrisburg. Now I live about half an hour from Hershey, so that is my new claim to fame! My parents work for a missions organization known as Association of Baptists for World Evangelism. They attend church at Grace Fellowship in York, PA. I attend LCBC (Lives Changed by Christ) in Harrisburg and I look forward to every Sunday! I graduated from Messiah College in 2000 with a B.A. in studio art. I hold a double concentration in drawing and graphic design. I plan to be a graduate art therapy student at Marywood University as soon as I am well enough to go. I want to be an art therapist and work with children dealing with terminal or life-threatening illnesses. Someday I would also like to get an M.F.A. in illustration, but for some reason people seem to think that's a bit ambitious! When I was sixteen I started to get very sick. Six months later, I was diagnosed with severe chronic idiopathic gastroparesis. Two years later, I was also diagnosed with prolonged QT. I have gone into cardiac arrest six times. When my potassium gets low from not eating well, it increases my risk of cardiac arrest. Three times I arrested in reaction to the medication I was taking for gastroparesis. I have since also developed intestinal dysmotility, pseudo-obstruction, among others. I had a small bowel/pancreas/duodenum/stomach/liver transplant at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in March of '06. In August 2001, several GPers came together and founded G-PACT, Gastroparesis Patient Association for Cures and Treatments, the first non-profit organization dedicated to this condition. Check out our site, read about what we do, learn more about GP, request info, or find out how to help us out at www.g-pact.org. For more information about my physical struggles, but my approach to life through all of it, please read my autobiography "The Fight for My Life" and my faith integration paper "Art as a Healing Process in My Life". I hope that you will understand more about me through them! Please write me if you have any questions.
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