A Biography

Along with my older sister, my older brother, and my younger sister, I grew up in South Bend, Indiana where I spent most of my life until I went away to college. I was quite the tomboy (ask any of my siblings about my days playing on boys baseball teams) and I was also very bookish. In 1991, I went to college at St. Louis University where I dabbled in pre-med and chemistry studies before switching to an English major and a minor in theology.

After graduating, I spent a summer in Costa Rica learning Spanish, and then moved to Woodburn, Oregon, a small farming town with a large Mexican immigrant population. In Woodburn, I was a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. There I worked at St. Luke's parish for two years. It was in Woodburn that I began to learn to garden, and I spent many, many hours on long bicycle rides on the country roads. My longest ride during that time was the 200 mile jaunt I made with 10,000 other riders from Seattle to Portland one rainy June weekend.

After my two years of volunteering, I was hired by the JVC to be a staff member in Portland where I lived for another two years.

In 1999, I accepted a scholarship to pursue my Master of Divinity degree at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. By my second year I had decided to do a double degree program. During my time at the Jesuit School, I worked as the RCIA director for St. Columba and four other parishes in West Oakland. I also had the good fortune to work for Dr. Gina Hens-Piazza, a professor of the Hebrew Scriptures. In a three year period I was the editor of the three books she wrote. I finished my M.Div. in 2002 and after learning biblical Hebrew and a smidgeon of koine Greek, I graduated with my Master of Arts in Biblical Languages in 2003.

After graduation I did a year-long residency in the CPE hospital chaplaincy program of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. A couple of years later I worked as the Director of Religious Education at St. John the Baptist Parish in San Lorenzo, California. I left that position when my oldest daughter was one and a half to focus more of my time on parenting.  Now besides doing full-time parenting of Madeleine and Rachel,  I see some clients for spiritual direction, and teach scripture classes at the parish or diocesan level.

Besides parenting and doing some pastoral ministry, I strive to stay sane by gardening, beekeeping, and bicycling around the great town of Alameda.