I was born in Southern California and lived there for the first 13 years of my life.  While down there, I hated school but enjoyed hanging out with my friends.  On any given day, I could be found either playing video games, playing two-hand-touch football, playing basketball, watching You Can’t Do That On Television on Nickelodeon, or fighting with my brother.  I loved California and everything it had to offer.

Then, I moved with my family to the Oregon Coast, even though I did everything I could to try to prevent that.  While on the Oregon Coast, I hated school but made some pretty good friends through my prestigious part-time job at McDonald’s.  After high school, I started working full time at McDonald’s and I really loved my job, as sad as that is.  The community college had a small satellite campus in my coastal town so I ended up taking a few classes there.  Please don’t misconstrue that; I still hated school but was merely sampling it free of charge thanks to an unsolicited scholarship my boss gave me.  I spent quite a bit of time on the sand dunes and lakes while I lived there.  Lots of fun.

So that went on for a year or so after high school until my brother helped me land a job at Circuit City in Eugene, Oregon.  And that was it – I hit the big time and life was sweet.  I continued my healthy hatred for school but for some reason I kept enrolling, sporadically.  What’s more – I was actually paying for school, which I really hated.  But my parents helped with some of the school bills so that was nice.  I learned a lot during my tenure at Circuit City and I met a lot of great people.  One of whom is still my best friend today.

My mom passed away in 2000 which has had a tremendous effect on me and my family.  My outlook on life has forever changed from this loss – mostly for the better I guess, but it’s a terrible way to learn.

After a while, life goes on.  After some time I earned a degree in school and a year of unemployment.  Living the dream.

Then, in my last year at school, I met Angelique`.  A one-of-a-kind girl with a big heart and a one-of-a-kind charm.  She makes me a better person just by being with her and I think we learn much from each other.  But I will leave the details for the “Our Story” section.

In general, I am an easy-going guy who just likes to have fun (in any capacity).  I have a pretty serious aversion to negativity and drama as I believe life is just too short.  I have been called a “pleaser” on several occasions through several forms of delivery.  Although I am unsure as to the compliment/criticism intensions of these statements, I always take them as a compliment because it’s who I am and I am proud of it.  I believe that everyone has a right to their own thing – do what makes you happy.  I enjoy my time alone, I enjoy my time with company, and I enjoy my time with beer.  I buy into the work-hard, play-hard attitude – but I also have spent some time trying to take lounging and relaxing to unthinkable extremes. 

As Angelique` once said to me early in our relationship, “You are who you are because of experiences you’ve had in your life.”  It’s a simple statement that has profound meaning and I will never forget it.  I would like to add to it by saying that I am who I am because it’s who I want to be.  I love being the mostly jovial, slightly cynical person that I am.  Life goes down easy when you take it with a grain of salt.  And a beer.