I was born in 1974, in the small town of Columbus, WI. I spent my formative years there, and attended a Catholic grade school. My childhood was fairly typical for a kid growing up in a rural farming community. When I finished elementary school, my parents had the wisdom to send me to a college prepatory high school in a nearby community. For that I am eternally grateful.

Upon completion of my high school education, I proceeded to college in Des Moines, Iowa. Moving from a little city of about 4100 people to a city the size of Des Moines was a bit of a culture shock for me. You actually have to lock your doors in the city. :) I graduated from college in 1995 with a B.A. in political science (minors in sociology and economics if it really matters).

As I neared the end of my college career, I realized I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. So, like most college students in that situation, I applied to grad school, law school actually. I ended up staying in Des Moines, and going to law school. I graduated from Law School in 1998.

After law school I did a bunch of miscellaneous jobs including temp work. Finally in April of 2000, I found my current job, working for Page County, Iowa. I moved to Clarinda, Iowa, the county seat, and have been here ever since. Clarinda isn't exactly the mecca of entertainment, but it's a nice, mostly quiet community. It was recently voted one of the top 10 best small towns in America by Travel Holiday magazine.

Several months after relocating to Clarinda, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. I started treatment on medication and things were generally ok until the fall of 2001. Then all hell broke lose. I ended up in the hospital several times and finally after many tests, the doctor decided it wasn't ulcerative colitis, but rather Crohn's Disease. The treatments for the two diseases are mostly the same, and after trying some newer medications, things are finally under control again and all is well, although I had a minor setback in February caused by some stress in my personal life, but even that was quickly resolved with some not so nice medication.

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