About Mimi
My journey started in South Korea. I was adopted when I was 3 months old to a family from Bettendorf, Iowa. I have one little brother named Gerard born December 27th. We are only 11 months apart as he was a little surprise from God after my Mom lost her first child.
My fondest memory of when I was younger was when my mom was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia in second grade. Many of my childhood memories are of her taking chemo treatments and me praying each night that God would give me the cancer so she didn't have to suffer any longer. My Dad would take us back and forth from Iowa City to see her each week. She spent many years in the hospital and many years in much pain, but like a true hero she beat cancer and is now cancer free! My mom truly is my hero-you know they hero that you can love and argue with at the same time.
During my childhood I was involved in tons of sports and music lessons. I think I took lessons for; T-Ball, tennis, karate, soccer, paino and just about any other sport you could think of. But the ones I really stuck with were gymnastics and swimming. I took gymnastics for a while and got to level 7 whatever that used to mean. I liked it a lot and I took a lot of bruises from it. My swimming started I guess when I was little. Ever since I could walk I would only wear swimsuits. I hated to wear cloths. I would wear my swimsuit in the winter and my little leg warmers too. I started swimming competitively when I was in junior high. In high school I was in varsity swimming my whole 4 years. I was best at the breast stroke and diving and usually got first!
After high school I went to college at St. Ambrose University where I graduated with my BA in Public Relations and Marketing Communications and Psychology. I loved going to college there and made lots of memories! Not to mention I still could go home to do laundry-so I saved money for partying :)
My parents now live and have retired in Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa-separately. My dad is a famous (at least that is what he is to me) Speech Pathologist and has been honored with many awards and has been published in different speech magazines. He lives in Davenport with his wife Susan. My mom (in Bettendorf) spends most her time taking care of her parents and taking care of her new daughter-Molly the schnoodle. My brother turned out to be a music teacher (reminds me of Glee) and lives with his wife Carrie in Norwalk, Iowa.
About Adam
Adam and I meet at St. Ambrose (our alma mater). Plucked from tree trunk Adam whisked me away and we fell in love, got married, bought a house, had a baby, and built a white picket fence...well not really all in that order. Adam and I were married in May of 2005 and have been honeymooning ever since. Adam is a football coach-well player when I first met him.
Adam was born in Barstow, CA and then headed west to San Diego, CA for the majority of his childhood life. Most of Adam's family lives in San Diego-which I love visiting. His parents live seperately in Santee and San Deigo, CA. His mom Jill (married to Brent) is a talented photo stylist and who also stages homes for real estate agents. His dad Jon is retired from the California Highway Patrol and now works for a company that monitors Driving Schools. He has one older brother Jon, who is a musician who resides in San Diego. His step father Brent works for SAIC.
Adam started his football career in 7th grade and never looked back. In high school he experienced a lot of success, but he may have actually been a more talented wrestler than a football player. Adam won Conference and CIF (City) Championships as a wrestler and finished his career with a 125-25 record. On the football field he was All Conference 3 years and All County 2 years and was voted most athletic for his senior class.
After high school Adam went to junior college at Grossmont Junior College where he earned all-conference and all-state accolades. From there he decided to pass on many offeres from smaller universities and walked on at San Diego State. That move did not work out and he ended up being recruited to St. Ambrose University where a couple of former Grossmont teammates had gone. At SAU Adam was a two-year letter winner and was was named all-conference and all-American there as well! He was one crazy player with his bleach blonde scraggly hair and pierced ears and tongue.
After football ended (which it never really does) Adam wanted more thus setting our whole lives into acceleration. I had 2 more years of my undergrad and Adam was completely done-so of course to stay with his woman of his dreams, Adam went on to get his Master's degree in Organizational Leadership and was a graduate assistant until we both finished school. Then a whirlwind of events happened...
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| Christmas 2011 |
