I am a country hick at heart. My mother gave birth to me at home with a mid-wife, in a remote corner of southern Utah. (That one house settlement, Little Pinto, is now known as one of Utah’s best ghost towns.) Us, gosh darn kids, didn’t even get birth certificates or social security numbers until we were seven years old.

Most of my formative years were spent in Indiana. Cornfields, misty summer nights, Amish country, and sitting on my porch swing are all beautiful memories. I quilt, a pursuit that is obnoxiously addicting once you start. It’s a tradition I gleaned from my Mennonite aunts. I think I’ve made more blankets than I own shoes.

I am an avid runner. Even though I'm not the fastest. (2 hr. 22 min. half-marathon.) I used to work 13-hour shifts as a waitress at an Amish restaurant in Indiana. Even though I was on my feet all day, the only thing I wanted to do when I got off work was to go running and extend my legs. I had a good running club last summer: Jeff, Aaron, and Rebecca. We loved the Central Park Reservoir track at night, where we lived in New York City.

I learned a lot from living in New York City. Montana, however, was my abbey. I uncovered my faith, my aspirations, and a deeper sense of why I am an artist while living on a dirt road on the edge of the mountains. There was no phone, TV, or radio, but there was plenty of Elk, home-ground wheat bread, and the starriest nights you have ever seen.

In my post college years, I’m always up for chocolate ice cream cones, reruns of The Cosby Show, or relishing in the fact that I actually have a faculty-parking pass at Brigham Young University where I work part-time. Sometimes I just drive through campus laughing at all the kids who have to walk.

I love to paint. On top of that, working with kids is priceless. They shine in front of the camera for preliminary shots. They feel special being the center of attention. They are blessings from God. I have a deep belief in a Heavenly Father who loves us, his children. Without prayer it would be impossible for me to be the woman and artist that I am today.

—August 2005