About Me

I was born in Evansville, IN in 1981, but moved to Memphis  the following winter. Growing up, I spent most of my time eating candy and climbing trees. I started riding horses at about age 7, and eventually riding lessons evolved into ownership and obsession. I rode throughout high school- mostly training and showing hunter/jumpers, but with a sprinkling of Arab, western, and walking horse thrown in to keep it interesting. For some time following high school, I rode and trained horses professionally. However, jobs could, at times, be few and far between. They also offered no benefits, and on-the-job risk was high! I ended up getting out of the professional training business and started working in an office as a receptionist (read- sedentary). Me at a horse show:



Once that nearly drove me crazy, I started learning about dog training on the side. I worked with a local trainer and learned about obedience, agility, and protection/police training. While it never made me much money, I learned a lot about dog behavior, and had the opportunity to volunteer my dog handling ability following the 9/11 attacks when we traveled to New York City to perform recovery work for several days. Eventually, the dog trainer I worked with moved further south into Mississippi and closed the North Mississippi location where we'd been training. My pack:



During the same time, my (then) husband Stephen and I started gaining interest in cars and car racing- specifically import drag racing. He opened an import racing business in conjunction with the office where we worked for his mother. We had several projects & friends' cars that we worked on, and had plans to build a Honda  Civic drag car as well as a Del Sol street drag car. Things went south, though, when the office was forced to close and we had to shut down operations in the garage. My Del at the track (best time in the 1/4 mile was the 14s):



Time passed... I worked for a while in a vet's office and eventually started back to school at University of Memphis in the Exercise and Sport Science major. There, I discovered my ability to lift heavy stuff! I started lifting weights and eventually learned how to perform the Olympic lifts (Snatch and Clean& Jerk- the ones that you see on TV in the Olympics). I got big & strong (hence the name "Brick House"). My best lifts at the time were the following:
Squat: 235 lbs
Deadlift: 275 lbs(see picture below)
Bench Press: 165 lbs
Snatch: 50 kg
Clean & Jerk: 70 kg



My heavy lifting would eventually be ended by a nagging back injury (too much overhead lifting w/the Olympic lifts). In order to stay in shape while my back was on the mend, I began running. I found roads to be boring, so I ventured out onto the area trails for a bit more excitement. Soon, I met a group of people dubbed "Warthogs," a very friendly group of runners who (even though I was much younger than most of them) welcomed me into their club. I ran trails & drank beer with them for a while until one day, early in the summer of 2006, they planned a bike ride through Shelby Forest. At the time, I didn't have a bike, although Stephen had just bought a nice hybrid cruiser from a local shop. I decided that, even though everyone else would be on road bikes, I would gear up & give it a whirl. The hybrid:



Soon, I was dragging the 40 pound beast to group rides all over town. Often able to keep up on (slower) group rides, I was hooked and determined to get a road bike. Later that summer, I made a purchase:



By winter, I'd been invited to join Memphis Velo, a local amateur cycling club. During the summer of 2007, I raced my butt off, placing in at least top 5 in most of the races I attended (see race resume). I also graduated with my Masters Degree in Health and Sport Science from U of M. With a desire to compete at a higher level, I joined a the developmental squad for the Kenda Tire women's elite cycling team. I'll race for them in the 2008 season. My goal is simple- turn this into my job.